Just Acquired a '68 912 SWT (New Member Introduction)

[GoldenGreen]

Hi All,

I just acquired a very original 1968 soft window Targa 912. It was originally purchased in Northern California and has been in the same garage every since. It was parked for 20-25 years. (Still trying to get the exact story) It recently was towed to a local Porsche shop where they rebuilt the brakes because the calipers were frozen and the car wouldn't roll. They cleaned the fuel tank, changed plugs, put in a new battery and the car is up and running.

The good: Car has 48,747 original miles, mostly original paint in excellent shape (the fenders and hood were repainted at some point and it's not a very good color match). It's a special order color code, 62165-L, "Golden Green". Other than the that driver's seat has been redone, interior is all original and very, very nice. Rear seat delete, visor are excellent, original Blaupunkt Frankfort radio works great, heater works, interior light works, windshield motor works... even the clock works. It has the 5 speed transmission that shifts perfectly. Brakes and clutch work very well. Suspension feels nice and tight. (Maybe they all fel this good?) Motor was rebuilt at 43,*** miles but that was many years ago. The car has all original floors and sheet metal, it still has the horsehair/tar mat on the interior floors. And as far as I an tell, there is absolutely no rust. (Still has factory undercoating but it's starting to peel.) It's still has original Ca. black plates. Has original owner's manual, Targa manual and Blaupunkt manual. And a few receipts, dating back to 1985.

The not-so-good: Front clip (fenders and hood) needs to be repainted due to the poor color much when done many years ago. Targa has been recovered and although it's in perfect condition, I was told by a couple of people that the material is incorrect. The soft window is a replacement. I don't have the tonneau cover. The tool kit is from a 1969. (Or so I was told). The engine compartment isn't as original as I would like: it has newer Weber carbs and it's missing the snog pump. (I know people say that's an improvement, but I am a purist and this car is such a survivor, that I am a bit bummed about that) It has standard painted steel wheels. It doesn't have the wood steering wheel. The hood and deck lid lights don't work. (Might just be bulbs) Some of the chrome is pitted, but some should clean up nicely... maybe with some polish and 0000 steel wool. I wish I had more paperwork on it, such as receipts from the 60's and 70's. And I don't have any original paperwork from date of purchase.

This is my first foray into European sports cars. I have always been more of a "Muscle Car" guy. I must say, this car is fun so far. (I only bought it 3 days ago!) I went to a local Porsche gathering over the weekend and met many great people. It was great seeing all the interest that this car brought. I am glad it has been awoken from it's long slumber and is back on the road.

Dave D.

[JT912]

Good looking car. Nice score!
I've got most of the smog system for a 912 if you are looking for one.

[Rick Becker]

Congrats Dave, will you be bringing it to the 912 Rendezvous in early August?

912 Registry :: Events Calendar

[GoldenGreen]

John: Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I might be interested. I am really hoping to find a complete kit with all parts so I don't end up having a hard time finding the small parts. What do you have and what would you want for it?

Rick: Thanks for the info. I was aware of the 8/13 event in Monterey but didn't know about the other one up north. I will see what I can arrange. Sounds like fun.

In any case, I will be attending the Mimi's breakfast in San Mateo in a couple weeks.

Dave

[Matt Monson]

Holy wow. What a nice little car. Good job.

Mmmm. I miss breakfast at Mimi's. That's where we used to go for breakfast when we'd cut class senior year of high school. That place is a San Mateo fixture...

[Soterik]

Pretty car, love the color.

Post a couple of good pictures of the toolkit with the tools out and I'll let you know what you have in the way of a toolkit, it's one of my specialties. The wood steering wheel was an option, not standard. Also, take a close up of the targa top material and post it, like to see what it looks like. Note that the headliner on a 68 targa "should" be a perforated vinyl not a velour fabric, what do you have? The rear seat delete was mandatory by DOT in 1968 if you had a US Model soft window targa, they didn't want passengers in the back with their heads higher then the potential window in the event of a rollover.

A good find!

Eric

[GoldenGreen]

Eric, thanks for the info. Here are a couple of pictures. I know I am missing a couple of tools and I suspect this kit is from a later model.

Some details:

The screw driver says 10000 volt. Some of the five wrenches say "selected-steel", others say "drop forged". The pliers say HAPEWE.

Dave

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by GoldenGreen

... soft window Targa 912. It

Dave

Congrats and welcome to the board.

I was at a car show this week-end and it was raining (100 miles drive in the rain, must be nuts) so I had the top up and one of the judge (not a "concours" type show as I would finish in the minus...) mentioned that the soft window was like the one on the old Targa... Learn something everyday.

Have Fun

J.J.

[GoldenGreen]

Anybody have any idea where I can find a passenger side seat belt? Preferably for a '68, but at this point I might take any year. (I need one pronto, so that my wife will go with me to an upcoming Porsche event)

[djporsche]

Originally Posted by GoldenGreen

Anybody have any idea where I can find a passenger side seat belt? Preferably for a '68, but at this point I might take any year. (I need one pronto, so that my wife will go with me to an upcoming Porsche event)

TheSamba.com :: VW Classifieds[]=&section[]=61&wanted=show&zip=&zipdist=0&state[]=&usaregion=&country=&sort=date&sort_order=DESC&submitButton=Search

[Jeff Trask]

You might want to consider getting a set from PE Parts (Welcome to Professionally Engineered Products). Sooooo much safer! Precious cargo, you know...