Offered for sale is this 1973 Porsche 911 Targa 2.7 MFI, one of only 423 MFI Targas built in the first year of production.

The Porsche 911 is the exception which proves the rule, an unconventional automotive maverick which does everything back to front yet still manages to be on the cutting edge of automotive performance. A homage to the mantra that continual evolution improves the breed, the 911 was reimagined for the seventies with the G-Series launched in the autumn of 1973. The unusual engine location, cooling and appearance remained, but now it could hit the magic 150mph. A few other cars may have offered higher top speeds or 0-60 times, but none had the everyday usability of the 911. That superlative blend of performance, practicality and panache shines in the example offered here.

Porsche’s design genius is writ large across the age of the automobile: in the 1880s Ferdinand Porsche designed the Lohner Porsches, the world's first hybrid vehicles. In 1927 he designed the Mercedes S Series, cementing the success of the newly combined Daimler and Benz companies. During the Second World War he designed a version of the Tiger, usually considered the best tank of the era. Post war, son Ferry developed a series of sporting road cars based on the Volkswagen. By the mid-sixties, the 356 had given way to the 911. Thus the 911 is part of an automotive family tree which includes the humble 30 hp Volkswagen Beetle and the awesome 1300 hp Porsche 917/30; rear-engined and air-cooled in front-engined water-cooled world. Surrounded by copycat conventional car makers, it is remarkable that Porsche’s unique, independent engineering approach not only survived but blossomed.

The position of the engine and transmission, with all the weight hung out at the rear, makes for challenging handling for a novice, inexperienced or timid driver, because that rear end is a giant pendulum; lift of the gas in the middle of the turn, and an old 911 will put you backwards into the hedge. For the enthusiast, the committed, the skilled the handling is rewarding; like a motorcycle, a 911 needs a gentle application of throttle through a turn.

The Porsche formula is fully on display in 10180: suspension, steering and a motor derived from race-winners make for a pin sharp, sporting drive, combined with the wind-in-the-hair fun of the Targa roof and the oh-so-cool and oft-copied factory “Carrera” graphics along the door bottoms deliver an enormously appealing package, both to the fashionistas of the seventies and connoisseurs of vintage chic today.

Porsche’s naming conventions are derived from their racing experience, with the “Carrera” name being taken from the wild Mexican open road race of the early fifties, the Carrera Panamericana, which took place to commemorate and publicize the opening of the Mexican section of the Panamerican highway, a road running the length of the Americas. For the old Sicilian Road Race, the Targa Florio, the intense Mediterranean heat led to designs where the entire roof section was removed to help drivers keep cool. It was this innovation applied to road cars which created the Porsche 911 Targa.

This MFI Targa offers a combination of what built Porsche’s reputation, true racing heritage with a style that at once captures the zeitgeist of the times. For here is the same 2.7 liter 911/83 engine as found in the legendary, Targa Florio-winning 1973 Carrera RS Lightweight, and as such the car offered here is an RS Lightweight wearing a nice suit and tie. Aesthetically subtler than the later whale tail cars, yet still able to easily keep up with modern traffic, this is a rare opportunity to acquire a Stuttgart-registered, matching-numbers, superlative example of a rare, collectible, investible and usable G-Series 911.

This 1973 Porsche 911 Targa 2.7 MFI is a matching numbers original. 10180 was subject to a nut and bolt restoration by noted marque specialist Pobst Motorsport to factory correct specification. Resplendent in Porsche Grand Prix White with a black leather interior and black Targa roof this example is particularly desirable having been first registered in Stuttgart, home of the Porsche factory.

10180 was delivered new to Hahn Porsche in Stuttgart and first registered on November 23 1973. The “MFI” nomenclature indicates that this was a non-US market car, and hence equipped with the RS 911/83 engine and Bosch mechanical fuel injection from the legendary 1973 Carrera RS, considered by many to be a contender for “Greatest Porsche” and delivering similar driving dynamics to the RS. As a 1973, it is one of the very first MFI cars.

Wearing its original color combination of Grand Prix White (908) over a black leather interior, 10180 was optioned with the desirable factory Blaupunkt radio and presents very attractively, with the larger european headlights, single chrome door mirror and standing on its original mirrored Fuchs rims.

Today the odometer displays just under 96,000kms, however 10180 was subject to a full restoration by noted marque specialist Probst–Motorsport and only about 800kms (500miles) have been covered since completion in 2019. There is photographic documentation of the antiseptically clean underside. Since restoration 10180 has been in a private Porsche collection.

For full details, please see listing at sbxcars.com