Porsche 911 S 2.4 Targa: anniversary tribute to restoration coup

To celebrate 50 years of Porsche Design, the center founded by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche in 1972, Porsche Classic fully restores a 911 S 2.4 Targa with which to pay tribute.

For the past two years, Porsche Classic has been working on a very special project to celebrate 50 years of Porsche Design. This is the restoration of a 911 S 2.4 T from 1972, which corresponds to the year in which the design studio was created and also pays tribute to its founder, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. This unique unit features the same black color that characterizes the legendary Chronograph I watch, designed by him in 1972.

To carry it out, the new Sonderwunsch program – special requests – was used. Once all the key points were agreed upon, the job of the factory designers and restorers was to carefully transfer the specifications from the new model to the classic. The only requirement that the donor model had to meet was its year of manufacture, 1972. The entire team was then in charge of implementing the style of the new Porsche 911 Targa special edition 50th anniversary Porsche Design in the classic. As the Director of Porsche Classic Ulrike Lutz explains, "the idea was to achieve a perfect counterpoint between the two" for which the help of Roland Heiler, of Studio FA Porsche, was necessary.

For his part, Uwe Makrutzki, Factory Restoration Director for Porsche Classic, comments that "our general philosophy in a factory restoration project is to try to make it as faithful as possible to the original model. With this project, we deliberately adopted a different approach. We have created a unique vehicle that combines tradition and modernity, and also bears the signature of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche."

THE ELEGANCE OF THE COLOR BLACK

The bodywork of this 911 unit features a satin black color from the original palette interrupted by stripes in a satin platinum finish and bearing the Porsche Design emblem. This finish is also used on the safety arch thanks to the use of laser, in what is a new interpretation of the brushed stainless steel of the original classic model. Meanwhile, the Targa lettering is finished in matte black while the rear bonnet grille incorporates a 'Porsche Design 50' badge with a reproduction of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche's signature. The set is completed with anodized Fuchs rims and Pirelli P6000 tires.

The interior is also dominated by the color black, a tone that he himself helped to turn into a trend from his position as director of the first Porsche Design department in the 1970s. A good example of this are the decorative moldings of the 911 that changed gradually from chrome to matte black beginning in 1973. The Chronograph I watch, which he designed and introduced in the same year, was the first with a black case and dial, which was a first for watch design at the time.

This black color is also used as a mix with a checkered pattern that covers much of the door panels and leather-wrapped seats. The squares of the 'Sport-Tex' fabric offer the classic combination of black and grey. There's also a 'Porsche Design 50' badge on the passenger side, the same one that decorates the vehicle's document folder and tool bag.

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The factory restoration project is completed with a presentation box containing detailed vehicle documentation, a key case, which is an original Ferdinand Alexander Porsche design, and a scale model of the restored vehicle.

Regarding the design of this unit of the Porsche 911 S 2.4 T, Makrutzki comments that "the production sheet usually tells us exactly what equipment a vehicle had when it was manufactured and, therefore, how it should look after a restoration. However, This time we had much more freedom to play with the set-up on this anniversary model. Porsche Classic helped us a lot here, as not all modifications fit the general philosophy of a vehicle or are technically feasible."

CLASSIC REJUVENATED

The vehicle that served as the base is a 911 T 2.4 Targa from 1972, which, according to Makrutzki, was in poor condition and missing some parts. "While this would normally be a difficult start to a restoration project, this time it was not relevant given the modifications that were going to be carried out," he clarifies. Porsche Classic completely updated the six-cylinder boxer engine and chassis to match the S version's specifications. a mechanical injection system. After all this process, it was reviewed and a series of dynamic tests were carried out, as a quality control measure, to check that everything was working correctly.

"The biggest challenge, however, was restoring the interior of the vehicle. The seat covers are a good example of how modern materials should fit into a historic cabin. The strength and elasticity of the chosen material made it difficult to upholster seats with 50 years of life. Fortunately, we had a very experienced upholsterer in our team who rose to the challenge with the help of a few templates," says Makrutzki.

FERDINAND ALEXANDER PORSCHE AND THE 911 TARGA

Ferdinand Alexander –1935-2012– was Ferry Porsche's eldest son. He spent two semesters at the Ulm School of Design before working at Porsche Body Design. Since the end of the 1950s, the Porsche 901 was created there, which was presented in 1963 and became an icon with the name 911 – after losing a lawsuit with Peugeot, which had registered the numbers with a zero in the middle. In 1972, Ferdinand Alexander and his brother Hans-Peter founded the Porsche Design Studio as an independent company. Over the last 50 years the studio has become the exclusive Porsche Design lifestyle brand and now showcases the legacy and philosophy of Professor FA Porsche through a wide variety of products.

As for the Porsche 911 Targa, it was presented at the 1965 Frankfurt Motor Show with the claim of being the world's first safe convertible, with a 20-centimetre-wide roll bar, a removable roof and a small rear soft top with a window. of plastic. This was how Porsche responded to the debates that arose in the United States about the danger of convertible vehicles. Shortly after, the panoramic rear roof with heated glass would arrive. The name 'Targa' is due to the Targa Florio, a well-known endurance race that took place on the Italian island of Sicily, and in which, at that time, Porsche had won four times.

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