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Targa top

Targa top, targa for short, is a semi-convertible car body style with a removable roof section and a full width roll bar behind the seats. The rear window can be fixed or removable, making it a convertible. In common usage, any piece of metal or trim which rises up from the side of a car and continues in an uninterrupted line over the roof and down the other side may be called a targa band, or sometimes a wrapover band. Targa tops are different from T-top or known as T Bar roof, which has a solid, non-removable bar running between the passenger and driver sides of the car. It is called a T-top due to the design looking roughly like the letter T.

The word targa first came into use from the 1966 Porsche 911 Targa, though the first production car with this system as an option was actually released five years before, namely the 1961 Triumph TR4. The name was first adopted by Porsche after the Targa Florio road race in which they entered, used type of body style to allow a quicker entry and exit to the car by drivers in 1962 and many race cars adopted it especially Ford and its bitter rival at the time, Ferrari in the '60s and early 70's for twistier road courses.

This body style became popular in the 1970's, when the DoT in the United States, attempted to ban convertibles, due to concerns when the car is overturned, as a result manufacturers adopted Targa tops or T bars. As Porsche helped to popularise this body style, they took out a copyright for the Targa name and manufacturers sought to look for alternative names for their removable roof.

1996 and saw the debut of a retractable glass roof, a design continued on the 996 Targa. The glass roof would retract underneath the rear window revealing a large opening. A shade was there to help prevent the greenhouse effect of the closed roof. This system was a complete redesign, as previous Targa models had a removable roof section and a wide B-pillar functioning as a roll bar. The new glass roof design allowed the 993 Targa to retain the same side-on profile as the other 911 Carrera variants and finished with the inconvenience of storing the removed top of the old system. The Targa has the body of the Cabriolet with the Targa glass roof replacing the fabric roof.

With the introduction of the Mazda Miata in 1989, saw a revival of convertibles as recent models had roll bar incorporated into the front windscreen, Targas and T-top saw a slow decline as manufacturers discountinued them one by one, putting convertibles into favor, but will continue to produce them when it is not possible to incorporate convertible styles.

Examples of the Targa car and T-bar top body style include:

Chevrolet Camaro (1978 - 2002)
Chevrolet Corvette coupe (1968 - current)
Datsun 280ZX
Ferrari 250P / 250LM / 330P / 330P2 / 330P3 / 330P4 / 412P / 312P
Ferrari 512S/512M
Ferrari Dino
Ferrari 308 GTB
Ferrari F355
Fiat X1/9
Ford GTX-1 (1966 12 Hours of Sebring winner)
Ford GTX-1 Roadster (2005)
Honda del sol
Honda NSX - T
Lotus Elise
Matra 530
Nissan 100NX
Nissan 300ZX
Porsche 904
Porsche 906
Porsche 911 Targa (1966-1992)
Porsche 914
Pontiac Firebird (1978 - 2002)
Saab Catherina prototype
Suzuki Cappucino (has an optional solid roof which can be converted into a Targa top)
Toyota MR2 (AW11 and SW20 models)
Toyota Supra (MK 4)
Triumph TR4
Triumph TR7

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