Porsche took three years to bring this barn find 911 back from the dead
After spending 40 years under a tarp in a Long Beach, New York garage this 1967 911 Targa has been brought back to life by Porsche’s official Classic Factory Restoration team in Germany.
The three-year project began when the owner discovered the rare soft-window Targa, neglected after four decades, but largely complete. The short-wheelbase car was fitted with the S engine, making it one of only 925 models made between 1966 and 1968. The car was originally delivered to a dealer in Dortmund, Germany, and was sold to an American customer in 1969. Extras fitted to the Targa included a Webasto auxiliary heater, tinted windscreen, Blaupunkt Köln radio, leather seats, fog lamps and an outside thermometer.
After buying the sorry-looking Porsche in 2017 the new keeper decided to send it home to get the care it deserved, and the restoration project took until the end of 2020 to complete. As with every car that undergoes the Factory Restoration program, the Targa was completely dismantled, the engine and gearbox disassembled and rebuilt. For this special car the owner wanted it to be restored to completely original condition rather than taking advantage of any potential modern-day improvements.
Porsche had to raid its parts warehouse to find original components rather than use modern or aftermarket offerings—even cable clamps and rubber grommets are 1960s stock.
The targa roof could have been replaced by a current material which is tougher than the 1960s fabric, but instead Porsche’s in-house experts had to create a bespoke roof, bonded and stitched as it would have been decades ago. The client even refused a modern powder coating to protect chassis and engine parts, preferring a two-part black paint just as it had in 1967.
The bodywork took around 1000 hours to prepare for painting in Polo Red, where the customer did consent to a modern paint protection finish as he plans to drive the car as much as possible. That’s what we like to hear.
