Porsche showed a unique Targa model that has never existed

The invention of the Targa body and the introduction of a turbocharger on a road-going production car were two of the key achievements in Porsche’s history. However, the combination of the two solutions only appeared in the 911 Turbo Targa G-series, but in fact, the German brand studied the possibility of producing a turbocharged Targa based on its family of sports cars with a front-mounted liquid-cooled engine and a transaxle transmission with the engine and gearbox separated. But in the end, such cars did not go into production.

Development of the 924 Targa began on May 1, 1977, under the number 927/57. In typical Porsche fashion, the project was given two numbers: the left-hand drive version was number 941, and the right-hand drive version was 942. A version with a naturally aspirated engine and a version with a turbo engine were part of the plans from the very beginning of the project. On paper, the designers brought to life several ideas for a 924 Targa with a manually removable roof section, such as a coupe with a large glass tailgate or as a stand-alone trunk lid.

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At the same time, a completely new idea for the Targa concept of the future began to take shape. The idea was to make it possible to slide the glass roof over the rear window, as was later implemented on the 911 Targa (993). The 924 Targa prototype was based on the 1979 924 Turbo, finished in Alpine White with brightly contrasting checkered inserts in the center of the seats. The prototype fit into the overall model line-up, and the concept car looked almost production-ready – the 924 Targa’s roofline follows the familiar 924 shape with a large glass dome.

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The upper part of the arch, which makes up about a third of the roof, is made of the same plastic as the Targa roof, giving the car a look reminiscent of the 911 Targa. The end of the project, recorded in the “Documentation of Development Projects and Model Series”, is dated February 29, 1980. Since the development and tooling costs were estimated to be too high, the body rigidity was questionable, and there were also problems with visibility, the development of the 924 Targa was stopped. The only prototype of the car remained in the collection of the Porsche Museum, whose specialists showed the sports car in 2024.

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