Some $200,000 or €145,000 excluding taxes, transport costs and more importantly, the price for the donor Porsche Cayman that starts new from $52,600 in the US and from €51,385 in Germany for the base 275PS (271hp) model, is a whole lot of money, and it's what Italy's Studiotorino is asking for their new coachbuilt coupe named Moncenisio.

Studiotorino, which had teased the car that's named after the first hill climb race in the world, the 1902 Susa-Moncenisio, last summer, says only 19 examples will be built to order, besides the 981 generation Cayman S-based model pictured here that will be available for client test drives.

The Italian studio leaves the Cayman's internals untouched, placing its focus on the body panels and to some extent, the interior.

"The Moncenisio maintains the original structure, frame, mechanics, engine, emissions, safety and reliability characteristics of the vehicle of origin," says Studiotorino. "Traditional Turin school methods of manual modeling and styling of the body, painting and interior trimming will be utilized," the company adds.

The styling is not to everyone's taste, and I'm under the impression that, the choice of tires and wheels, doesn't really help either. According to the coachbuilder, the design "was inspired by the 1963 Porsche Type 904 and continues as well as evolves the styling of Studiotorino’s 2006 RK Coupé".

One person who doesn't feel warm about the Moncenisio is Carscoops reader Eric Therner, who tipped us off on the car even before Studiotorino told us about it:

"I really liked the first coachbuilt cars Studiotorino did on the Boxster especially, with the lowered windscreen very reminiscent of the 550... So, I've been waiting to see this project for a long while," Eric wrote in an email message.

"Sadly, I think it turned out looking nothing like it's previous coachbuilt Cayman/ Boxster. The styling they went for this time just looks very much like an aftermarket "styling-company" would have done some fugly bumpers and exaggerated tailpipe styling etc.. etc. Not at all to a coachbuilt level of design," he said.

You can tell us what you think too in the comments box.

If you can swallow the $11,400 premium over the Boxster S (MSRP: $62,100) and Cayman S (MSRP: $63,800), the new GTS versions of Porsche's base roadster and coupe models are the ones to gun for in the series, at least for now and until Porsche cooks up something even more sizzling.
In the States, the Boxster GTS starts from $73,500 (€53,400) and the Cayman GTS, from $75,200 (€54,600), excluding destination charges of $995, with both cars available for delivery this summer.

Besides the 15hp increase in power that brings the 3.4-liter six-cylinder boxer engine's total to 326hp (330PS) in the Boxster GTS and 335hp (340PS) in the Cayman GTS, Porsche adds the Sport Chrono package and Active Suspension Management (PASM) system along with some distinct visual tweaks such as the 20-inch wheels, black detailing and Alcantara interior trim as standard.

A 6-speed manual comes standard with Porsche's 7-speed Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) transmission available optionally.

Porsche may have just unveiled its new Cayman GTS, but StudioTorino is stealing the show with its take on the sports car.

Unveiled at the National Automobile Museum of Turin, the StudioTorino Moncenisio is based on the Cayman S but has been overhauled to be a unique machine with performance in mind. The custom front bumper has been made from carbon fiber and kevlar with new daytime running lights. The rear side windows have been replaced with welded sheetmetal for a sleeker look and the rear tailgate has also been swapped out for a carbon fiber unit. Lastly, the rear bumper is also made of carbon fiber.

Actual engine performance upgrades have been limited to a new exhaust system while the factory 20-inch wheels have been removed for custom StudioTorino rollers. Inside, there’s plenty of luxury upgrades to the interior with a hand-upholstered micro-perforated leather roof, front pillars and interior side panels.

The StudioTorino Moncenisio will be limited to just 19 units and will be available in seven different shades. Pricing for the complete vehicle is around 145,000 euros (almost $200,00) not including the cost of the actual car, which starts at over $52,000.

Porsche keeps improving its Cayman model and for 2014 the new GTS trim has surpassed even the performance of the 911; that is, if the 911 you’re talking about is a few years old.

When Porsche debuted the new Cayman GTS the performance numbers being claimed were good, very good. In fact, they were so impressive we had to compare them to the rest of Porsche’s sports car range to see how they stacked up. As it turns out, the Cayman GTS has brought Porsche’s mid-engined sportscar up to the level of a 2011 Carrera… and in some cases even further.

