Porsche is no stranger to making special editions, especially ones that borrow cues from classic cars from its history. Think 911 Sport Classic, 911R, the Speedster — you get the gist. The new Heritage Design Edition Targa 4S follows a similar recipe — combining the greatest hits of the 50s, 60s and 70s with the technology and performance of today. This Heritage Design Edition Targa 4S gets an exclusive paint scheme, gold logos and a bunch of other subtle but special touches to make this special edition stand out. We’ve already noted our first impressions of the 992-generation Targa models both inside and out, so this story will highlight the differences, or additions, that the Heritage Design Edition gets.
While the silhouette of the car is the same, it features unique details to make it stand out. The ‘Cherry Metallic’ paintwork not only looks gorgeous, it adds an almost liquid dimension to the curves of the Targa, and is exclusive to this edition. However, if this colour doesn’t strike your fancy, there are four others to choose from — black, red, silver and ‘Crayon’. Most of the badges on the outside have been covered in gold, including the ‘Porsche’ lettering under the taillight. The Porsche crest on the bonnet, wheel centres and the steering wheel, resembles the one from 1963. Talking of historic badges, there is a ‘Porsche Heritage’ badge on the rear luggage compartment grille which harks back to the badge that was awarded to a Porsche 356 back in the day, when it covered more than one lakh kilometres.
The Heritage Design Edition also adorns a white livery which includes a streak above each of the headlights, a black competition number on each of the sides surrounded by a white circle and ‘Porsche’ lettering across the lower half. This livery is a nod to Porsche’s early motorsport history when their racecars were given this spear-shaped livery as a “warpaint” before entering a race. The Heritage Design Edition Targa sits on 20-inch or 21-inch ‘Exclusive Design’ rims that borrow elements of the Fuchs style wheels that early 911s had. These rims can be painted in black or silver.
Even at first glance it is very evident that the interior is a special place. The two-tone upholstery of red and beige was specifically designed for this particular edition but if you prefer a more subtle look, you can have it in black and beige too. Corduroy was a popular fabric in the 50s and 60s, and featured on the Porsche 356, and makes a return on the centre panels of the seats and in the door panels here. The instrument cluster gets a makeover too — while the seven-inch digital displays remain, the central analogue dial resembles one from older 911s and even has lines on it from 2500rpm all the way to the redline, exactly like the one on the Porsche 356. Like the 911R, the tachometer along with all of the buttons light up in green instead of the usual white, another nod to the past.
The Heritage Design Edition is mechanically identical to the 911 Targa 4S that was revealed recently, which is not a bad thing at all.The 3-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder boxer engine produces 444bhp and 530Nm of torque and powers all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The beauty of the Heritage Design Edition is that while it may have been styled to look like an older Porsche, it goes very much like a new one. 100kmph comes up in less than 3.6 seconds and it has a top whack of 304kmph.
The Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition is a limited run of just 992 examples, and is the first of a total of four Heritage Design models that will be showcased in the future. A lot of the additions seen here will be available as options on regular 911s as part of the Pure Heritage Design package. The options include the corduroy fabric, Heritage Design instrument cluster, Historical Porsche crest embossed on the headrests, among others. If you are one of the lucky ones who will be buying this limited run model Porsche Design has created a timepiece to match, limited to 992 units like the car and will be exclusively available for purchase to the buyers of this Heritage Design Edition Targa 4S. If that’s not cool enough, I’m not sure what is.