5 Attachment(s)
'68S Soft Window Targa "barn find" and Restoration
I had the good fortune to purchase the late Dave O'Connor's matching numbers, early '68 (11850038/4080233) soft window S Targa this past winter. The car was was found by well known 356 restorer Bruce Baker when he was called in to appraise it for sale following Dave's passing. The car was sitting in Dave's garage unstarted since some time in early '95. As a proverbial "barn find" it had turned into a very comfortable "mouse condo" and home to a large number of rodent residents all of which deposited a large amount of "bodily fluids" in every nook and cranny over the ensuing 16 years( more on that in a future posting). The car was originally sold to Autohaus Krause, Nurnberg, West German where it was used as a dealer showcar. The first US owner was Tim Kuser of South Jersey who purchased it from Bavarian Motorcars, Queens, NY in early 1970 after seeing an ad in the Wall Street Journal for a "yellow S Targa". Tim, ran the car in DE events all over the east coast before selling it and a "whole bunch" of parts to O'Connor for about $9000 in 1992. It was a heavily optioned car from the factory with: a 100 litre tank, hella fog lights, webasto gas heater, spare parts kit, 2 Talbot mirrors, loudspeaker, AM suppression kit and a Blaupunkt radio. Kuser added a set of sport seats to the originals, both sets of which are in black vinyl and B&W pepita inserts. Painted in "zitronen gelb", paint code 6824, it was a knockout according to Tim Kuser and others who remember it. Bruce Baker has previously restored a '63 T-6 sunroof coupe and a one owner, early '66 912. As a result of the great job he did on those cars for us, he is now doing a full rotisserie restoration of the "yellow S, Targa", returning it to its "as new" glory for us now. Bill Boys of Possum Hollow Motorsports, Phoenixville, Pa. is doing the engine and tranaxle and German Classic Interiors, Parkesburg, Pa., the interior. Fortunately for us, we were able to secure a wide variety of NOS parts as part of the purchase agreement including, soft window parts, steering wheel, euro lenses, etc. I have attached a few pictures of it coming out the the garage after 16 years, a few of the parts that came with it and one picture of where it stands right now...I can't wait until it's finished in about two months.
John Hodgson
