Faults:
Windshield wiper never worked and the targa top came off once going down the road. The car was never operated in inclement weather anyway.
The small linkage piece that joined the shifting mechanism with the transmission would frequently loosen up and leave you in whatever gear you happened to be in.
As with most air cooled cars, this one featured customary oil leakage.
General Comments:
Simply put, the early '70s 911 targa is one of the purest sports cars ever born to the face of the earth. Long before Stuttgart built cars that had water cooling, air conditioning, emission control, power windows, brakes, and steering, Porsche built comfortable automobiles that had incredible power to weight ratios.
My 1973 model didn't have fuel injection and would run with the 'big dogs'. People were amazed when I flipped open the rear hatch only to reveal a 2.2 liter engine that powered nothing but the transmission and the alternator.
Its Bursch header produced a spine-tingling whine whenever the car approached the red line underneath an overpass. The targa top was the perfect mechanism for open air driving.
There aren't many cars that are continually fun to operate, have an excellent driving position, and run like this beast. This car would get over twenty miles per gallon and would exceed 145 mph.
Why did I sell it?
Every time I ask myself this question I am reminded that my 911 was succumbing to cancer (rust). Beware of any German car built before the late 1970s as rust is a MAJOR concern, especially on the front belly pan. Make sure you look under the car BEFORE you drive it.
With that said, I would certainly own a 911 again. Unfortunately, most of the early 1970s models are now worth more than they were new and there are reasons why!
5th Oct 2008, 19:15
I had a 2.4 911T in the 80's. loved it. It ran circles around all subsequent air cooled 911's...wish I still had it.