my first 911*

I was introduced to my first 911 a long time ago – waaaay back in 1972. I had several 356’s in my ‘shop’ with rusted out bottoms that I made feeble attempts at fixing. I'll go into those details at a later date or we will need to change the name of this blog. The car in question was a 68 Irish Green soft window Targa. I found the car listed in a local newspaper and the car was only 5 miles away. I made arrangements to look at the car the next Saturday morning with great anticipation.

Truth be told, I knew nothing about the 911, nothing about the engine, nothing about short wheel base, AND I knew nothing about Targas, This was the first year in America of the Targa and with the top off and the back window zipped out it was a dazzling looking car. Different than the popular coupe – but in many ways better looking. This Targa I went to see was now 4 years old but the paint looked like new, the interior was perfect and purred like a kitten. After a discussion with the owner pointing out the virtues of the Targa, a deal was struck and I drove it home. Remembering back, the Targa Top might have been a little worn and that might actually have been my very first Targa Top restoration.  How time flies. 

One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is an important, small detail about the engine. The reason it purred like a kitten instead of roaring like a lion was because it was a 4 cylinder 912 not a 6 cylinder 911. My first ‘real’ 911 was a 1972 911S Targa sportomatic and I’ll write about it in a future blog. But first, back to the Irish Green machine.

I LOVED that car, my boys practically grew up in the back of that 912 Targa. We drove it to soccer games, Porsche picnics, Watkins Glen – ohhh the memories. My kid’s favorite memory was when the back end caught on fire one cold winter morning while I was spraying some ‘boy scout juice’ into the carbs to help get it started. My aim was a little off, boom,  backfire, poof, flames. I can still see the look on the boys faces. There’s just something about the smell of a combustible engine firing up on a cold morning that gets you going. 
​
I drove that car off and on for about 20 years and every minute was pure, low horsepower driving enjoyment. Then I ended up selling the 912 to a very close friend with buy back rights for life. He drove it for a few years and it’s been in storage for the past 15 years or so. I think it’s time for the 68 912 soft window Targa to come back home. As they say, you can always go home. 

---