1996 Porsche 911 Targa Test Drive

The ’96 Targa was something completely different: no longer a semi-convertible with a detachable roof panel but a rakish coupe with a giant power glass sunroof. The semi-convertible term was still apt, though, because the new design employed a “roof module,” supplied by Webasto Systems, that was screwed and glued onto the cabrio bodyshell.

At a glance, the Targa looked much like any Porsche 911 coupe but had differently shaped roof rails, rear side windows, and backlight, plus telltale part-lines at the windshield header and C-pillar bases where the cap connected to the cabrio body. In all, the conversion was visually subtle and undoubtedly cost-effective.

The roof itself was a bit Rube Goldberg, comprising a small flip-up vent at the windshield header, a larger sliding panel, and three motors to operate the pair plus an interior sunshade. Pushing a button on the console opened the vent. Pushing it again sent the main panel rearward to nest inside the rear window at full stretch, leaving a 26 X 37-inch opening over the front seats.

Of course, the glass could be stopped at any point in either direction of travel. A second switch worked the sunshade, which was rigged to retract automatically if you opened the roof with the shade deployed.

Despite all the extra glass, the Targa weighed just 60 pounds more than a Carrera coupe with the smaller steel sunroof. The conversion also added 0.6-inch to height but didn’t spoil aerodynamics. It even added a smidge of headroom, as the roof cap was slightly thinner in section than the normal coupe roof.

It was clever, this new Targa, but not without flaws. First, the roof glass was tinted a bilious blue, making for an aquarium-like cabin ambience, and aft visibility in full-open mode was murky even by day; you were, after all, looking through the roof panel and the back window. And though most testers found the glass-top nearly as rigid and tight as a steel-roof Porsche 911 — thanks to the stiffer cabrio base — a few mentioned the odd creak and groan of glass against rubber seals, especially on rough surfaces.
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