1 Northlander September 2009 - North Country Region

Looking Back
...continued from page 11
And further,
“Bertone lowered the
car’s cowl as much as
the Porsche’s frame
structure would permit.
To achieve this he
designed a clever dash
inwhich the main dials
were placed vertically in
the center console, just
ahead of the shift lever,
and angled toward the
driver. The convertible’s
four headlights were
hidden by electrically
retracted lids, which
were slotted in front
of the outer beams so
they could be used for
signaling.The slotted
motif was picked up
in the way the lesser
lamps were set into the
front and rear bumpers.
The handling of the tail,
with an inset panelset
above the bumper
and a horizontal grill
below it, was especially
brilliant.”
Unfortunately, the small production
run envisioned by von Nieumann neve
rmaterialized. In the fall of 1965 Porsche
announced a convertible of its own, the
Targa, which it finally put into production
at the end of 1966.
This one-of-a-kind beauty is currently
o w n e d b y M a r k S m i t h o f F t .
Washington,Pennsylvania and was on
display at the 39 th Pebble Beach Concours
d’Elegance (heldover the weekend of
August 19-20, in Carmel, California).
-D.H.O.-
September 2009
37 Northlander