1976 Porsche 911 3.0 Carrera Targa

The Porsche 911 "Carrera 3′ has a very special place in the history of the 911, as it brought together elements from two of Porsche's most legendary cars. It was the latest incarnation of the Carrera name, originally introduced to the 911 series as the classic 2.7 RS in late 1972, and the Carrera 3′s 2993cc engine used the same die-cast aluminum crankcase as its cousin, the newly introduced Porsche 930 Turbo'.

Sold between 1976-1977, and during its short two-year life span only 3687 cars were built - a tiny amount compared to nearly 58,000 911SCs and 76,500 3.2 Carreras produced. Of these, 2564 were coupés, 1123 were produced in Targa form, and only a very small number of these were manufactured in RHD.

The 3.0 engine was essentially the phenomenal 911 Turbo's 2994 cc engine without the turbocharger. Built before the '911 SC' it has everything the SC has, and more. It's a different drive with more power (200bhp), more torque and benefitted from being 10% lighter too. It also has the 6 bolt flywheel and a crank from the legendary '73 Carrera RS. The 3.0 Carrera would go on to be the basis for all future developed 911s up until 1989. Performance numbers for the Carrera 3.0 are astonishingly similar to those of the famed Carrera RS of the early seventies, and it's the last time Porsche would use the Carrera name until the mid-eighties.

Built by Porsche in April 1976, this Carrera 3.0 has an interesting and unusual history. In right-hand drive form and finished in Grand Prix White, it was originally delivered to a Belgian dealer, and from there its new owner had the car flown to Pakistan where he had been posted as a member of the Government, returning to England in 1982 and bringing his prized Porsche with him. It was then purchased by a Mr. Burnett who registered the car in September of 1984. After just over ten years, the car was sold to Whittet Brothers of Dundee in October 1994 who later sold it on to our vendor in November 1994, and at this point the car had covered 56,806 miles.

The car was enjoyed for a further two years, before being garaged in 1996 with the speedometer reading 59,233 miles. It was to remain in this garage until 2004 when our vendor planned to use the car once again and decided to have it mechanically recommissioned by Agra (Precision) Engineers in Dundee. The car had a few oil leaks due to hardening of the oil seals during its years of standing and so the engine was rebuilt at a cost of £4,268.

However, again it was seldom used and was stored until 2012. The car was put through an MoT test on 19/7/12 at 61,489 miles, before being garaged once more until June 2015 when a further MoT indicated it had covered just 61,529miles. Two new rear tyres and a new battery were fitted at the same time. Now showing an unwarranted, but believed genuine mileage of 61,588mls and this is supported by the history file which contains the V5C, a number of MoTs and various invoices dating back to 1986.

The 3.0 Carrera is a very special model, an unsung hero and surely the next generation of the 911 family to attract the kind of attention normally reserved for its more well known cousins.