I’m not sure if it’s the onset of winter or just a seller’s market, but it seems we have been coming across a lot of Targas for sale lately. Even better, they have been a bunch of very nice examples either in interesting colors or low mileage, or both. This one is neither of those things, but it’s still very pretty and has the distinction of being a one-owner car that has seen fairly reasonable mileage over its 25+ years of existence. I suppose it is also fitting that I return to the classic 911 Targa as a follow-up to yesterday’s redesigned 993 Targa. Porsche first introduced the Targa in 1967, with both soft-window and fixed-window versions eventually available, and while it would take a year or two off here and there the Targa has remained a staple of the 911 lineup for much of the car’s existence, even after the release of the 911 Cabriolet. The design remains somewhat a peculiarity of Porsche itself as very few other automakers have ever bothered with producing a Targa, with even fewer continuing to produce them today. These owe their initial existence to Porsche’s constant forward-thinking engineering and their continued existence to Porsche’s commitment to providing its customers with offerings intended to suit nearly every desire. With the original Targa design returning to the 911 lineup we may even begin to see the air-cooled models garner increased interest as nostalgia weighs on the current market. So as we turn back to that classic design, here we have a “one-owner” Guards Red 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa, located in Washington state, with 120,000 miles on it.
