Vote for your favourite targa top car

The coolest Targas

When neither coupé nor convertible suit the discriminating driver he opts for an auto with a targa top. Motorvision has put together a gallery of some of our favourites. Which are yours? Rate the photos for yourself! (Jessica Fischer , 09.02.2010)

The coolest Targa

You’re not convinced that a convertible is the right car for the northern latitudes of ? You don’t like the way that a drop-top ruins the graceful lines of a coupé? But with the coupé you’re completely cut off from that fresh air feeling? Then there’s just one compromise solution: and that is the targa.

: The absolute classic among the targa models and the best known: the Porsche 911. The first 911 with the targa designation appeared at the IAA motor show in Frankfurt in 1965. At the time the model was seen as a ‘safety conscious’ convertible with an extra-wide roll bar, with its removable roof panel.

In contrast to the way convertibles are constructed the targa roof is permanently mounted onto the roll bars of the car. The middle panel of the roof, between the A and B pillars, is removable. The word ‘targa’ comes from Italian and means simply ‘license plate’. But after Porsche had scored several wins in the Targa Florio event the manufacturer introduced a Porsche Targa model in 1965, a 911 convertible with a very wide roll bar and a removable plastic top which could be folded away. The designation ‘Targa’ was subsequently registered for copyright protection by the Porsche concern. But the term can be used to define the models produced by many different car makers. Let’s hear from you! Are there some memorable targa models we should add to our gallery? Tell us if there are!

BEWERTE DIESEN ARTIKEL

Top Gear

High octane entertainment

The Royal Wedding? That was last week! And for those of us whose interest was piqued by the fact that the Royals were all being driven in automobiles of marques which are firmly in German hands… No, let us move on! The past weekend was rich in high octane entertainment, and not only in on the Formula One track.

KBR Motorsport VW Passat CC

Understatement: VW Passat by KBR Motorsport

The CC is the top model of the Passat range and is the version meant to counter the image of the mid-class travelling salesman’s modest sedan with a bit of added lifestyle allure. KBR Motorsport go one better and make of the elegant coupé a serious street racer.

G-Power Hurricane RS Touring

The world’s fastest estate car, from G-Power: The Hurricane RS Touring

What do Ben Johnson, Lance Armstrong and G-Power have in common? They are or were record chasers as obsessed as any single in a bar on the weekend chasing skirts. The difference, though: While the athletes can be suspected of using performance-enhancing substances, G-Power resorts only to fully legal doping to make their Hurricane RS Touring the fastest estate car in the world.

Henry Ford Museum

Henry Ford Museum: A history lesson

Detroit has more to offer than abandoned factories, crumbling buildings and an air of desolation. The Henry Ford Museum offers a fascinating insight in the history and culture of the American automobile - and is perfectly frank about some of the industry’s failures.