The new Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition is one of the models that best reflects the philosophy of the German company founded in 1931 and owned by Volkswagen. An exciting car, just as it was exciting, but not really mesmerizing, our first impression of Zuffenhausen, the district in Stuttgart where the heart of Porsche beats. The district welcomed us, entertained us and left us under the pouring rain with a nerve-wracking sense of waiting. The program of the day included a preview of the project with which the company will pay homage to four decades of history and success, both on the racetrack and in the market, with four limited edition models.

Once we reach the studios on the outskirts of the city, we hear the sound of a roaring engine, and with the permission of our German colleagues we sneak inside the studio while the lights are still on and the cameras are still shooting the pictures you can see in the gallery. Next to the brand new 911, which stands out for its shape, colour and various details, we see Boris Apenbrink, director of Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, known until 1986 as the Porsche “Sonderwunschprogramm”, the Special Wishes Programme for the lovers of the brand. He is responsible for a department of more than twenty specialists, including production, logistics, quality and design experts, who are responsible for Porsche’s customizations. “This is the first part of one of the most complex projects we have ever carried out, because it is a matter of looking back to the past and rethinking the brand’s distinctive features in a modern way,” explains the king of custom-built cars.

This is a model where the meticulous attention to detail makes up a large part of the exclusivity of the product – this concept is very important to Porsche, and it can be summed up in just six words: “We make cars that must excite”. There are many stylistic elements typical of the bodywork and interior that were revisited for the occasion, starting from the number 50 plate on both sides, which is black on a round white background. The Cherry Metallic of the car is one of the five colour schemes available. Together with the golden logos, this brings us back the past.

Gold, in particular, is one of the aesthetic signatures that certifies the uniqueness of the car. For this reason, you can spot gold by looking at the car from almost every angle: inside the headlights, on the historic 1963 brand’s badge, on the steering wheel, bonnet, hubcap, car keys and embossed on the headrest and on the key ring, decorated with the golden writing “Porsche”, and on the trim panel of the dashboard, which records the individual limited edition number. (We climbed on the model dedicated to printing and marketing activities, which had racked up only 21 kilometers).

Furthermore, there is the Porsche Heritage badge on the rear decklid grille that takes inspiration from the one available to owners upon a Porsche 356 hitting 100,000 kilometers on the road. A sort of reworked and reinterpreted quality label that will characterise the rear decklid grille of all four Porsche Heritage Design models. The glorious past of the brand is echoed in the two-tone interior, which combines Bordeaux red leather with Club OLEA Atacama Beige leather or Black leather with Club OLEA Atacama Beige leather, while the velvet on the seats and door upholstery links the style of the 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition to the 1950s and the Porsche 356. However, when it comes to speed, excitement takes the place of tradition, as demonstrated by the green-illuminated rev counter and stopwatch on a 443 horsepower, eight-speed dual-clutch transmission racing car that can reach a maximum speed of over 304 km/h and accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in less than 3.8 seconds.

The new 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition will be limited to 992 pieces, in order to honor the number assigned internally to the series. It is available to order now, and will be in dealerships from autumn 2020. The car starts at 188.691 euros (VAT included), but the price may increase in case of further requests, which will make the waiting times even longer. “We are open to any need, we evaluate them all and we provide the customers with an answer in a maximum of six weeks,” says Apenbrink. While he’s waiting for the great change in the industry, i.e. the electric car “for which it is necessary to include new specialized figures in the production process”, he continues to fulfill the dreams of those who can afford special and expensive gifts (the most expensive cost 850,000 euros). “The demand for customised cars is constantly growing, also because the pool has become wider: China is important but so far it is not a reference market, unlike Europe and especially the United States. When it comes to Asia, Hong Kong is leading the way”.

The vision of Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur’s director regarding the increase in customization is much more indicative and sociological: he considered  is “a consequence of the supremacy of individualism over the community”, combined with “the desire to own a custom-made object that makes us stand out from the crowd that we can also show off with friends". So that they can get excited, too.