Targa top, or targa for short, is a semi-

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

car body style There are many types of car body styles. They vary depending on intended use, market position, location, and the era they were made in. Current styles ; Buggy: Lightweight off-road vehicle with sparse bodywork. ; Convertible / cabriolet : ...

with a removable roof section and a full width roll bar behind the seats. The term was first used on the 1966

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and ori ...

Targa, and it remains a registered trademark of Porsche AG. The rear window is normally fixed, but on some targa models, it is a removable plastic foldable window, making it a convertible-type vehicle. Any piece of normally fixed metal or trim which rises up from one side, over the roof and down the other side is sometimes called a targa band, targa bar, or a wrapover band. Targa tops are different from '' T-tops'', which have a solid, non-removable bar running between the top of the windscreen and the rear roll-bar, and generally have two separate roof panels above the seats that fit between the window and central t-bar.

Origin

The word targa first came into use from the 1965 Porsche 911 Targa, though it was not the first to use the removable roof panel system. The system first appeared in 1957 on the limited-production

Fiat 1200 Fiat 1200 was the name of three distinct models produced by Italian car manufacturer Fiat, all based on Fiat 1100 mechanicals. The first two were introduced in 1957, and replaced the TV (Turismo Veloce) variants at the top of the Fiat 1100 range: t ...

“Wonderful” by

Vignale Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe.Giovanni Michelotti Giovanni Michelotti (6 October 1921 – 23 January 1980) was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph marques. He was also associated with t ...

. The later Triumph TR4 from 1961, another Michelotti design, also featured a similar system, defined by Triumph as a

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top. The 1964 SAAB Catherina prototype and the 1965 Toyota Sports 800 both used similar systems before the 1967 Porsche 911 Targa. The targa style roof opening became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, when there were fears that the Department of Transportation (DOT) in the

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convertibles, due to concerns over the safety of occupants when a car overturns. As a result, manufacturers adopted Targa tops or T-tops. As Porsche helped to popularise this body style, they took out a trademark for the Targa name and manufacturers sought for alternative names for their removable tops. Porsche got the name "Targa" from the Targa Florio, the road race in

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where Porsche was very successful. ''Targa'' means "plate" (or placard) in Italian. Targa and T-top numbers have slowly declined as manufacturers discontinued them in favour of full convertibles with

retractable hardtop A retractable hardtop — also known as "coupé convertible" or "coupé cabriolet" — is a car with an automatically operated, self-storing hardtop, as opposed to the folding textile-based roof used by traditional convertible cars. The benefits ...

s and folding metal roofs such as the Mercedes-Benz SLK, and by better structural engineering with pop-up roll over bars behind the seats and front roll-over bar incorporated into the front windscreen. File:" 13 - ITALY - Vettura Targa - Targa top - Targadach - Fiat X19.svg, Targa top body style ( Fiat X1/9 example) File:TR 250 Valencia Blue.jpg, Triumph TR250 Surrey Top.

Glass roof

The year 1996 saw the debut of a retractable glass roof in the Porsche 993 Targa, a design continued on the

996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Emp ...

and 997 Targa. The glass roof retracted underneath the rear window revealing a large opening. A shade was there to help prevent the

greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent some of the heat from returning directly ...

of the closed roof. This system was a complete redesign, as previous Targa models had a removable roof section and a wide

B-pillar The pillars on a car with permanent roof body style (such as four-door Sedan (automobile), sedans) are the vertical or nearly vertical supports of its window area or Greenhouse (automotive), greenhouse—designated respectively as the ''A, B, ...

functioning as a roll bar. The new glass roof design allowed the 993 Targa to retain nearly the same side-on profile as the other 911 Carrera variants and eliminated the inconvenience of storing the removed top of the old system. The Targa had the body of the Cabriolet with the Targa glass roof replacing the fabric roof. The 911 Targa continued with the all-new 996-model and gained a lifting hatchback glass window. This, in turn, was used on the later 997 model of 911.

Motorized roof

With the introduction and production of the latest two generations of 911, the Type 991 and 992, Porsche decided to take the Targa in a different direction from that of the previous water-cooled Type 996/997 cars. The latest Targas were introduced in 2013 and 2019, and unlike the Type 993/996/997 Targas, the newer cars have somewhat returned to their earliest Targa roots by utilizing a solid roof panel spanning over the front seats. However unlike the manual lift-out panels of earlier 911s, the Type 991 and 992 Targa's roof panels are mechanized for automated lift-away and storage under the rear glass roof, which itself is mechanized to lift up and out of the way as the roof panel is placed into its stowed position. The Type 991 Targa also brought back the styling feature of the 'Targa bar' that was perhaps the most obvious and overt design cue of the air-cooled generation Targas. But unlike the previous Targa hoops, the one used on the Type 991 is in sections, where the horizontal span member is a physically separate piece that itself is mechanized to lift off of its vertical supports in order to allow the solid roof panel and its motorized components to slide rearwards as the panel is being stored within the car.

Rotating roof

Ferrari introduced a hybrid variation of the targa roof and folding metal roof with the 180 degree rotating roof featured on the 2005 Ferrari Superamerica designed by Leonardo Fioravanti, which was previewed on his Alfa Romeo Vola concept in 2000. The concept was also used in the 2010 Renault Wind.

