A New Camry or This Miles Works Porsche? The Choice Is Simple

We’ll start with the obvious: Nobody is cross-shopping Miles Works wide-body first-gen (986) Porsche Boxsters against new, fully loaded Toyota Camrys with enough room for the whole family. But maybe they should. Ridiculous as it may seem, hear me out on why this notion of an affordable wide-body Porsche has merit.

The Pew Research Center found that 58% of American households have multiple vehicles. And considering the mechanical and electrical complexity of newer vehicles relative to older ones we might already own, do we really want a new family sedan when finances and free space dictate a more entertaining use of resources?

Hybrid powertrains and CVT gearboxes are generally not the stuff of dreams, even when paired to the luxurious trappings of a Camry XSE. And how many work-from-home professionals actually need a new car? Many enthusiasts have room in their suburban garage/driveway for a toy, and making it extra special with the help of a company like Miles Works has significant appeal. So let’s do the math:

• Porsche 986 Boxster with 75k miles: $10,000
• Miles Works Automotive Ultrawide 986 Boxster kit: $6,000
• Body kit install and paint job: $12,500
• Miles Works Automotive (wider) wheels: $4,500
• Wide tires: $1,200
• Adjustable Coilover Suspension: $800
• WaspTech Valved Exhaust system: $3,000

Add up the numbers and the grand total comes to $38,000, roughly three grand less than a new Camry XSE offered by Toyota dealerships in my area. You could buy a cheaper Camry, but you can also find a 986 Boxster for significantly less. And that price drops even further with modest DIY skills, as you save big money when doing body prep in your own garage. I reckon a mechanically inclined Porsche enthusiast could get the price down to 20 grand after spending quality time on Facebook Marketplace, making the Miles Works Porsche 986 significantly cheaper than even a new, base spec Camry LE.

Doing so nets you a seriously beautiful wide body sports car, one that can be judged at any price point.

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So let’s get past these money moves, and instead dig deeper into Miles Works Automotive. It begins with Dominic Miles, a designer who prefers to work with his hands over computer assisted designs. Miles made his first creation out of a Vauxhall Nova, a car that became legendary in the U.K. street racing scene mostly thanks to his custom made body kit and cheeky pink paint job. U.K. tuner magazines caught wind of Miles and “Pinky” the Nova, and the subsequent press created a market for Miles’ coachbuilding skills, ultimately enabling a full-time career in the car customization business.

While Miles Works Automotive is now a global business based in Palma, Mallorca, Spain, my hunt for images of Miles’ career-building Vauxhall netted a quote from Miles on Facebook, where he regretted the (likely) demise of Pinky in modern times, saying “I should have never sold it.” But the legacy of his sport compact roots is on full display with the Miles Works Porsche 986, because it has the requisite aggression with a sense of refinement befitting the premium German brand underlying its stretched bodywork.

Put another way, upon exiting my Ford Ranger to examine the prototype in Miles Works USA’s garage, I uncontrollably exclaimed, “This is a Carrera GT that I can afford!”

Miles clearly understood the assignment, and two years of refinements on his hand-sculpted body kit have paid off: this kit absolutely delights in every contour, in every detail. The wide-body panels avoid the exposed rivets common in kits for JDM cars and many RWB Porsches, and the 986 Boxster’s rear fascia integrates beautifully into the wide-body’s revised booty. His rejection of modernity in favor of hand-formed designs reaps dividends, as this Porsche now flaunts organic muscles like a poet flowing effortless prose.

But getting this U.S.-made prototype assembled and ready for a public unveiling posed new challenges, and its unveiling at last year’s SEMA show was no small feat. It was the first project for Miles Works USA, which was founded by Phillip Tieu in 2023, and is based in Houston, Texas. Tieu’s passion for customized automobiles began with a Nissan 240SX in high school, and he admired the creations of Miles Works Automotive from afar. He reached out to Miles, formed a common bond, and Miles Works USA was forged into reality.

A problem solver by nature, Tieu saw the need to promote Miles Works USA at SEMA, and saw an uphill battle that he could overcome. His work paid off, as the Miles Works Porsche 986 made it to the coveted Toyo Tires booth, where folks remarked that they “could not believe they were seeing a 986” at the show. Indeed, a fully depreciated Porsche isn’t a vehicle that most SEMA vendors want to highlight.

This is an unprecedented achievement, as nobody makes a body kit for Porsche’s 986 Boxster, but Tieu saw a path to make it a show-stopper. The path meant creating a zurückdatieren (back-dated) interior for maximum impact on the show floor. Back-dating the 986 Boxster with an interior that harkens back to the air-cooled 911 is the perfect party trick for a wide body, water-cooled Porsche. There’s the classic flat dashboard with Porsche’s iconic five-pack gauge cluster, but none of what you see in the slideshow below existed four months before the SEMA show this past November.

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I must have spent an hour interviewing Tieu over several of the sleepless nights he undertook to get the Miles Works 986 Porsche ready for SEMA, and it’s clear his contacts in the industry are both strong and willing to help his dream become a reality. The bodywork, the interior, and the custom-made wheels all posed unique challenges, but the end result speaks for itself. The modestly outlandish body looks fantastic when finished in Azzuro Thetys Metallic (a Porsche Paint-To-Sample color from 2023), with a brilliantly crafted interior that Tieu believes is the “first custom backdated interior ever made for a Porsche.”

Tieu is both passionate and deadly serious about having Miles Works take off in the USA, but there are currently no plans to reproduce the zurückdatieren interior as part of the Miles Works wide body 986 kit. And perhaps there shouldn’t be, as the 986 Boxster’s organic interior is far more sympathetic to that wide body contouring. The custom Miles Works 3-piece wheels (19″x10″ front, 19″x13.5″ rear) are inspired by the 993 Turbo, further reinforcing the modern flagship Porsche orientation of this creation. But those massive wheels do spark controversy, as no 986 Boxster needs that much grip given its powertrain.

But sometimes a concern turns into an opportunity. Despite what might seem like a cramped layout, a variety of swaps, including Honda and Audi engines are on the table. But, of course, the most bang for the buck is available with Renegade Hybrids, as they have the bits to annihilate the rubber wrapped around those 13.5-inch rear wheels. For as little as $6,000, you can purchase a Renegade swap kit for a GM LS-series V-8 to drop into a Miles Works 986 Porsche. (Renegade Hybrids does not have a working relationship with Miles Works, I mention them to prove that Boxsters, wide-body or otherwise, can be made into truly fast machines.)

All in, this wide-body Porsche for the price of a Camry makes for a great value and a distinctive proposition in the modern street car scene. Add the price of another Camry and you’ll have the performance under the hood to silence the haters in the process. So in the age of automotive flexes at places like Cars and Coffee and on specific hashtags on Instagram, the Miles Works 986 Porsche is an instant eye-catcher that could be just as potent under its gorgeous skin.

Put another way, for some, a 307-powered Chevelle with racing stripes is a fantastic muscle car. For others, nothing but the finest pedigreed LS6 Super Sport will suffice. Applying those variations to the era of the modern custom car, and it becomes obvious that Miles Works has made the equivalent using the fully depreciated frame of the 986 Boxster. If you like what you see, start hunting for donors and give Miles Works USA a click for the parts to make something truly special.