1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa

The Porsche 911 is a timeless design and the car dominated its class as soon as it was launched in September 1963. The name 'Targa' came from the Targa Florio road race in Sicily, in which Porsche had notable success: 11 victories in total. Porsche had, at one point, thought that the U.S. Safety Administration would outlaw fully open convertibles so came up with an ingenious approach to the first soft-top 911, the Targa sporting a hefty roll-over bar to protect the occupants in the event of an inversion, together with removable roof and rear hood sections, which were stowable in the boot.Introduced for the 1984 model, the Porsche 911 3.2, replaced the 911 3.0 SC. It shared the same body and chassis with a number of detail improvements.

Although it remained an air-cooled 'flat six', the '3.2' was 80% new and incorporated an effective cam chain tensioner and associated lubrication system that at last addressed this perennial 911 shortcoming. With 231bhp on tap the new 'boxer' motor endowed the Carrera with a level of performance approaching that of the original 911 Turbo of 1974, the bald statistics being a 0-60mph time of 5.3 seconds and a top speed of 152mph.

Delivered to its first owner, a Mr Karlon Young of San Antonio, Texas, by dealer Allan Porsche Audi Ltd on 23rd September 1980, this US-spec left hand drive Targa is presented in Grand Prix White with a beige interior. The next owner of the car, Mr Warren Sakaino of Honolulu Hawaii, obtained the car in January 1986, at which point it had covered some 15,000 miles. The history file that accompanies this car can only be described as comprehensive!

The first bill dated 30th March 1987 is from Autohaus, Honolulu, Hawaii to a Mr Alan Clarke, the fastidious owner of this SC for the next 27 years! Bills from the aforementioned specialist between "87-'88 total $1,900 before the Mr Clarke decided to take his pride and joy to another specialist in Honolulu, Ala Mona Unocal, who maintained it at a total cost of $5,641 up until 1992 when the car had covered 43,657 miles.

The service "baton' was then handed to Motor Werkes Inc., of Honolulu Hawaii, who billed Mr Clarke just over $15,000 over the next 9 years to look after the car. The final invoice from this specialist is dated 4th June 2001, by which point the car had reached 73,430 miles.

We can only assume that the beautiful beaches of Hawaii no longer interested Alan, as an invoice made out to himself on 30th November 2001 is present from Scientific Automotive, Pasadena, California - a Porsche and BMW specialist in that area. Save for a name change to Scientific Motorsport and a new premises, this company went on to maintain the car for Mr Clarke at a total cost of $24,000 up until 2014 when the car was sold to our vendor and shipped to the UK.

The warmer climes & sunshine of California have clearly had an effect on this car as is evident on the steering wheel and interior, however, our vendor has recently had the car professionally resprayed bringing the bodywork back to life and looking in fine shape. To be found in the file is also the original service book and drivers manual within their original Porsche wallet.

Upon arrival to the UK, this car has been NOVA'd and import taxes paid, so any prospective buyer will need to register the car with the DVLA to obtain a UK V5c and then proceed with an MoT.

With an odometer now reading what we believe to be a genuine 119,123 miles, this 911SC Targa offers great entry level Porsche ownership with a documented service history with only 3 owners from new.