“Targa” is an expression originally used for “shield”. In the car world it defines some rallies and also a particular body, the latter case going to “Targa top”. However, since there haven’t been many examples of it, it never had such a clear concept like sedans’s or pick-up trucks’s. Mentioning this name leads to think of a convertible car whose roof is only partially removable because it uses a metallic roll-bar, but the idea doesn’t go too further from that. Like with shooting brakes or notchbacks, if you put together three or four units of each (there aren’t many more than that, actually), you’ll see that their concept isn’t followed too formally. One of the first models to use what ended called Targa top was Triumph TR4, in 1961.
This style became famous around the 1960s and 1970s with several automakers, but Porsche managed to make it official: 911’s version was the first vehicle to use the Targa word in 1966, but it was also taken from a famous Italian road race. This variation of convertible cars only started to decline because most automakers improved the safety of their fully-retractable roofs, whether cloth or hardtops. Porsche also ended dropping it in favor of those, but it’s interesting to notice that before that it started to change the concept of Targa over the years. The 997-based generation, for instance, could be easily considered a coupé with an oversized panoramic sunroof. It even used an internal shade, in order to prevent the greenhouse effect of such a large glass area.
Such subversion actually started in 1995, in the 993 generation, but now it has come to an end. Porsche decided to honor its roots and created the youngest Targa based on the original “recipe”, whose debut was made in 1966. In other words, there’s a structural arch behind the front seats which leads to a fixed glass whose shape makes it both the rear windows and windshield. The front glass is the same of the roadster sibling’s, and the tiny portion of removable roof lies between them. But if it looks like the first 911 Targa, the removing system became much more complex: basically, both rear glass and the top section of the arch lift themselves in order to let the roof slide through under them and reach its own shelf at the back (you can check it here).
If it looks good or bad is always up to each person to decide, but it’s undeniable that it looks different. And this turns more interesting speaking of 911 precisely because of its number of versions – the outgoing Targa looked too much like the coupé even after opening the roof. There aren’t many pictures of the interior yet, but it isn’t expected to change too much from the other siblings’s. The current one will only use six-cylinder engines with all-wheel-drive, and will be available in two trims: Targa 4 will use a 3.4L with 350 cv, capable of going from 0 to 100 kph in 4s6, while Targa 4S features the 400-cv 3.8L and the same acceleration done in 4s2. This version will hit the streets at the end of this month, starting at US$ 102.595 and US$ 117.195.