Photos released before its “official” opening showed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, that the new Targa will see a return to the traditional full-width roof opening and fixed Targa bar B pillar, compared with the sliding glass center roof section of the previous three 911 iterations.
One likely evolution for the new model is the apparent soft roof section, which could fold away neatly to avoid the storage issues of a solid piece.
Aside from the unique roof design, the new 911 Targa is likely to mirror the existing hardtop and convertible Carrera and Carrera S, Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S two and all-wheel drive specs, with either a 257 kW/390 Nm 3.4 liter or 294 kW/440 Nm 3.8 liter flat sixes, with seven speed manual or PDK dual-clutch auto transmissions.
Targa Porsche
Having owned a 1973 Targa at one stage, this new design is re-inventing the wheel with the fixed Targa bar B pillar and a fold up roof which then became small enough in outside dimensions to easily fit under the bonnet, all of which were available way back then.
The Targa design gives you the feeling of open air motoring, without the buffeting of sports cars, as the rear glass stops the air blowing forwards which leads to great degrees of turbulence in the cockpit.
However, some loss of torsional rigidity in the Targa design was evident back then – driving slowly from pavement to road surface you could visibly see the scuttle movement, but Porsche claims they have strengthened the chassis on this new model, compared to the cabriolets previously.
I would certainly like one of these in my garage!
