Porsche Design, the quintessential sports car brand’s (and performance crossover maker’s) in-house design department, is celebrating 50 years in 2022, so it only makes sense they’d commemorate such…

Limited edition 911 Targa created to commemorate 50 years of Porsche Design

2022 Porsche 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design
Porsche has made a special limited-edition 911 Targa 4 GTS, plus restored a 1972 911 Targa, to commemorate 50 years of Porsche Design.

Porsche Design, the quintessential sports car brand’s (and performance crossover maker’s) in-house design department, is celebrating 50 years in 2022, so it only makes sense they’d commemorate such an important occasion with a special version of the only model still made that was available back in 1972, the legendary 911.

The new 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design, based on a 2022 911 Targa 4 GTS, features plenty of stylish upgrades along with a nice package of bundled features, including dark-silver and satin-black exterior accents on the Targa bar, a similar treatment on the centre-lock Turbo S wheels, and a set of “Porsche Design” badges, while four gloss-black painted brake calipers and a “50 Years” plaque atop the engine cover finish off the retro look.

Subtle details enhance posh interior

2022 Porsche 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design
Both new and renewed 911s would enhance the look of any driveway.

Inside, a dash plaque commemorates the Porsche Design division’s 50th anniversary as well as each car’s placement in the 750-unit limited edition series, while the 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design cabin also benefits from a special steering wheel badge, and the signature of Ferry Porsche’s son Ferdinand Alexander (the Porsche Design division’s creator), atop the centre console lid.

Of course, the 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design model just wouldn’t be right without a set of embroidered or embossed headrests, with the latter getting the nod, while this handywork gets added to the model’s top-level 18-way Adaptive Sport Seats Plus, while Slate Grey seat belts can be found to either side. Additionally, Porsche’s much-lauded Sport Chrono Package comes as standard equipment, with a unique Porsche Design chronograph clock placed in the usual centre position on the dash-top.

Watchmaking has long been an important part of Porsche Design’s business

2022 Porsche 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design
The new 2022 Porsche 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design model features plenty of styling upgrades over regular 911 Targa 4 GTS models.

Important to understand, this unique chronograph clock face has more significance in this special edition Porsche Design model’s than it would in other 911s, because the in-house styling house has been designing timepieces from its onset. In fact, Porsche Design has now reissued its first wristwatch, the 1972 Chronograph 1, limiting it to a mere 500 units. To be clear, Porsche Design watches are respected much more than the quartz-powered pieces you might find in a dealership’s parts department. The original Porsche Design watch, powered by a Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph (Valjoux is now owned by Swatch group’s ETA, while now defunct Orfina, once a highly respected Swiss watchmaker, produced watches for Porsche Design as well), was also the watch industry’s first fully black timepiece (other than some of its details), a feature, like the dials in a car’s gauge cluster, designed to minimize glare during racing.

2022 Porsche 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design
Of course, the Sport Chrono Package comes standard, with a special Porsche Design dial, but take note the purchase also includes a Porsche Design mechanical watch.

At $7,700 USD, the new 1972 Chronograph 1 reissue is hardly inexpensive, although the price is not over-the-top for a high-quality mechanical chronograph with Porsche Design credentials, so it should sell out quickly, while a second Porsche Design chronograph, dubbed Porsche Design Chronograph 1 – 1972 Limited Edition, a more modern take on the original design, will be included with every 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design purchase.

Each of the 750 timepieces feature an all-black design, like the 1972 Chronograph 1, with bright white used to make the sharply printed indices and sub-dial markers easy to read. Ditto for the white hour and minute hands, although Porsche Design has once again bowed to history by providing a bright red seconds hand and red lettering above the 6 o’clock position. No doubt, each 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design buyer will cherish this unique timepiece, which will more than likely appreciate over time.

Porsche’s future is all about marrying the past to the present

1972 Porsche 911 Targa
It would be tough to choose which Porsche 911 we’d rather have, new or old?

Along with the special-edition Targa 4 GTS and two Porsche Design watches, Porsche Design chose to commemorate its 50-year celebration by commissioning a completely restored 1972 911 S 2.4 Targa, which can be seen in the photos. Turning to Porsche Classic, the brand’s in-house restoration division, made sure it would receive original and hand-made components, resulting in an almost completely new version of this 50-year-old example of rolling art and celebrated performance.

The fact both new and old Porsche’s share many of the same styling details is no coincidence either, but as much as you might want to put the two 911s in a garage side-by-side, you’ll only be able to see the classic on display at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, alongside one new 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design, as well as the two Porsche Design watches.

New 911 Edition 50Y Porsche Design available now

The new model is available now, ahead of arriving in Canada this spring, for the tidy sum of $217,200, and while it may already be sold out, it probably wouldn’t hurt to contact your local Porsche retailer to make sure.

50 years of Porsche Design with a special edition 911 #Shorts (best viewed on phone or tablet):
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qrReywyb3Yw

The 911 Edition 50 Years Porsche Design (1:00):

Porsche Design presents the Sport Chrono Collection (1:31):

Porsche Design Chronograph 911 GT3 with Touring Package (1:14):

The new 1919 Globetimer UTC from Porsche Design (1:48):

Story credits: Trevor Hofmann

Photo credits: Porsche Design

Have you ever wanted something so bad that your credit card just magically pops out of your wallet, all your personal info auto-fills the various fields, “accept charges” buttons unconsciously get…

New 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition a blast from Porsche’s storied past

2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition
Absolutely gorgeous! The new 2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition will be limited to just 992 examples.

