Targa 4s: is this the world’s most desirable Porsche 911?

The Porsche Targa, when it first appeared in 1965, was “cutting edge”, says Curtis Moldrich in Car magazine. The original idea was to design a safer version of the drop-top. Rather than stripping the roof off completely, the Targa had a removable roof panel. The result was a stiffer and safer car. Now that drop-tops are routinely much safer and sturdier, the Targa would now seem only to combine all the drawbacks of a cabriolet and a coupé. Still, it remains “one of the most desirable” 911s you can buy, even if only for the looks.

The latest model, the Targa 4s, combines a comfortable ride with an almost instantaneous throttle response and signature constant linear acceleration. It produces 443bhp from a six-cylinder, three-litre engine with twin turbochargers and “puts it to the road” via a refined all-wheel-drive system. “As in the vanilla 4S, Porsche’s four-wheel system is a non-intrusive wonder, quietly diverting power between the axles for the perfect blend of grip and driver engagement.”

That four-wheel-drive system will put off purists looking for a classic 911 driving experience, says Stuart Gallagher in Evo. Still, the all-weather traction and security it brings makes it an attractive proposition for most users and it means that, “when opportunities allow and speeds climb”, it feels “as planted and sure-footed as you would both want and expect”. And the removable roof is stashed away under the rear seats by a slick automatic mechanism in only 19 seconds, making it ideal for English stop-start rainy weather.

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The Targa “rides with plenty of purpose”, says Simon Davis in Autocar, but it’s “not so firm that you’d think twice” about using it as a long-legged grand tourer too. This is a sports car in which you could “quite happily endure big-mile schleps”. The rear-driven coupé may be the better driver’s car. The Carrera S Cabriolet is £5,600 cheaper. But the Targa remains an attractive option for those after an all-wheel-drive drop-top. True, much of its draw is its “poser appeal”. “But there’s more driver appeal to go along with that than ever before.”