Description
An extremely rare 911 Carrera 3. 0 Targa, 911 TYD is presented fresh from a 5 year “nut and bolt” restoration carried out by a respected and highly experienced Porsche specialist, Martin Reed of North Devon Porsche. Incorporating a few very subtle modifications designed to remove weight and complexity, and deliver cleaner lines to the iconic design, chassis number the details below is in truly spectacular, concours condition throughout.
The 3. 0 Carrera was produced for just two model years (MY76 and MY77) between August 1975 and July 1977) and sat in the middle of the 911 range, between the standard 911 and the 930 Turbo. During that period only 3, 687 cars were produced worldwide, a very small number compared to nearly 58, 000 911SCs and 76, 500 3. 2 Carreras manufactured in later years. Of the total number of Carrera 3. 0 cars produced, 2, 564 were coupes and 1, 123 were Targas, with only a small proportion manufactured in RHD. The UK received a tiny number of these, believed to be fewer than 30 across the two years. The Carrera 3. 0 used the same die-cast aluminium crankcase as the newly introduced Porsche 930 or ‘911 Turbo’. Despite the limited numbers produced, the Carrera’s normally aspirated version of the Turbo’s power unit proved to be a powerful, strong and extremely reliable engine, and the overall design of thecar was to form the bedrock for the remaining years of the 911 series’ development (through the 3. 0 litre 911 SC and 3. 2 litre Carrera) until the introduction of the 964 model in 1989.
For its time the Carrera 3. 0 was an extremely powerful sports car. Its 3 litre horizontally opposed, air cooled engine, using Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, produced 200 bhp at 6, 000 rpmand 188 lb/ ft of torque at 4, 200 rpm. The road performance of the Carrera 3. 0 was generally considered to be better than that of its immediate predecessor, the 2. 7 Carrera, owing to its larger engine, improved torque characteristics and the use of K-Jetronic fuel injection.
One of the last Carrera 3. 0 Targa models produced, chassis number the details below was first registered by AFN in Isleworth on 1st June 1977, carrying the registration ULB 833R. At the time, it was possible to specify a Carrera 3. 0 with a Sport pack, combining a number of options, or one could pick and choose the individual options required. This car was optioned with some elements of the Sports pack – uprated Bilstein shock absorbers and 16” Fuchs alloy wheels – but without the heavily bolstered sports seats, black anodized window surrounds and front and rear spoilers that made up the rest of the Sport pack.
The first owner Mr. J. Pearce only had the car for 3 months before selling to a Mr. V. Davies in September 1977. Mr Davies owned ULB 833R for 6 years before selling it to his business partner Mr. J. Tompkins in November 1983. Mr Tompkins bought the registration 911 TYD in October 1985 from Elite Registrations and the car was re-registered accordingly.
There is a large history file accompanying the car, including a large number of service invoices from contemporary Porsche dealers and specialists – Charles Follett, Autofarm, Pickup Leask, 911 Classic Ltd – and 18 old MOT certificates dating back to 1983. The original green ring-bound owner’s manual and maintenance record is in the file, and there are three keys.
Mr Tompkins kept and enjoyed 911 TYD for the next 36 years (apart from a few years in the mid-1990’s when he transferred the V5 registration to a friend and then his brother, reportedly to avoid the car being entangled in a divorce settlement!), and by 2013 the mileage had increased to 55, 538. At this point the car was stored for a few years until Mr Tompkins decided to commission a full restoration by Martin Reed of North Devon Porsche in 2017.
Midway through the restoration in 2019, the owner’s circumstances changed sufficiently for him to decide to sell the car to Martin Reed in order to allow the restoration to be completed. Martin has continued to work on the car as time and business have allowed over the last 4 years, and the result is a spectacular restoration of a very rare 911.
The restoration started with the car being stripped to a bare shell. Clarkson Lock, a skilled classic bodywork restorer, spent over 250 hours on the bodyshell before the car was painted at RPS in Barnstaple. An example of the thought and care that has gone into this build is the fitment of very late 930 Turbo-spec “kidney bowls”, which are made of heavier gauge steel and extend around in an L-shape to meet up and integrate with the rear jacking points. These modified parts deliver much increased stiffness to this area of the bodyshell, helping to eliminate the “scuttle shake” that typically affects Targa-bodied 911 models.
Martin Reed rebuilt the engine and gearbox, sourced a myriad of new parts from Porsche to fit to the car, and painstakingly rebuilt the car from the ground up over 4 years. Where original parts were deemed fit for re-use, they were cleaned and refurbished, and some parts which are no longer available were re-created from scratch. A good example of this is the door cards – the fibreboard inner structure had warped over time (as they all do), so these were re-made by Martin to exactly the same spec as the originals. Countless hours were spent ensuring that the fit and finish of the panels, Targa roof panel, windows, doors, bonnet, boot lid and bumpers are perfect. Please look at the close up images to see what we mean. Every element of the car is as good as, or better than, when it was new.
There are a few subtle modifications – restomods, if you like – which clean up the looks and deliver better usability. The “periscope” headlight washers have been deleted, and the redundant dash switch reconfigured as an additional security device. The wing mounted radio aerial has been deleted, and a later Carrera 3. 2 windscreen fitted with its integrated aerial and signal amplifier. The rear screen wiper has been deleted, and the rear fog lights too. A Dansk SSI-pattern free flowing stainless exhaust is fitted, and the original Philips radio cassette player has been fitted with a Bluetooth connection. The notoriously unreliable rotary heater control between the seats has been replaced with the earlier spec handle, and the car also features a hand throttle mechanism like earlier cars.
This is a rare opportunity to purchase an even rarer 911, in immaculate condition throughout, and that drives perfectly. A ground-up restoration undertaken as a labour of love by a respected Porsche specialist, 911 TYD is now ready for the next 50 years. The current mileage is 55, 853 and the car is exempt from MOT tests and road tax.
Call Sean at Flat Six Classics on the details below for further details or to arrange a viewing.
