Description
The first of countless upgrades to Porsche’s perennial 911 came in 1966 with the introduction of the 911S, which featured a better-equipped interior and a heavily revised engine producing 160bhp. By this time around half of all 911’s produced were being exported to the USA, where increasingly stringent regulation demanded that changes be made to the original design, the most significant being the adoption of dual-circuit brakes. However, it took time for Porsche’s engineers to get the newly introduced ‘S’ engine to meet emissions targets, so as an interim measure the 911L was introduced featuring the 911S’s superior equipment level but retaining the original 130bhp engine, pending the arrival of the de-toxed US-specification 911S for 1969. The 911L was dropped at the same time, its place as Porsche’s middle-of-the-range offering being taken by the 911E.
Around the same time, Porsche added an open-topped variant to the 911 model range for 1967 featuring a stainless steel-clad roll bar, removable roof panel and a detachable plastic rear window (a fixed glass window wasn’t made available until the following year as an option). Commemorating Porsche’s successive wins at the famous Sicilian road race, the new model was termed ‘Targa’, a term coined by other manufacturers since to describe this body configuration. The new 911 Targa was as close as Porsche came to ‘wind in the hair’ 911 motoring until the introduction of a full Cabriolet in the early 1980’s.
Beautifully presented, this 911 Targa has been comprehensively restored by specialists to a high standard. The car comes with a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity and is showing just under 50,000 miles from new with an extensive history file. A truly excellent example of this rare model and worth a careful inspection.