Have you ever wanted something so bad that your credit card just magically pops out of your wallet, all your personal info auto-fills the various fields, “accept charges” buttons unconsciously get pressed and confirmation emails immediately arrive? That’s what Porsche hopes will happen with its new very limited 2021 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition, and while most of us don’t have American Express Centurion cards that allow us to nonchalantly plop $205,900 plus fees for a frivolous sports car when such desires strike, enough high-rolling, Fed-infused Wall Street hedge managers do to make special projects like this happen.

The new 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition fits the phrase “modern-day classic” better than anything we’ve seen for quite some time. It’s based on the new 2021 911 Targa we shared here last month, and we have to say the car’s classic silver roll hoop body style suits this special edition’s retro design perfectly.

2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition
Yes of course we want one, complete with its motorsport-inspired livery.

Unless you detest such memory lane recreations, or more specifically in this case, homages paying tribute to the glory days of Porsche’s beginnings, the 911 Targa 4S Heritage probably had you at hello. From its gorgeous Cherry Metallic paintwork (it’s also available in four alternative exterior colours), motorsport-inspired spear-shaped front fender stripes and circular decal-style number livery, and historically true 1963 Porsche Crest badges, rear mounted Porsche Heritage badge, and gold-tone nameplates, to its two-tone Bordeaux Red or Black leather and Atacama Beige OLEA club leather and corduroy-lined cabin, this is one stunning head-turner.

2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition
The gold emblems are period-correct and oh-so cool.

Porsche goes even further with details like green backlighting on the tachometer and centre dash top-mounted “stopwatch”, which being typical of ‘50s and ‘60s cars, plus the microfibre roofliner gets perforations similar to past Porsches (and VWs). And those just-mentioned period-correct Porsche crests? You’ll find them on the key fob, hood, steering wheel and wheel hub covers, those latter items capping off wheels resembling the “five-leaf” Fuchsfelge alloys brought to market for the 1966 911S. Of course the new Carrera Exclusive Design alloys are staggered and much larger than those from Porsche’s past, now measuring 20 inches up front and 21 inches at the back, while framing a set of classic black brake calipers.

2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition
For anyone that grew up in the ’60s or ’70s, there’s corduroy in this car! We’re half expecting to see geometric velour patterns in Porsche’s follow-up Heritage Design Edition.

This is the first example of four collector’s models from Porsche’s Heritage Design strategy, incidentally, and as was shown in this article’s first paragraph, it doesn’t come cheap. There’s always a price paid for exclusivity, and with just 992 of these special Heritage 911 Targas available (the number referencing the latest 911’s internal code name), its lofty window sticker will make sense to those capable of taking advantage. Porsche commemorates the example purchased with a beautiful gold metal “911 Heritage Design Edition XXX/992” dash plaque, with the number “000” shown likely kept for Porsche’s own collection.

The 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition pays obvious tribute to late ‘60s and early ‘70s 911 Targas, but Porsche makes the point of claiming this car represents four decades of classic 911s.

2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition
Porsche pulls the green background lighting in the 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition’s gauge cluster from ’50s and ’60s-era 356 and 911 models.

“We are evoking memories of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in customers and fans with the Heritage Design models,” stated Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG in a press release. “No brand can translate these elements into the modern day as well as Porsche. In this way, we are fulfilling the wishes of our customers. With the exclusive special editions, we are also establishing a new product line which stands for the ‘lifestyle’ dimension in our product strategy.”

As noted before, this first example of the four Heritage Design models is based on the all-new 2021 911 Targa 4S, and therefore is as modern as the new the new 992-generation gets under the skin, including all of Porsche’s latest chassis tech, driver assistance systems, infotainment advancements, and more. Below its automatically deployable rear wing is 443 horsepower worth of horizontally opposed, twin-turbocharged, six-cylinder greatness combined with a paddle-shift prompted eight-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission. It’s capable of shooting from standstill to 100 km/h in less than 3.6 seconds (when Launch Control is engaged) and maxes out at a track speed of 304 km/h.

2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition
Each of the 992 examples get this beautiful numbered plaque on the dash shelf.

Classic car aficionados have long appreciated how horology has played an important role in the automotive industry’s beginnings, in that early watchmakers provided the same types of instruments we now refer to as gauge clusters. Porsche remains true to its past with the beautiful analogue clocks found on the centre dash tops of all models, which can usually be upgraded to a complex chronometer stopwatch and lap counter by adding its Sport Chrono Package. Exclusive to 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design owners, Porsche Design, a majority-owned subsidiary of Porsche AG, although a credible luxury watchmaker on its own, has created the 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design edition chronograph wristwatch.

2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition
Of course, it goes without saying that you must have the matching Porsche Design wristwatch too.

Once again just 992 examples will be manufactured, and come complete with a face featuring a white seconds hand and “Phosphorus Green” rings around its perimeter like the primary instruments in both the 356 and original 911 Targa. Additionally, its Arabic hour indices are styled in typical Porsche block lettering, while the leather strap is produced from the same hides as those found in Porsche interiors.

This watch and the new 2021 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition are available to order now before arriving in Canada this fall. And yes, if you’ve read this far you definitely don’t have an American Express Centurion card, or you would’ve already placed your order. 

Those that end up missing out on the 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition, yet still have some room left over on their platinum cards, should take a look at our recent overview of the 2021 911 Targa 4 and 4S (it only starts at $136,000), and then click on one of CarCostCanada’s 2019, 2020 or 2021 Porsche 911 Canada Prices pages to find out about available manufacturer rebates, financing and/or leasing deals, and otherwise hard to get dealer invoice pricing that could save you thousands. Right now factory leasing and financing rates can be had from zero percent on all of the above model years. Knowledge is everything, and in this case a CarCostCanada membership is a small price to pay for all the savings coming your way. Also, make sure to download the new CarCostCanada app from Google Play Store or the Apple iTunes store.

Story credit: Trevor Hofmann

Photo credits: Porsche