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A couple days ago I featured a 911 that had undergone a bit of a transformation into what we might best describe as an off-roader. I thought it seemed like a potentially interesting project, but in its present condition seemed somewhat incomplete. The pricing also didn’t seem great all things considered.
Here we can look at something similar though nearly the opposite. This is a Burgundy Metallic 1977 Porsche 911S Targa and unlike the 911S Safari, as it was dubbed, this one appears in nearly original condition, was under long-term ownership, has very low mileage, and looks pristine. At its best, this is what a mid-year 911 can look like. As I noted in the Safari post, the general lack of desirability of these models makes them good candidates for unique projects. With this one maybe we’ll see just where the market presently lies for an original example.
I have more or less made it my mission to post all of the interesting Targas I come across. It is a 911 model I have loved since my first encounter with one in the ’80s and I have grown particularly fond of the design in its present iteration for the 991. We don’t see a lot of them because they aren’t a lot of them, but thankfully enough buyers chose to get them in interesting colors that there is still some choice out there for those who don’t want the typical offerings. I still wish it were available as rear drive, but just returning to the original roll-hoop design will have to suffice for now.
Here we have a paint-to-sample (Irish Green?) 2017 Porsche 911 Targa 4S, located in Houston, with 7-speed manual transmission and 4,423 miles on it. For those who like their 911s to be optioned rather simply this one is pretty much paint-to-sample, a set of wheels, upgraded stereo, and that’s about it. In that regard, it’s all about the color.
Here we have a 1983 Porsche 911SC Targa that comes in a kind of unusual color. Unusual in the sense that I’m not quite sure what it is. The seller simply lists it as Gold, but that’s not terribly helpful. It could be Gold Metallic, which had been available in earlier years though I don’t think it was available in 1983. Platinum Metallic could be another option, which I believe was available in 1983. But it doesn’t really look like either of those colors. Or perhaps Casablanca Beige, a rare color we have seen before. To me, the color it looks most like actually is Lime Gold Metallic, but unless I’m mistaken that’s a relatively recent color. It, of course, recently could have been repainted Lime Gold. The seller doesn’t mention this and, unfortunately, because most of the pictures show it parked in the shade we can’t get a very good sense of how it truly looks. The interior is brown leather, which was available in the early ’80s and works reasonably well with this exterior color. Overall I don’t know that I’ve seen a 911SC with this color combination. It may not be original, but that’s something that should impact its selling price more than whether we dismiss it entirely or not. I think it looks pretty good!
I can’t keep up with all of Porsche’s special editions. The one we see here, a 2017 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Exclusive Design Edition, is one that I was not even aware had been produced. Part of that is it isn’t really all that special, it’s more a chance for the Exclusive department to produce something than it is a celebration of a production milestone or anything of that sort. Like a lot of such projects from Porsche the Exclusive Design Edition pretty much consists of some special color combinations and interior accents unavailable on any other 911. And, of course, all are combined in one package. Only 100 were built so your chances of seeing one, let alone purchasing one for yourself, are very slim. Does that make them especially desirable?
Speaking of a bright red interior…. Yesterday I featured a 930 Cabriolet that we might almost confuse for the younger cousin of this 1982 Porsche 911SC Targa. The color combination is pretty similar in its general aesthetic, though the colors themselves technically are different. The 930 showed Slate Grey Metallic over a Lobster Red interior. Here we have Black Metallic over a Lipstick Red interior. Both obviously possess the mixture of darkness and bright color that we see quite a bit in the ’80s. We see it still today though in many cases the brightness of the red has been toned down. That’s probably fine, but there is something about a really bright interior that I find particularly alluring.
Lipstick Red is perhaps a little deeper of a red than Lobster Red and of course Black Metallic definitely is a darker shade than Slate Grey. So here we have the deeper, darker, version of that 930, but I think both would appeal to similar buyers – at least regarding appearance as the cars themselves are quite different. They’re unique looks and won’t have wide appeal, but for those searching for one of the more rare 911s this one might suit you well.
