1977 Porsche 911 2.7 Lux Targa Sportomatic

This car offered here is a UK-supplied, 1977 Porsche 911 2.7 "Lux' Targa with the ingenious Sportomatic (type 925/15) gearbox, now with three forward gears. Believed to be a matching-numbers example, it was one of just 1,724 such models produced that year. With its mid-seventies uncluttered styling, distinctive bumpers, full-length rear reflector and newly designed wing-mirrors, this car has all the classic styling cues from this once overlooked era. It's further enhanced by the very period, 15-inch ATS "cookie cutter' alloy wheels.

Better equipped than many of its predecessors, the model-year 1977 (J-series) 2.7 Lux model retained such luxuries as electric windows, but added a brake servo and an improved heating and A/C operation. The Targa was now fitted with fixed rather than movable quarter-lights for better security and this particular car is fitted with the optional extra of pinstripe cloth on the front and back seats. With a quoted 163bhp and 176lbft of torque from the famous 2.7 engine, it was reputedly capable of 135mph and 0-60mph in 7.8 seconds.

The car has been owned by our fastidious vendor since the 27th May 1983. A true classic car enthusiast, he had owned other 911s before this and specifically wanted a Sportomatic model due to the offset pedal nature of RHD manual Porsches of this era. In 1983 the car had done a believed genuine 43,818 miles. On the 15th May 1987 our vendor treated the car to a full engine re-build with an accompanying invoice for £2,674.28 and in December of that year was fitted with a replacement speedo. Used sparingly as a second car by our vendor, he kindly lent it a friend drive one day in 1990 and this friend, unfortunately, collided with a fence causing damage to the front offside. Reassuringly, his insurance company dispatched the car to renowned marque specialist Autofarm who repaired the car extremely thoroughly, with an accompanying invoice dated the 3rd September 1990 for £9,272.60. This invoice documents an indicated mileage of 3,624 at this time (* N.B. due to the age of this incident and the current classification protocol by insurance companies from this period, the HPI report indicates a Total Loss Payment; however, the vendor states that his friend"s insurance paid Autofarm directly for the repair work and the car was not written-off).

On the 4th March 1993 an amount of £860 was spent on the car with the mileage now at 8,366, and over the following 23 years, there is evidence of more thorough servicing and maintenance, backed up by numerous invoices and a series of old MoT certificates. More recently £768 was spent on maintenance in 2008 and in 2014 two invoices totalling £891.77, help validate the mileage at 23,390 at that point. His advancing years have prevented our vendor from enjoying the car in the last few years, but he has diligently maintained it, as evidenced by an accompanying invoice from July 2016 for £364.68. The car"s most recent MoT certificate dated the 22nd June 2016 documents an indicated mileage of 23,595 which equates to this well-maintained and mechanically healthy 1977 car having covered less than 70,000 miles in total.

The car does display the patina of use but appears solid throughout and, all-in-all, is a very usable example that is said to drive and perform exceptionally well. It has an MoT until the 21st June 2017. As 911 values continue to rise, the 1970's 2.7 and early SC models are now also becoming more appreciated, with this 2.7 Targa being a worthy example.