Two of the more recent additions to Porsche's lineup are cars that many of us have been dreaming about for a while. The German performance car maker finally gave 911 levels of power (albeit slightly detuned) to the well-balanced platform of the Cayman and Boxster in the Cayman GT4 and latest Boxster Spyder.

The idea certainly is not a new one, and judging by how quickly these special cars have sold, there is certainly a market for them. Until the 911-powered GT4 and Spyder made their appearance, a car with the power of a modern 911 and the chassis of the Boxster/Cayman just seemed like it would be incredible — something of a unicorn in the car world.

But perhaps unicorns do exist, because there were sightings of more powerful Boxsters and Caymans before the GT4 and latest Spyder.

The early 986 Boxster was the first to get this treatment. The change to a 3.4-liter flat-six sourced from a 996 is a fairly straightforward upgrade.

In fact, a number of write-ups were done on how to do it, including a complete step-by-step explanation in the book, "101 Projects for Your Boxster." This helped readers get through the toughest parts of the engine swap, which involved wiring changes and reprogramming the car's ECU. Even with this, it is about as easy as any other engine swap.

With 986 values falling to where you could get a running early Boxster for as low as $5,000, the swap became even more tempting. However, the project has a slippery slope — once you upgrade the engine, the transmission, brakes and suspension are not far behind.

One such example of a 911 swap in an early Boxster is a car owned by Bill Diaz with the upgrade being done back in 2007. He had a 3.4-liter M96 engine that was sourced from a 996 that had the front end torn off in an accident. He also upgraded the exhaust system to allow the power plant to better breathe. After the engine and exhaust modification, his 986 is outpouring 320 horsepower, which is up more than 100 horses from the stock 201 found in the 2.5-liter flat-six.

Of course, Bill did start down the slippery slope of modifications and upgraded to the Porsche Tequipment Aero Body Kit, Turbo Silver back Sport Seats, Arctic Silver/Aluminum interior trim accents, Gahh Glass Convertible Top, RoW M030 sports suspension, Spyder wheels 19x8.5 front and 19x10 rear, Michelin Super Sport Tires 235/35/19 front and 265/35/19 rear.

But early Boxsters were not the only ones that got 911 power, and backyard mechanics weren't the only ones attempting similar builds. A few tuners tried their hands at a heart transplant.

Farnbacher Loles took a look at the Porsche Cayman and decided to add the power of its big brother.

Farnbacher Loles took the 395-horsepower engine from a 911 Carrera S and put it into the 987 in the mid-2000s to create the Cayman GTR.

The result was the Farnbacher Loles Cayman GTR. They took the 395-horsepower engine from a 911 Carrera S and put it into the 987 in the mid-2000s. The cost was $39,500 for just the engine swap, a custom exhaust system and a much-needed limited-slip differential (this was back in the days before a limited-slip differential was available on the Cayman).

You could also get an adjustable suspension system, 19-inch wheels and tires, lightweight seats from the Porsche 911 GT3, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB), carbon-fiber trim and aerodynamic modifications. Altogether, this raised the cost of the build to $67,910, bringing the price for a Cayman GTR up to about $125,000 with the initial cost of a new Cayman 10 years ago.

As you can see, there have been examples of cars similar in concept to the Cayman GT4 and newest Boxster Spyder. These builds — along with plenty of folks wishing for a mid-engined car with 911 power — eventually brought Porsche to releasing the factory-produced models.

While the past builds showed the capabilities of the Cayman and Boxster platform, we can be glad the engineers at Porsche built the GT4 and Spyder. With their huge amount of knowledge and experience, they took a good concept and made incredible machines.

Perhaps one day we'll see an even higher performance version of the Cayman and Boxster that could rival the mighty 911 GT3.