1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 Targa

Built for just two years between 1976 and 1977, and filling a gap between the basic 911 and the 930 Turbo, the Carrera 3 occupies a special place in 911 history.Its 3 litre, horizontally opposed, air cooled engine with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection produced 200bhp at 6,000 rpm and 188lb/ft of torque, and was basically the 2994cc engine from the 930 Turbo without the forced air induction. Mated with either a 4 or 5-speed version of Porsche's excellent 915 manual gearbox these were quick cars.Production numbers were relatively small during this two year period with just over three and a half thousand rolling off the line, of which 1,123 were Targas. We believe of these, only 181 were right-hand drive and destined for the UK and, as there are probably less than half of those around now, these Targas are rare cars.

Most manufacturers struggle with torsional rigidity when trying to convert their coupés into convertibles (the other way around is often easier), and Porsche were no exception in the early sixties when trying to let the breeze into their new 901 (later 911). The solution was to build the car with a roll hoop as part of the chassis and when this was streamlined and cosmetically enhanced it worked well, and the result was an attractive "half-convertible" that was stiff and handled predictably. At a marketing meeting to decide a name for this new concept, Cologne dealer Walter Franz threw "Targa" into the hat conjuring up images of their success with an open-top car in the hard-fought Targa Florio under a glorious Sicilian Sun. Whilst considering this possibility, someone pointed out to Harald Wagner, the marketing director that "targa" was Italian for "shield" and signified strength and safety, which obviously appealed to the Teutonic sense of responsibility, and so the name was adopted and is still in use today.

This particular 3.0 Carrera Targa is one of the original RHD, UK examples and was purchased by our current vendor from Autofarm in Oxfordshire around 18 years ago, and at the time of purchase, was in the sort of condition that you would expect from an Autofarm retailed car. The car had a number of owners prior to their purchase, but fortunately a lot of the car's early history was still with the vehicle and they were able to provide our vendor with this, and it will be present as part of the sale.

The current odometer reading is 75,500 miles, and amazingly the car has only covered some 2,000 miles in the last 18 years. During this period it's been kept in a dry garage, all the fluids kept fresh, occasionally started and run up to temperature and used for local trips.

This Carrera 3.0 is finished in the lovely period colour of Ice Green Metallic with a Black leather interior. Described as being in nice original condition throughout but would inevitably be improved with a bit of love and attention. The "Carrera Cup" wheels appear unblemished. It drives quite well with no obvious problems but would naturally benefit from being regularly used. The MoT expires next May.

These cars were only made in limited numbers and are becoming scarce and collectable, and this cool, Ice Green example with its relatively low mileage (less than 2,000 a year) and lovely original condition makes a lot of sense.