Porsche constructed a total of 2562 912 Targas, less than 8 percent of all 912s. While Porsche was discontinuing the 356 cabriolet model in 1965, a Targa® prototype was shown at the 1965 Frankfurt Motor Show. Porsche's Targa assembly line started in December 1966, producing the first ten 911 Targas, and at least three 912 Targas. 912 Targas cost more than the coupes, but provided 'air conditioning' without reducing engine performance.
Early factory workshop manuals called the Targa a "cabriolet", but absent was the fabric top and frame mechanism. Instead a flat "safety hoop", in anticipation of future automobile safety requirements, supported both a lift-off folding top, and a separate rear window. (Targa means "shield" in Italian.) Butzi Porsche decided that the rollbar should be covered with a brushed stainless steel surface. Factory window tunnel tests demonstrated that with the top off and rear window up, interior turbulence was low, even at high speeds. 1960 racing prototypes including the 1967 Porsche 910/6 had appeared in the windows up / top off configuration (the name also acknowledged the factory's success in the Targa Floria road race.)
Targas first came equipped with flexible plastic rear windows ('soft-windows') openable with a zipper; the glass rear window was an option starting in 1968. Soft-window 912s Targas are now extremely rare, with about 60 currently listed in the Registry. In September 1968, Christophorus magazine noted that with the soft-window "The safety hoop is permanent but you can achieve four variations around it, depending on whether roof and rear window are used or removed." Take off the Targa top (fitting unfolded in the trunk) for a mega sunroof (originally called the "Targa Voyage"). Unzip the plastic rear window and you have a cabriolet with rollbar (originally called the "Targa Spyder") The 356-cabriolet style tonneau cover shown here was a factory option. You might leave the roof on and the back window down on blistering hot days, cold winter days, or even in a light rain. Button it up for complete enclosure in any weather. Fixed glass rear window with electric defroster were optional and became known as the hard-window Targas. Yes, 1969 912 soft-windows do exist, but are extremely rare (by one account, less than 10 1969 912 Targas were built).
