Porsche 911 S Targa

Originally, the Porsche 911 was only available as a Coupé. This quickly led to disgruntled customers who were used to the convertible from its predecessor 356 and wanted to continue driving open-top sports cars. In the meantime, however, especially in the USA, there were stricter registration regulations and even lobby groups that wanted to ban open-top vehicles completely. The reason for this is the lower passenger safety in the event of a rollover. Therefore Porsche didn’t rush to bring an open 911 to the dealers. In addition, test drives with completely open 911 prototypes had shown that the body-in-white wasn’t sufficiently rigid.

Named after the Targa Florio

The design department under Ferdinand Alexander ‘Butzi’ Porsche, the eldest son of Ferry Porsche, nevertheless produced various designs for a 911 convertible. In the end an unusual design prevailed, which had several special features. Directly behind the doors was an approximately 20 centimeters wide rollbar with a stainless steel look, which gave the car more rigidity and offered passengers protection in the event of an accident. Above the heads of the front passengers, a roof section could be removed and folded up to fit in the trunk. Behind the bar, a fabric soft top with a plastic window could be folded down. The car made its debut in this form at the 1965 IAA (Frankfurt Motor Show) as the 911 Targa. This nickname came from the famous Targa Florio race in Sicily. Translated from the Italian, the word ‘Targa’ means ‘shield’, which corresponds to the protective character of the rollbar.

With its retractable soft top at the rear, the 911 Targa was given the unofficial nickname ‘Softwindow’ soon after its market launch in late 1966. The reason for this was that from 1967 onwards, a fixed glass panoramic rear window was introduced as an option and became finally the only variant. This was firmly attached to the body and gave the car even more rigidity. In addition, the wheelbase of all 911 models increased from 2,211 to 2,268 millimeters in model year 1968. Correspondingly few Softwindow Targas came off the production line. Of the then most powerful 911 S with 118 kW/160 hp from two liters displacement, for example, only 925 Targas with soft top and short wheelbase were produced.

Sold from Dortmund to the USA

In the past three years, Porsche Classic has restored the first 911 S Targa delivered to Germany. This car reached the Porsche dealer Hülpert in Dortmund on January 24, 1967. The factory-fitted equipment included rare options such as a Webasto independent heater, a Blaupunkt Cologne radio, a tinted windshield, halogen fog lights, an outside thermometer and leather seats. It served as a demonstrator and was sold to a customer in the USA in 1969. There the trace of this Targa got lost for a long time. Only a few years ago a Porsche collector rediscovered it.

As it turned out, the rare Porsche stood in an open garage in Long Beach, New York State, from 1977 to 2016. Only a thin plastic sheet protected it from the elements. Amazingly, the car proved to be complete and without any damage from vandalism. The collector succeeded in acquiring the 911 S Targa. He then sent it to Porsche Classic in Zuffenhausen, Germany, and commissioned a comprehensive factory restoration. The aim of these refurbishments offered by Porsche is to rebuild the respective vehciles as true to the original state of delivery as possible. To this end, the team specifically searches for each small part in an authentic contemporary version. Over 60,000 different original spare parts are stored in their own central warehouse. Porsche Classic also has frame gauges, reference sets, data sheets from production and technical drawings.

Matte, painted protective film

“Reproductions by third-party suppliers are out of the question for us,” explains Uwe Makrutzki, Head of Porsche Classic Works Restoration at Porsche AG. The damaged targa roof therefore presented the team with a challenge. Later roofs got another cover material with different graining and more robustness. This means it doesn’t correspond to the original. Thus, a new covering material was created especially for this project, the processing of which first had to be learned. It is now also available for future 911 Targa Softwindow restorations. Instead of having the chassis parts, the air filter system and the engine paneling powder-coated, the customer opted for a true-to-original two-component paint in black. After around 1,000 hours of work, the body shines in its original color ‘Polo Red’ again. Since the car is to be driven in everyday traffic, a slightly matt protective film was also applied. This can be removed without residue.

After more than three years of restoration work, the Porsche 911 S Targa is now back on its wheels. All details and the equipment correspond to the state of delivery at the beginning of 1967, when the car had a new price of at least 25,880 DM in Germany, which meant an extra charge of 1,400 DM compared to the Coupé. Today you can easily put another 2 in front of the sum and change the currency to €. The customer receives extensive, illustrated documentation for each vehicle restored at Porsche Classic. In this way, it is possible to trace the efforts made even years later. The owner of this 911 S Targa is now having this done on an early Porsche 928, which is already in the Porsche Classic workshop.

Images: Porsche