Porsche 911 Targa (991) Sketches Leak

In 1967, Porsche introduced a convertible variant of the 911. However, they feared the NHTSA would ban convertibles in a place where demand was high, the US. The clever chums at Porsche took it seriously which resulted in the engineers having to think of a new way to go about things. Porsche engineers decided to create a roof which offered a removable center and rear window but retained the steel cover over a roll bar in the center. This idea would soon to be called the 911 ‘Targa’.

Porsche has decided to give the 991 Porsche Targa a greenlight for 2014, but this time, it won’t be dropped at last minute as Porsche has promised to its purists that it’s coming back, for good. The Targa top will be somewhat reminiscent of the 67′ Targa, this will include a brushed aluminium finish for the roll bar and black fabric-covered removable panels.

The 991 Porsche 911 Targa will be offered with a 3.4-liter flat-six engine which produces 350hp and a 3.8-liter flat-6 which produces about 400hp in the 4S variant of the Targa, somewhat similar to the 991 Carrera 4 and 4S powertrains. These engines will be bolted directly to a 7-speed PDK transmission which will drive all four wheels.

Obviously, in this day and age, which human in this world has the time to pull over, remove the panels and stow them somewhere, hmm? Well, Porsche are definitely aware of that as the technical patents reveal that the Targa will electronically operate at a touch of a button, a bit like a conventional cabriolet.

It appears that the rear upper panel and the windshield will move upwards and backwards while the center of the rollover bar lifts vertically out of the way. The rest will be levered backwards and contained in a space under the windshield.

The 991 Porsche 911 Targa is expected to debut at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. Prices are unconfirmed as of now, but expected to be around the £85,000 mark.