Examples of traditional Targa tops

* Alfa Romeo Vola (2000 concept, rotating roof) *

AMC Eagle AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

Sundancer (1980–84) * Bentley Continental SC * BMW 3 Series Baur Cabriolets E21 TC1 (1978-1982), E30 TC2 (1983–1991), E36 TC4 (1992–1996) *

Bugatti Veyron The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver P ...

Grand Sport/Vitisse (2009-2015) *

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctiv ...

coupé (1984–current) *

Dodge Viper The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer FCA US LLC from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2010 to 2012. Production of the two- ...

Ferrari 308 GTS Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

* Ferrari 328 GTS *

Ferrari 348 The Ferrari 348 (Type F119) is a mid-engine V8-powered 2-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Ferrari, replacing the 328 in 1989 and remaining in production until 1995. It was the final V8 model developed under the direction of Enzo F ...

ts/GTS *

Dino 246 GTS The Dino 206 GT, 246 GT and 246 GTS are V6 mid-engined sports cars produced by Ferrari and sold under the Dino marque between 1967 and 1974. The Dino 246 was the first automobile manufactured by Ferrari in high numbers. It is lauded by man ...

* Ferrari F355 GTS *

Ferrari F50 The Ferrari F50 (Type F130) is a mid-engine sports car manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 1995 until 1997. Introduced in 1995, the car is a two-door, two seat targa top. The car is powered by a 4.7 L naturally aspi ...

* Ferrari Superamerica (rotating roof) * Fiat X1/9 * Ford GTX-1 (1966

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second rou ...

winner) * Ford GTX-1 Roadster (2005) *

Honda CR-X del Sol The Honda CR-X del Sol (marketed in other markets as the Honda Civic del Sol, Honda del Sol and the Honda CRX) is a two-seater targa top car manufactured by Honda from 1992 until 1998. Despite the body resemblance to a mid-engine car design, the ...

* Honda NSX-T * Honda S660 *

Jaguar XJ-SC The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, ...

'twin-targa' cabriolet (1984–1988) *

Koenigsegg Koenigsegg Automotive AB () is a Swedish manufacturer of high-performance sports cars based in Ängelholm, Skåne County, Sweden. Company The company was founded in 1994 in Sweden by Christian von Koenigsegg, with the intention of producin ...

(all models) * Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster *

Lamborghini Miura The Lamborghini Miura is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1973. The car was the first supercar with a rear mid-engined two-seat layout, although the concept was first seen in a production road car with Re ...

Roadster (one-off) *

Lamborghini Aventador The Lamborghini Aventador () is a mid-engine sportscar produced by the Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini. In keeping with Lamborghini tradition, the Aventador is named after a Spanish fighting bull that fought in Zaragoza, Aragón ...

Roadster * Lamborghini Silhouette * Lamborghini Jalpa * Lancia Beta Spider (Zagato) *

Lotus Elise The Lotus Elise is a two-seat, rear-wheel drive, mid-engined roadster conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1996 by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars. The Elise has a fibreglass body shell atop its bonded extruded aluminium chas ...

* Maserati MC12 * Matra 530 * Mazda MX-5 RF * Mercedes-Benz Silver Lightning * Nissan 100NX * Nissan URGE *

Nissan 300ZX The Nissan 300ZX is a sports car that was produced across two different generations. As with all other versions of the Z, the 300ZX was sold within the Japanese domestic market under the name Fairlady Z. It was sold in Japan from 1983 to 2000 a ...

* Pontiac Solstice Coupe (2009) *

Targa (1966–present) * Porsche 912 Targa *

Porsche 914 The Porsche 914 or VW-Porsche 914 is a mid-engined sports car designed, manufactured and marketed collaboratively by Volkswagen and Porsche from 1969 until 1976. It was only available as a targa-topped two-seat roadster powered by either a f ...

Porsche Carrera GT The Porsche Carrera GT (Project Code 980) is a mid-engine sports car that was manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 2004 to 2006. '' Sports Car International'' named the Carrera GT number one on its list of Top Sports Cars ...

* Porsche 918 Spyder *

Qvale Mangusta The Qvale Mangusta is a sports car produced in limited numbers by the Italian automaker Qvale between 1999 and 2002. During development and very early production, it was developed from the De Tomaso Biguá concept car shown to the general public a ...

* Renault Wind * Saab Catherina prototype (1964) * Smart Roadster * Suzuki Samurai *

Suzuki Cappuccino The is a small 2-door, 2-seater detachable hardtop sports car produced by Suzuki. Description The vehicle was designed to meet Kei car specifications for lower tax and insurance in Japan. Weighing , the Cappuccino is powered by a turbochar ...

(optional) *

Tesla Roadster (2008) The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric vehicle (BEV) sports car, based on the Lotus Elise chassis, that was produced by the electric car firm Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) in California from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway ...

* Tesla Roadster (2020) * Toyota Sports 800 (1965–1969) *

Toyota Supra is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The name " supra" is derived from the Latin prefix, meaning "above", "to surpass" or "go beyond". The initial four generations of the Supra were ...

* Triumph TR4 Surrey top (1961) * Triumph TR4A Surrey top (1965) *

Triumph TR250 The Triumph TR5 is a sports car built by the Triumph Motor Company in Coventry, England, between August 1967 and September 1968. Visually similar to the Michelotti-designed TR4 roadster it was derived from,TR for Triumph, Chris Harvey, the ...

Surrey top (1967) * TVR Tuscan Speed Six

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Targa Top Automotive styling features