RIDE LIKE THE WIND
Is the Targa making a comeback? I appreciate many of you — especially readers in possession of a semi-opentop Porsche — will be thinking the Targa body style never went away. Indeed, this distinctive ‘rollover hoop’ design has been a mainstay of the 911 line-up since the mid-1960s, almost two decades before a cabriolet was introduced to the range. The thing is, though, Targas have rarely been the first choice of 911 buyers. Often, purchase of a Targa is driven by cost, where the equivalent coupe is double the price. One only has to look at Porsche’s attempts to disguise the Targa as a tin-top from 993 production (until dramatic return of the iconic polished safety bar with the 991-generation 911) to understand how Targa styling has long been the least desirable of all 911 body styles.
This isn’t to say the Targa doesn’t deserve its time to shine, even if 911 designer, Ferdinand Alexander ‘Butzi’ Porsche, wasn’t keen on the idea. As you’ll discover later in this issue of Classic Porsche, he wasn’t keen on the original Fuchs wheel design, either. Ah, there’s no pleasing some people. In recent times, however, arguably a result of the continually rising values of air-cooled 911 coupes, Targas are becoming an increasingly popular choice for first-time classic Porsche buyers.
Credit where credit is due: the 911 Targa looks quite unlike any other sports car, even if there are plenty of “safety cabriolets” out there. Viewed side-on, it resembles an erdbeerkörbchen (strawberry basket). And, the Targa’s ranking below 911 coupe and cabriolet body styling
(and therefore that of the 912, not forgetting the Targa-only 914) has, until now, kept prices sensible. Put it this way, with the exception of a Porsche-diesel tractor, a 964 Targa is one of the most cost-effective routes into ownership of an air-cooled Porsche.
Targas tend to have covered much less distance than their coupe counterparts, too. Perhaps this is because they’re viewed as the preserve of summer fun? Whatever the reason, Targas are enjoying a fresh wave of appreciation, as demonstrated by the examples featured in this issue of Classic Porsche.