Powered by a 3.4-liter flat-six engine, Porsche has managed to churn out 340 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque, allowing it to accelerate to 4.3 seconds with its PDK transmission. Its top speed is electronically limited to 175 mph and the Cayman GTS tips the scales at 3,031 lbs. Comparing that with the 2011 Carrera, you might be surprised to see just how competitive the Cayman GTS is.

The 2011 Carrera packs slightly more of a punch with the 3.6-liter flat-six engine offering 345 hp and 288 lb-ft of torque. But weighing over 100 lbs more at 3,164 lbs it takes longer to hit 60 mph, with an official 4.5 seconds with the PDK transmission. If you add on the optional Sport Chrono package the 2011 Carrera can hit 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, but it costs several thousand dollars more.

Speaking of dollars, the Cayman GTS has a lower starting price of $79,160 compared to $83,080 for a Carrera back in 2011.

The Cayman GTS also comes out on top when you compare the power to weight ratio of each car, with 8.9 lbs/hp, compared to 9.2 lbs/hp in the Carrera.

Comparing the 2014 Cayman GTS to some other high-performance Porsches in recent history and it outperforms the 2012 Cayman R in nearly all categories. The 2012 Cayman R was rated at 330 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque while its 0-60 time clocked in at 4.4 seconds in Sport Plus mode. The top speed is identical to the new Cayman GTS at 175 mph, but the Cayman R does weigh less at 2,910 lbs. delivering a power-to-weight ratio just ahead of the GTS at 8.8 lbs/hp. That, by the way, is identical to the new 991 Carrera.

The GTS isn’t just superior to a last-gen 911 either. Compare it to the 2014 version and sure it’s down on power, but its power-to-weight ratio is only a tenth of a pound off and it’ll actually it 60 mph two-tenths of a second faster (though a Sport Chrono equipped Carrera is faster at 4.2 seconds). The GTS is considerably less expensive, costing $9,000 less and that number will jump to $13,000 with that Sport Chrono package.

Has the Porsche Cayman finally out-done the 911? In some ways, yes. Check out all the stats below and draw your own conclusions.

If we only had the pictures to work with, our first thought about what you see here would be that, either Porsche or a higher-end tuner with the cash to afford prototype testing on the Nürburgring, are evaluating the aerodynamic and handling properties of a new version of the Boxster. However, our spies say otherwise.

Our man behind the camera who also happens to be a Porsche-addict (sic) tells us that the blue prototype lapping the 'Ring "sounded very different than the normal flat-six" featured on the production versions of the 981 generation model, leading him to believe that this could be a test bed for the brand's upcoming four-pot.

Porsche's four-cylinder boxer engine isn't a rumor anymore as company boss Matthias Müller has confirmed the development of the new turbocharged unit that will power the next iterations of the Boxster and Cayman, possibly other models as well.

Müller has said that the flat-four (not to be confused with the VW Group-sourced 2.0-liter turbo'd inline-four offered on the new Macan) will deliver up to 400PS (396hp), which is significantly more than the naturally aspirated 3.4-liter six-cylinder boxer unit found in the new Boxster (330PS/326HP) and Cayman (340PS/335HP) GTS models today.

Will be out in a few years

Porsche is allegedly working on a range-topping version of the Cayman called GT4 which will come out in the next three years.

It was only a couple of months ago at the Geneva Motor Show when Porsche introduced a hotter Cayman dubbed "GTS" and the engineers over in Stuttgart are already cooking up a more desirable version that will reportedly receive the "GT4" moniker. Set to come out in the next three years, the flagship Cayman will carry an estimated starting price of 125,000 USD.

In return for this considerable chunk of change, owners will be rewarded with a PDK gearbox derived from the flaming GT3 while the engine's identity is not known at this moment. The Boxster is expected to receive the same treatment but will probably receive the RS Spyder nameplate.

The same report also talks about 700+ bhp hybrid versions of the Panamera and 911 Turbo S with technology taken over from the 918 Spyder. A similar setup will also find its way inside the next-gen Cayenne Turbo S while a Panamera Sport Turismo and Cayenne Coupe have apparently been green-lighted for production.