But the base Boxster was as underpowered by today's standards as that Spyder of Dean's. The Porsche Spyder, speedy for its day, did 0-to-60 in about 8.4 seconds. Today, a lot of sedans are quicker. The Boxster needed a boost. Thus we have the Boxster S, which you could say stands for sport or speed. Take your pick.

I can you tell from experience that if I'm driving a Jaguar, other Jaguar drivers who pass me will look away. They refuse to recognize that we both bought and are driving the same expensive car. It's like two women at the ball wearing the same exclusive designer gown. Omigod.

Not Porsche drivers.

Porsche drivers have arrived. They know it. You know it. They have joined the fraternity of Ima Gotta Mine. And they will recognize you, fellow frat brother, with an enthusiastic wave. Not since the days of the early VW Beetles have drivers saluted each other this way. Testing a Porsche is a joy. Other Porsche drivers assume I'm a doctor, lawyer or Merrill Lynch advisor, and they greet me as one of them. I'm always reluctant to tell them I test drive cars for a living. It's such a letdown. If I just had my own TV show, maybe then.

There's nothing to complain about with the Boxster S. The seats fit your bottom like a hand in a driving glove, the controls are all at hand, andit doesn't overwhelm with gizmos or heavy-duty clutches and two-handed gear shifters. It's just a joy to be behind the wheel, anywhere, anytime. And when the weather is nice, drop the ragtop. Find a tree-canopied road. Feel the wind caress your face, listen to the harmony of the exhaust note, take in the stroboscopic light show as you pass beneath arching branches.

If there is a better time on four wheels than time spent in a Porsche, I've yet to discover it.

* * *

OUT-OF-DOOR SOCCER MOM

Lucky mom. You have so many alluring minivans to choose from. And they can be loaded with features to make your time behind the wheel so much easier as you chauffeur little ones from sports field to ballet to piano lessons, all in pursuit of an Exceptional Achiever Award for them. Someday, they'll appreciate all you did for them. Someday.

Among appreciated conveniences, many minivans today offer a power passenger sliding door. It can be operated from the driver's seat, or via a remote control, or from a button near the door itself. Convenient, huh?

But hold on a minute. There are good power doors and bad power doors. You need to know how to distinguish between the extremes.

Power doors need to reverse direction of travel should they come into contact with anything-fingers, heads, Barbie, the dog. All manufacturers now have doors and windows that reverse automatically while closing should they contact anything. (You can test this if you dare by putting your own hand in the path of a closing window or door.)

Power sliding doors, however, present a secondary problem. To open and close, they must move out from the minivan, as well as backward or forward. As they move out, they leave a gap between the moving door and the body of the van. It is entirely possible for an over-eager child to slide off a rear bucket seat into that gap! Ooooooo.

Now, if the door bumps an exiting child while the door is going forward to close, it will reverse. They all do. But it becomes clear that the power door needs to be able to reverse and halt travel while moving in either direction. Not all do that.

My own tests of these doors were alarming. Objects pinned by the Chevrolet Venture, Oldsmobile Silhouette and Pontiac Montana included a 24-inch tall crash dummy, a baseball bat, a crowbar, and a tree branch. These doors would reverse on contact with a helium-filled balloon while moving forward, but not even my full strength could reverse them once they began moving backward.

The danger seems clear. And your minivan choice has been narrowed a bit.