1967 Porsche 911 S: Soft Window Targa?

1967 911S Barn Find

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Why do current Porsche prices still surprise me? You’d think I’d be used to it by now. We all except the fact that other cars go for big money, but for whatever reason it is still hard for me to accept the fact that 911 could be worth so much in project form. This is a ’67 911 S Targa though. And it was a special order paint color. Oh, and it has supposedly been sitting in a barn since the eighties… Still, has supply dried up the point where a car like this is worth over six figures? I guess it has because bidding on this one  is well over $100k and there’s a few days of action left. Take a look at the eBay listing here and let us know what you think.

Soft Window Targa

It doesn’t look to bad actually. There’s some rust, but it looks better than a lot of Porsche projects we have featured lately. Besides being the more powerful S model 911, the real draw for this one is the fact the 1967 was the first year you could get a Targa. The company was worried that stricter safety regulations in the US was going to kill off the convertible so they came up with a solution. The Targa top made open air motoring a little safer by leaving the b-pillar and just cutting out the area in front and behind it. Convertibles lived on, but Porsche kept the concept around. Later cars gained a fixed rear glass, but these earlier Targas actually featured a removable plastic window! The seller claims that this 911 is one of those, but that window doesn’t look right to me…

Can any Porsche experts fill us in here?

Auctions Ending Soon

Comments

  1. dav

    It gone :)

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  2. Bob

    Ended already. The seller said “super rare factory Special Order paint Silver Metallic 96024” yet I see a car that is red/orange. Am I missing something?

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  3. Jamie Palmer JamieStaff

    Sorry, P-car fans, but Porsche was just copying Triumph’s surrey top idea anyway…that ought to stir the pot a little…

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    • Grant

      At least the Porsche can stay in running condition and not lose a drop of oil for more than 3 days.

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      • Jamie Palmer Jamie PalmerStaff

        Grant, if you weren’t able to keep a Triumph running for three days, I’d say that was an operator issue, not a design one. Besides, the oil leaks keep the rust from starting… ;-)

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  4. Nessy

    That window is a later model glass rear window with the defogger lines in it. Auction is now off. Did you say the bidding for this thing was over 100g before the auction was stopped? Still kicking myself for selling a nice lime green 74 targa for 8500 in 2004 because I bought it for 5000 in 2001 and thought I was making a good profit. Stupid me.

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  5. Quinn's Exotic Restorations

    I actually have one of these same cars for 26 years now and the big upgrade back in the day was to add the glass rear window. Remember around the same time people that cut the rear window post out of 1963 Vette’s? Same idea.

    It is very easy to put the soft window back in…..IF you can find the original parts. Somebody is making them aftermarket now too.

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  6. Dave Wright

    These were commonly retrofitted with glass rear windows, plastics have a very limited lifespan. This has to be a rare car. Porsche never liked to put big power in the targe chassis. They did not consider it stiff enough. The 2 Ltr S was a wonderful engine, I think the redline on mine was 7500 RPM and it liked it. More likely than not,…..this one is headed for Europe. My buddy Manfred Freisinger can not get enough of them for his customers……at any price. The short wheelbase cars like this are the hottest on the market right now. For me…….I am looking for a nice 2000 or so Carrera in the 20,000-30,000 range. I think they are the best value on the market today.

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  7. Stang1968

    I’ve driven a 74 Targa before and I agree – the body wasn’t nearly as stiff as it should have been. I remember the doors would bind slightly due to the flex.

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  8. MountainMan

    The prices on these just amaze me every time I see one for sale. I sure wish I would have bought one when they were affordable…not for the profit factor however nice it may be but just because I have always wanted a 911.

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  9. ChasMember

    High bid was $120,000.00 before the seller ended the auction, so it had to be a much stronger offer than $120,000.00 in order to persuade the seller not to wait and see where the market would have taken it!

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    • Nessy

      120g for this? What? That is insane. A 10g car 15 years ago. What is it about older 911s now? There are still many around. Anyone have an answer? Not a guess but a real answer to this?

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      • Dave Wright

        What has happened is the European market. They have money and are buying them back. I saw a similar car in Amsterdam for 225,000 euros last November. I have a friend in Germany that has been a major used Porsche dealer and restorer for 50 years……….have known him for 40 years. He used to sell his cars to the States…..but now buys in the States. He told me last fall that he has not shipped a car to the US in over 6 years. I usually buy a car from him to drive while in Europe and ship home when I come home………no more.

