A colleague once told me, “All race cars are white.” These words were spoken as I looked out at a very dilapidated Mazda Miata I had just purchased and realized the only path forward was to make it into a track rat. I suspect he could sense my despair at looking at a car with body damage that was obviously worse than described, and an open differential in place of the limited-slip it had when I first checked it out. This 1979 Porsche 911 Targa, fortunately, looks to be in much better condition, and its Grand Prix White paint job is a nice change of pace over the usual reds and blacks. Find the 911 here on eBay with bids to $28,875 and the reserve unmet.

It’s still somewhat surreal to realize that an old Targa commands this sort of money. Just the other day, I spoke with an individual who was well into his 70s and a long-time air-cooled Porsche enthusiast. I take it he didn’t follow much of what was happening in the collector car world because he still thought a convertible 911 was worth more than a Targa. This hasn’t been true for some time now, although in the 1980s, a drop-top 911 was almost certainly more desirable than a Targa, which is why the value of the models with the removable roof panel has historically been in the basement. That’s all changed in recent years, however.

While it doesn’t have sport seats, the interior of this 911 is still quite tidy, and the factory bucket seats are in good shape (along with the rest of the cabin, which doesn’t appear to show any cracks in the dashboard.) The black carpets and door panels show little in the way of wear and tear, and this color scheme is infinitely more appealing to collectors than white over tan. What’s truly amazing is that the 911 still looks as good as it does, inside and out, with nearly 200,000 miles on the clock. These 3.0L, flat-six-equipped 911s were particularly stout and I’m not surprised to see one that’s in good mechanical shape with that many miles.

The 915 manual transmission isn’t as smooth as the later gearboxes, but it shouldn’t a stop you from making a run at this 911. What makes this one even better is that a second or third owner from the late 80s and early 90s didn’t bother to modify it, so you don’t have to stare at an ugly reproduction “whale tail” mounted to a car that doesn’t need it. The color combination alone may sell this car, if the 180 horsepower that’s on tap via the fuel injected mill out back doesn’t. Air-cooled Porsches are approaching the level of untouchable with not a single 911 model available for short money unless you’re dragging a barn- or yard-find 912 out into the daylight. Fun fact, even at $30K, buying this Targa will likely be cheaper than restoring a train wreck.