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A long-hood 911 up for a no-reserve auction almost always manages to attract my curiosity. I know there will be problems – either basic cosmetic and mechanical problems or problems with originality (or all of the above!) – but why let that deter me? In the case of the 911 here my interest is increased by it being the one-year-only L, not necessarily because the L was a particularly special model, but simply because we don’t see them often and that makes them more interesting. Prices for the L typically hover between those of the T and E and I’ll be curious where bidding takes this one. Let’s start with what we have and then get to the issues below: A Coffee Brown 1968 Porsche 911L Coupe with what looks like a cream-colored interior and a reported 133K miles on it. I suppose we could say that these two colors were destined to go together.
Here we have one of Porsche’s more interesting design ideas: the Soft-Window Targa. Most are quite familiar with its hard windowed cousin, which has been available on the 911 for most of its life. But far fewer may be familiar with the precursor to the 911 Targa. With the Soft-Window Targa Porsche sought an engineering solution that would allow for maximum openness in the cockpit while retaining a measure of structural integrity they thought would be necessary to meet impending safety regulations. Those safety regulations never became manifest, but their design did. It’s somewhat simple: use a fixed roll-hoop and make the top and window removable. The look is somewhat strange and the window section was quickly converted to a fixed window, but the soft window provided a great deal of versatility and choice for drivers depending on just how much of the external environment they wanted to experience. The Soft-Window Targa is quite rare on both the 911 and 912 and as such will command higher values, with the 911S being far and away the most expensive. The one we see here is from the earlier short-wheelbase model years as well: an Irish Green 1968 Porsche 912 Soft-Window Targa, located in California, with 113,000 miles on it. It should be noted, this 912 does not possess its original engine, but the rest of the car is said to be original.
Time for some citrus. I’ve mentioned previously how the market for the long-hood 911 has plateaued, and perhaps even reached its peaked, but even if that is the case the 911S remains a special car that we must keep an eye on. These were some of Porsche’s first opportunities to show its ability to produce a top-level machine that could provide performance but also remain civilized. The 911S epitomized that focus and here we have two different variants, both of which come in the wonderful shade of Tangerine over Black. With values remaining mostly stable over the past year it’s not a bad time for those who really enjoy these early 911s to look for the right opportunity. Here we have both a Coupe and a Targa and both look in very good condition. Which would you choose? We will begin with the Targa, from the 1968 MY:
While I would give the current Volkswagen Beetle a second glance, a vintage one always catches my eye, especially these days when you don’t see that many in traffic. Growing up in the 1980s, you’d still see a good number of the people’s car being used as daily drivers, but not so much anymore. There’s plenty of ways you can customize a vintage Beetle to your liking and for not much money, either. One of my favorite looks is the “Cal look” as we see here with this 1968 Beetle. Powered by a 1600 cc dual carb engine and sitting on Empi wheels, this one is a real looker.
Porsche’s soft-window Targa is one of those engineering feats that is a mix of the sublime and the ridiculous. It is a brilliant solution to a problem that never really arose, but with its removable rear window and fixed roll hoop it looks…strange. I think Porsche’s engineers realized this as the design only existed for three model years, and during production of the Soft-window Targa a fixed hard window was an available option. Even so, with safety standards failing to render the convertible obsolete it would still take 15 years before Porsche actually produced a Cabriolet version of the 911 so in that regard the Soft-window Targa seems well ahead of its time. There is definitely a lot going on with these. Design aesthetics aside, its short production run for either the 911 or 912 makes the Soft-window Targa a rare and interesting commodity among vintage Porsches and one that surely attracts plenty of questions and gazes within any collection. They are a part of Porsche history and as such always warrant considerable attention. The example we have here is a Light Ivory 1968 Porsche 912 Soft-window Targa located in Ohio.
