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Targa top

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1972 Porsche 911T Targa: where the designation "Targa" appears for the first time.
1972 Porsche 911T Targa: where the designation "Targa" appears for the first time.

Targa top, or targa for short, is a semi-convertible car body style with a removable roof section and a full width roll bar behind the seats. The term was first used on the 1966 Porsche 911 Targa,[1] and it remains a registered trademark of Porsche AG.[2]

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.

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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 “Wonderful” by Vignale, designed by Giovanni Michelotti. The later Triumph TR4 from 1961, another Michelotti design, also featured a similar system, defined by Triumph as a surrey top.[3] 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 United States would ban 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 Sicily 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 hardtops 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.

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Fiat 1200

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 variants at the top of the Fiat 1100 range: the 1200 Granluce, an upmarket small four-door saloon derived from the 1100, and the 1200 Spyder, an update of the previous 1100 TV Trasformabile 2-door roadster. The 1200 Granluce was discontinued in 1961 when larger Fiat saloons were introduced, while the 1200 Trasformabile/Spyder was replaced in 1959 by the 1200 Cabriolet. This was a new Pininfarina design, later developed into the 1200 and 1500 Cabriolets.

Giovanni Michelotti

Giovanni Michelotti

Giovanni Michelotti 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 truck designs for Leyland Motors, and with designs for British Leyland after the merger of Leyland and BMC.

Triumph TR4

Triumph TR4

The Triumph TR4 is a sports car produced by the Triumph Motor Company from 1961 to 1965. As the successor to the TR3A, the car was based on the chassis and drivetrain of the previous TR sports cars, but with a modern body designed by Michelotti.

Surrey (carriage)

Surrey (carriage)

A surrey is a doorless, four-wheeled carriage popular in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Usually two-seated and holding for four passengers, surreys had a variety of tops that included a rigid, fringed canopy, parasol, and extension. The seats were traditional, spindle-backed, bench seats. Before the advent of automobiles, these were horse-drawn carriages.

Toyota Sports 800

Toyota Sports 800

The Toyota Sports 800 is Toyota's first production sports car. The prototype for the Sports 800, called the Publica Sports, debuted at the 1962 Tokyo Auto Show, featuring a space age sliding canopy and utilizing the 21 kW powertrain of the Publica 700, a Japanese market economy car. The Toyota Sports 800 is affectionately called the "Yota-Hachi" (ヨタハチ), which is a Japanese short form for "Toyota 8". In Japan, the vehicle was exclusive to Toyota Japan retail sales channel called Toyota Publica Store alongside the Publica.

Ban (law)

Ban (law)

A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. Ban is also used as a verb similar in meaning to "to prohibit".

T-top

T-top

A T-top is an automobile roof with a removable panel on each side of a rigid bar running from the center of one structural bar between pillars to the center of the next structural bar. The panels of a traditional T-top are usually made of auto grade safety glass.

Targa Florio

Targa Florio

The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. While the first races consisted of a whole tour of the island, the track length in the race's last decades was limited to the 72.00 km (44.74 mi) of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.

Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. The region has 5 million inhabitants. Its capital city is Palermo.

Retractable hardtop

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.

Roll cage

Roll cage

A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, particularly in the event of a rollover.

Fiat X1/9

Fiat X1/9

The Fiat X1/9 is a two-seater mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone and manufactured by Fiat from 1972–1982 and subsequently by Gruppo Bertone from 1982–1989.

Glass roof

The year 1996 saw the debut of a retractable glass roof in the Porsche 993 Targa, a design continued on the 996 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 of the closed roof. This system was a complete redesign, as previous Targa models had a removable roof section and a wide B-pillar 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.[4] This, in turn, was used on the later 997 model of 911.

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Porsche 996

Porsche 996

The Porsche 996 is the internal designation for the 911 model manufactured by the German automaker Porsche from 1997 until 2006. It was replaced by the 997 in 2004, but the high performance Turbo S, GT2 and GT3 variants remained in production until 2006. The 996 had little in common with its predecessor, with the first all new chassis platform since the original 911 and a new water-cooled engine. Technically, it was a major change, a complete breakthrough from the original car other than the overall layout.

Greenhouse effect

Greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs after energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface. When the planet radiates the heat back out as infrared radiation, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb some of the heat and then radiate some of it back down towards the planet, warming it. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth's average surface temperature would be about −18 °C (−0.4 °F) compared to Earth's actual average surface temperature of approximately 14 °C (57.2 °F). In addition to the naturally present greenhouse gases, human-caused increases in greenhouse gases are trapping greater amounts of heat. Burning fossil fuels has increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 50% over pre-industrial levels, which is the primary driver for global warming.

Pillar (car)

Pillar (car)

The pillars on a car with permanent roof body style are the vertical or nearly vertical supports of its window area or greenhouse—designated respectively as the A, B, C and D-pillar, moving from front to rear, in profile view.

Motorized roof

The 991 Targa top in stowed position while the rear glass roof is moved backwards
The 991 Targa top in stowed position while the rear glass roof is moved backwards

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 Superamerica folding roof
Ferrari Superamerica folding 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.

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Ferrari 575M Maranello

Ferrari 575M Maranello

The Ferrari 575M Maranello is a two-seat, two-door, grand tourer manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. Launched in 2002, it is essentially an updated 550 Maranello featuring minor styling changes from Pininfarina. The 575M was replaced by the 599 GTB in the first half of 2006.