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      • Don L

        @NessY Because a similar era Ferrari can often bring 10 times as much and often much more….

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  10. DolphinMember

    Two special things about this car. 1) this was the first year of the Targa. 2) this was the first year of the S model, which had not far off 100 HP per liter—race engine territory back then in the world of non-turbo engines. And it still has its original engine and what looks like the original Fuchs wheels, which is big.

    All that makes it the holy grail of early 911 models, and people will pay up for that. The only more desirable model from early 911 days would be the 1973 RS models, which had the advantage for Porsche collectors of being made and sold in both road and racing versions.

    Doesn’t look like 10K miles in California to me, tho. The underside shows lots of corrosion and the forward torsion bar mounts look doubtful, so they would need a close look. If bad, they would need to be fixed and that might pricey. Probably lots of other things will be pricey to make perfect on this car. But when done it will be worth more than the probable price that was paid here, but maybe not worth the price paid + the resto cost.

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  11. Woodie Man

    I had a soft window ’67 Targa that had been Californicated and had a glass window put in it. Thing was wicked fast. Original drivetrain and Fuchs. In 2001 driving up to a light one day, my foot slipped off the brake and hit the gas. I jetted into the rear left corner of a Volvo wagon. Tore my right front fender back to the door. Insurance company wouldnt repair it…gave me….wait for it….six grand.! I got a call from a guy who found my business card under the seat. He had bought it at a salvage auction in Washington State..Wanted to know what was wrong with it! Oh well…………just sold my really nice almost original ’70 911T with a sunroof original Cal car that I bought to replace the Targa; for a little more than I got for the Targa.

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  12. Dougm

    @Dave Wright, no reply button for your comment; could you share your German friend’s contact? I dream of shipping mine over, tour for a few weeks (Nurburgring of course) then selling it there.

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    • Dave Wright

      I used his name in the earlier post. His son is running the operation now. He has a web site. Is located in Karlsrule. He is a wholesale buyer…….I know some places in Holland that might be better and off course the German version of Auto Trader is a good marketing resourse. I lived (and raced) near Nurnburg Ring for 4 years. We were there last fall. It is a magical place but just navigating the autobahns can be a life altering experiance. We had times that at 90MPH we were passed by big Porsche’s or AMG Mercedes doing at least 150……..my wife was so impressed that after that and a week at the Porsche and Mercedes factory museums,……….her little R500 isn’t enough any more. Time for a Carrera.

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      • DolphinMember

        ‘just navigating the autobahns can be a life altering experiance’
        ———————————————————————————–
        Definitely agree. One thing I wasn’t quite prepared for over there is the way drivers in Germany respect the letter of the law. Having just cruised along at well over 100 MPH with a bunch of BMW and Audi drivers (just other traffic, not friends). We were approaching the Swiss border. Some kms out we came on the slow down signals— 120 in a red circle with a slash across the number (=no more than 120 kph speed). Every driver actually braked ahead of that sign so they were at or under 120 when they reached it. Same with 100 kph, then 80 kph.

        Very competent drivers, respectful of the speed laws, very impressive. Getting back there is on my bucket list.

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      • Dave Wright

        When I first moved there in the late 70’s I was in the USAF. During our orientation briefing the instructor said it takes years for the Germans to get a drivers licence. Hundreds of hours of intensive training and it defiantly shows with the way they drive. The downside……as we were warned……they all know there right of ways. You do not take one by mistake…..they will run you over. I love the place………

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  13. bobhess Bob HessMember

    Used to make my living off these cars. Conversion to glass was common as you could not get the fabric units to quit leaking. Price hikes started in the ’80s when Porsche decided to go up market. We had a ’57 Speedster shell in the shop with at least 40% of the metal gone. It had suspension, transmission and locked up engine of unknown origin. Got a call from a friend working the German market and sold it for $15,000. It’s been climbing like a rocket ever since. Recently sold a kilo speedometer for $500. Probably could have gotten more if it hadn’t been a friend.

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  14. Rick

    Kuntszharlack, that’s why!

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  15. Jon Mashburn

    If anyone has any information on where this car ended up, please let me know! I was the previous owner and the car has a lot of sentimental value. I would really love to know the status of it’s restoration. Thanks!

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