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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.
Let’s step back to Genesis, back to the beginning. Ok, maybe not that far back. How about 1965 and the early designs of the 911? For good reason, collectors and enthusiasts cherish originality, but rarely more so than when looking at original designs. The place where an icon began. That’s what we have here with this Gulf Blue 1965 Porsche 911. Could we call this a time capsule? I don’t typically think of restored cars in those terms, but this one does take us well back in time to details we only see on these models. Even the Gulf Blue paint stands as an original color as it’s a much more vibrant shade of blue than that which is commonly associated with racing and which Porsche later utilized. Combined we have an absolutely beautiful 911.
I was going to open this post with an argument in favor of the color purple. Not the book or movie, but the color as a choice on a car. But I think it’s easier just to allow this 911 to do the work for me. Because I think it’s a wonderful color. Of the various rare colors for an early 911 Aubergine (or eggplant) is an underrated favorite. It isn’t as bright and vibrant as many other choices, but still stands out, especially in the sun when that color comes through all the more. We almost never see purple cars of any sort, but the great thing about Aubergine is that it doesn’t hide the color the way some very dark metallic purples do – colors that look black in almost every lighting – but it’s also not the sort of purple that the Joker might paint his cars. It walks a line between those two extremes and manages to look sophisticated and aggressive at the same time. I love it. Here we have it on what was an entry-level 911 in its day: an Aubergine 1973 Porsche 911T Coupe, located in Belgium, with around 70K miles on it.
We haven’t featured Porsche’s Cayman GT4 in a while and since this is probably my current favorite offering from the marque – I’m going to ignore the 911R for now – I wanted to revisit one of these. Since they became available it hasn’t been difficult to find a GT4 for sale second-hand and prices have unsurprisingly been pretty high. Most have virtually no mileage. This one is a little different: it’s an auction so we may have a better shot at a more reasonable price and this has a couple thousand miles on it. Nothing significant, but well past break-in. In that regard it qualifies much more as a used car than most of the others. The real distinguishing feature of this GT4, however, is the color. I have seen very few in Guards Red. I’m not sure why that would be the case since it’s a standard color, but for fans of Guards Red – and a car like this really begs for a color like this – this GT4 may serve as a pretty nice opportunity at a lightly used example.
After last week’s auctions, I’ll turn to a 911 that would have been right at home being featured at any one of them. Desirable model, very reasonable mileage, apparent pristine condition, and an elegant color combination. While perhaps not as rare as some of the models we see reach top dollar at those auctions, this 993 Turbo would certainly hold its own and its buyer could take it home knowing that he wouldn’t have to preserve it under cover at every moment. Sure, we’re not likely to see it banging around with a set of snow tires in mid-January, but it still can be enjoyed quite a bit when the weather turns nicer. So here we have an Arena Red 1996 Porsche 911 Turbo, located in Houston, with Marble Grey leather interior and 38,300 miles on it.
