PORSCHE 911 TARGA: PAST AND PRESENT OF A LEGEND

Today is really a special day, I’m driving along the “Passo delle Croci”, near Florence, with this fantastic Porsche 911 Targa 4S. You’ve already discovered in every detail with the Leonardo test-drive. I have the pleasure to drive it on the same roads near Lake Bilancino, where we have already put her posing near the dam.

I wanted to celebrate this car that has made automotive history and so I decided to offer a special photo shoot. A trip for two, between past and present, between history and modernity. On the one hand there’s me, with this latest version of the Porsche 911 Targa 4S, with all the last technological evolutions, and the on the other there’s Paola, with an air-cooled Porsche 911 T Targa 1973.

Paola is in his third term as vice president of the Italian Porsche 911 Official Registry. The club was founded in 2005 and since its foundation she is part of the executive Council. In short, a true devotee to the brand with her “Giallina” (Italian for yellowish), that’s how she calls her beautiful car. I could not share this day with a better person!

Finding her has been not easy but with the help of Mario Nicu, president of the Porsche 911 registry, and Luciano Bellero, secretary of the Italian Porsche 356 Registry, I was able to accomplish this photo shoot and immortalize two icons together, paying tribute to the 911 Targa, a car that I love.

In the streets around Galliano the two Porsche 911 Targa are chasing together, with their contrasting colors, Lava Orange and Yellow. A fantastic view and what a pleasure hearing the fantastic sound of the engines! It’s really fascinating how Porsche, in the 911, has been able to maintain a design philosophy and unique mechanical always evolving version after version.

A fascinating detail is the aluminum pillar with the inscription plaque as well as the design of the front and the rear of the car, truly timeless. Two cars that generate great appeal even though much has changed in the 43 years that separates them. You are able to see the eras between them when it comes to open the roof, in the current model you just simply press a button to operate a fascinating movement that puts the roof in the rear compartment. For the “Giallina” is another story, Paola, standing outside the car, put the roof off with patience disengaging it on both sides of the car.

Another big point is the driving performance, the Targa 4S that we are testing provides a lot of grip due to the large tires and the all-wheel drive; Paola instead tells me that although every Porsche is unique, historical are another world. The powers are less but the absence of electronic controls and rear-wheel drive are important. The only exact philosophy is the respect for the car that you are driving, that allows to forgive even a wrong corner.

Our journey together continues, one beside the other, enjoying the gentle echoes of the two engines. We approach Villa Torre il Palagio, a beautiful location for events which overlooks Lake Bilancino, built in 1427 and restored in the nineteenth century. Parked the Porsche 911 Targa in front of the Villa, I finally can speak with Paola of her “Gillian”.

Paola, as already mentioned, is a true devotee to the Porsche brand and she drove any Porsche 911: from 912 to GT3 and then Turbo, RS and 959. His world started to color in yellow in the late ’90s, with the purchase of another 3.2 Targa of 1989. Years later she decided to sell that model and then buy the 911 Targa T that owns now.

Her search stopped in a multi-brand store in Pistoia where the “Giallina” rested waiting for a restoration that Paola has implemented with care and attention. She tells me that every time she feel the need for a true feeling, she wake up the engine of her 911 T Targa. How not to understand it! And surely not have missed such occasions! It has now traveled more than 25,000 km with the “Giallina” throughout Italy and beyond, taking part in many rallies organized by the Italian Porsche 911 Registry. Yet the beauty and attention to details regarding is still impeccable.

On the shore of the Lake admire these works of art from two different eras, sharing the same style and philosophy, as the sun goes down in this summer evening and give us a last round before we say goodbye, thank Paola for making can an afternoon dream for a fan like me.