Leonardo Fioravanti (engineer)

Leonardo Fioravanti (engineer)

Leonardo Fioravanti is an Italian automobile designer and CEO of Fioravanti Srl.

Alfa Romeo Vola

Alfa Romeo Vola

The Alfa Romeo Vola is a concept car designed by Leonardo Fioravanti in 2000. The car was presented for the first time at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show. One of its most notable features is a rotating glass roof. The deck lid hinges are concentric with the top, so the trunk access is freely available, as the open roof sits on top of the trunk lid. Originally livered in black with red interior, the Vola was shown at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show with a red paint and brown upholstery. The same idea was later used in the Ferrari Superamerica from 2005, also designed by Fioravanti and patented as a Revocromico roof. In 2008 the rear buttresses of the Vola were remodelled similar to the Superamerica. Fioravanti also refers to the car as the "Alfa Romeo LF."

Renault Wind

Renault Wind

The Renault Wind was a two-seater roadster by the French automobile manufacturer Renault. The Wind was originally a concept car unveiled in September 2004 at the Paris Motor Show as a 2+1 roadster. On February 2, 2010, Renault announced that the Wind would enter production. It was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2, 2010.

Examples of traditional Targa tops

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Alfa Romeo Vola

Alfa Romeo Vola

The Alfa Romeo Vola is a concept car designed by Leonardo Fioravanti in 2000. The car was presented for the first time at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show. One of its most notable features is a rotating glass roof. The deck lid hinges are concentric with the top, so the trunk access is freely available, as the open roof sits on top of the trunk lid. Originally livered in black with red interior, the Vola was shown at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show with a red paint and brown upholstery. The same idea was later used in the Ferrari Superamerica from 2005, also designed by Fioravanti and patented as a Revocromico roof. In 2008 the rear buttresses of the Vola were remodelled similar to the Superamerica. Fioravanti also refers to the car as the "Alfa Romeo LF."

AMC Eagle

AMC Eagle

The AMC Eagle is a compact four-wheel drive passenger vehicle manufactured and marketed in a single generation by American Motors Corporation (AMC) model years 1980 to 1987 and Chrysler Corporation, following its acquisition of AMC in 1987, for the 1988 model year.

Bentley Continental R

Bentley Continental R

The Bentley Continental R is a luxury coupé manufactured by British automobile manufacturer Bentley Motors from 1991 to 2003. It was the first Bentley to feature a body not shared with a Rolls-Royce model since the 1965 S3 Continental and was the first to use the GM 4L80-E transmission. The Continental R was the fastest, most expensive, and most powerful Bentley automobile of its day. It was also the most expensive production car in the world at its introduction. A convertible derivative, called the Bentley Azure, was launched in 1995.

Bugatti Veyron

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 Pierre Veyron.

Chevrolet Corvette

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 distinctive fiberglass or composite panels. It was front-engined through 2019 and mid-engined since.

Dodge Viper

Dodge Viper

The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge, 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-seat super car began at New Mack Assembly Plant in 1991 and moved to Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in October 1995.

Ferrari 328

Ferrari 328

The Ferrari 328 GTB and GTS are mid-engine V8, two seat sports cars created by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. It was the successor to the Ferrari 308 GTB and GTS. While mechanically still based on the 308, modifications were made to the body, chassis, and engine, most notably an increase in engine displacement to 3.2 L for increased power and torque output. The 328 is still considered by some enthusiasts to be one of the most reliable and functional Ferraris; unlike other models, much of its maintenance can be performed without lowering the engine from the vehicle. In 1989, the 328 was succeeded by the 348.

Ferrari 348

Ferrari 348

The Ferrari 348 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 Ferrari before his death, commissioned to production posthumously.

Ferrari F355

Ferrari F355

The Ferrari F355 is a sports car manufactured by Italian car manufacturer Ferrari produced from May 1994 until 1999. The car is a heavily revised Ferrari 348 with notable exterior and performance changes. The F355 was succeeded by the all-new Ferrari 360 in 1999.

Ferrari F50

Ferrari F50

The Ferrari F50 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 aspirated Tipo F130B 60-valve V12 engine that was developed from the 3.5 L V12 used in the 1990 Ferrari 641 Formula One car. The car's design is an evolution of the 1989 Ferrari Mythos concept car.

Fiat X1/9

Fiat X1/9

The Fiat X1/9 is a two-seater mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone and manufactured by Fiat from 1972–1982 and subsequently by Gruppo Bertone from 1982–1989.

12 Hours of Sebring

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. In the past, this race has been a round of the now defunct World Sportscar Championship, IMSA GT Championship and American Le Mans Series. In 2012, the race was the opening event of the FIA World Endurance Championship in a one off race before being returned back to the American Le Mans Series for 2013. Starting in 2014, the event became the second round of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Source: "Targa top", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 28th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targa_top.

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References
  1. ^ "911 History". Edmunds.com. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  2. ^ "Porsche official website". Porsche.com. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  3. ^ Beattie, Ian (1977). The Complete Book of Automobile Body Design. Yeovil, UK: The Haynes Publishing Group. p. 21. ISBN 0854292179.
  4. ^ "Evo February 2002". Evo.co.uk. 2002-02-21. Archived from the original on 2009-11-14. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
External links
  • The dictionary definition of targa at Wiktionary

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