An empty, twisting road. Sun cascading through the trees, stippling the smooth asphalt. The roar of the wind. A high-performance automobile and the raspy song of a finely tuned flat-six engine filling an open cockpit. The fantasy of every gentleman driver, and most gentlewomen drivers as well. By definition, a Porsche moment.
Yet, when the 911 was introduced in 1963, this measure of speed, poise and automotive freedom could not be experienced in the successor of the famed 356. An important segment was missing from its line-up, a convertible.
While the new model garnered praise almost as soon as it rolled off the Zuffenhausen assembly line, the press and public were quick to notice this gaping void. And as the previous open-air bathtubs had generated a significant number of Porsche sales, those who paced the halls of the home office also recognized the problem and were pondering how to fix it. But the company had invested too much of its resources in launching the 911 to undertake the redesigning and retooling necessary to produce a cabriolet, even if the only changes needed to the car were aft of the B-pillar.
The solution came from chief designer Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche. As the architect of the 911, the engineer was able to re-master his car, undaunted by the limitations that an open-top version had to retain as much of the coupe's sheetmetal and interior design as possible. Instead of creating a true convertible, what flowed from the craftsman's pen was a unique and, for the era, a somewhat startling concept that combined a broad roll-over bar, a removable top and a clear plastic, convertible-like rear window.
Adopting the name Targa in celebration of the company's competitive successes in the renowned Targa Florio race across Sicily, the new body style bestowed 911 drivers with the open-air feel, while the wide, brushed steel hoop delivered the safety of an enclosed coupe. This was a time when fears resonated through the automotive industry that the U.S. Congress was about to implement legislation sending the droptop automobile into exile. While perhaps hasty in its response to the rumors, Porsche was able to boast the new design as "the world's first safety convertible."
To fill the span between the windshield and hoop, several different styles of tops were considered, but an important criteria was the ability to take the car's hat along for the ride. Even on a sunny day, one never knew when the wind would chill or a thunderstorm would appear around the next bend. The final rendition was a cleverly designed unit that collapsed via a scissor-hinged frame, covered with a rubberized, textured vinyl and lined inside with a felt material.
The rear window was constructed from a clear, flexible sheet of plastic called "Polyglas" and edged with a single zipper so it could be easily inserted or removed as the driver saw fit. One drawback to this pliable material was that temperatures below 60,F (15,C) caused it to shrink, making removal or installation nearly impossible.
This "soft" window, standard from 1967-68, gave the Targa owner four different ways in which to enjoy his or her unique automobile. When the roof and rear window were in place, Porsche called the car the Targa Hardtop. Remove the top and you had the Targa Bel Air, and with only the window displaced, the Targa Voyage. When the full, open-air experience was sought, the extraction of the top and window delivered the Targa Spyder. These flamboyant names, a not-so-subtle gimmick of Porsche's sales department, were abandoned in 1969 when the soft window was replaced by permanently installed wraparound safety glass.
This large, half-dome glass piece allotted an additional amount of comfort and quiet to the cockpit and, for the driver, the convenience of a rear-window defogger. It also allowed for the Targa-top 911 to be registered as a 2+2 in the U.S. market instead of a two-seater as was the classification for the soft-window version.
The fixed glass added a bit more stiffness to the car. Like cabriolets, the Targa suffered from its own supply of creaks, rattles and moans, but its lack of rigidity was addressed early on with additional reinforcements to the floor pan and chassis.
Since the Targa model was designed to fit within the production line without substantial alterations, it was possible for Porsche to offer the unique top on any of its 901-based cars, including the four-cylinder 912. Even a high-performance 911S could be so ordered, which today is one of the most sought after models.
While the initial reaction to the Targa raised a number of eyebrows, by 1970 the model garnered more than 40 percent of all 911 sales. When the early 911 body style was replaced with the 2.7-liter car (1974-77), the Targa continued to be a customer favorite. A solid fiberglass top became standard for 1974-75, but most U.S. cars were delivered with the optional folding lid.
Throughout the 911's evolution, the Targa persisted. When the car billowed muscular wings, buffet-table-sized tails and packed monstrous engines with turbocharged punch, Porsche understood there were customers who wanted their cars in Targa form no matter the width of the wheels or the size of the powerplant. For 26 years, from the 901 to the 964, Butzi's open-top creation remained a staple of Porsche's line-up even after a true 911 cabriolet was introduced in 1983.
Although the last of the Targas with the original design was built in 1993, its essence was revisited in 1995 aboard the sleek 993. Foregoing a removable top, Porsche flexed its engineering prowess by creating an electronically operated glass panel that retracted smoothly under the rear window. When the panel was closed, the occupants had the option of drawing an electronically operated cloth shade from within the windshield header or allowing the sun to filter through the translucent top.
This year, Porsche introduces the 2002 996 Targa, the latest, and unarguably the finest rendition, of Butzi's ingenuity. Like the 993, the glass roof slips beneath the rear window, but the aperture of the 21st-century Targa has expanded to nearly 0.45m. The rear window, no longer a fixed piece as with prior models, now lifts, hatchback-like, allowing access to the rear seating area.
As it was from the start, the Targa is still the choice of a distinctive breed of Porsche enthusiast. Never as quick or agile as a coupe, not as wildly carefree as a cabriolet, the Targa offers a bit of both worlds, the perfect car for the driver who sees no reason for compromise.