The Ultimate 1969 Soft Window Targa (SWT) Thread

Ultimate... yea, right!
We all know very few topics Porsche related are easily defined, boxed, and understood, even with decades of hindsight. In fact, sometimes the more time that passes the harder it is to get definitive answers.

One of these interesting topics that comes up for discussion around here is SWT availability and actual inclusion on long wheel base (LWB) cars. Here are a couple good threads that touch on the topic.

The first is a "roll call" started by Rick (LongRanger) that attempts to document via registry archive mining some accounts of these cars.
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...-%91S%92-Targa

The second is a fairly recent one where a simple question was posed by Jules and folks began to weigh in on the availability of the option and how period Porsche literature chose to document SWT availability.
http://www.early911sregistry.org/for...targa-question

1969 is one of those interesting years where the cars began to incorporate significant changes related to the transition from SWB to LWB as well as increasing oversight from regulations related to safety and the environment. The latter did not just happen at Porsche as the entire industry was making this transition. The SWT seems to be a perfect example of an option that may have been impacted significantly by the changing world in the automotive industry. Safety concerns, export market requirements dictating availability, feasibility of the option in general due to customer satisfaction, etc.

What is also interesting is that Porsche record keeping seems to have made a change in the Fall of 1968, according to kardexes from that era. Interior option codes changed in November 1968, and some aspects of the cars began to show up on the kardexes right around then. One of those is option 9356, W.HECKSC for ROW or S-R WIND for the US market. Note this code is not a US market only code as it is used across cars for all markets.

Another option code, 9316, PERSENNG, which I believe is the tonneau cover for the now exposed rear window area of an unzipped/removed soft window, shows up sporadically throughout the documentation. So it wasn't an automatic that every SWT had the tonneau cover noted. This doesn't necessarily mean the car didn't come with one, it just doesn't show up on the kardex. It has also been said that 9316 may have been an early option code for the SWT itself, but I am not so sure on this interpretation being correct.

Also worth noting is that around ~119310180, the records clearly begin to delineate SWT vs HWT (9354/9355). So something happened at the factory that started the specific call out of which rear window was to be in each car. Again, the record keeping was changing.

What follows are results of a fairly exhaustive effort of Kardex searching for the 9356 option. This list (for now at least) also includes SWT cars that do not have the option code on their respective kardexes (or is that kardices? :) ). This is important and interesting for a couple reasons:
1. We all know factory records are spotty at best and the kardex was more for warranty work than being a "build sheet". So there are bound to be a few errors out there.
2. Many of the cars thought to be original SWTs but that are not documented as such on the kardex just so happen to have been built in the autumn of 68 when the aforementioned records began to change.

At any rate, I hope this thread proves useful. I like to think of the registry as a true reference tool whenever possible.

And finally thanks to those that helped out with this effort. This was a community driven thread. I am happy to name names but they know who they are and can chime in at will.

Currently at 29 kardex verified SWTs, plus ~10 non-kardexed SWT

As you can see, the German home market was a huge consumer of these cars. Many of them were extremely well equipped in unusual colors, often with ski racks, optional lighting, sport seats, special transmissions, etc. I included a few details to give an idea of the variety. A veritable cornucopia of beautiful cars from colors to options appointed.

I may drop a few of the "N" cars after further research. Consider them placeholders at this point.

So just from a factory records standpoint (talkin' kardex here), roughly 1 out of every 20 69S Targas was a SWT...

Data format:
VIN | Kardex confirmed (Y/N) | Market | Color | Miscellaneous Notes/noteworthy options

119310096 N USA Signal Red 99xx - Oct 68 build
119310107 Y USA Black - 6838 *Registry member car
119310108 N Germany Tangerine no option code for rear window or tonneau cover
119310109 N Italy Tangerine zero options
119310110 N Germany Tangerine *Registry member car; Oct 68 build
119310113 N France Tangerine no option code for rear window or tonneau cover
119310132 N USA Polo Red *Registry member car; MA delivered
119310168 N Germany Tangerine no option code for rear window or tonneau cover; 100l tank
119310176 N USA Irish Green *Registry member car; late Nov 68 build
119310178 Y Italy Tangerine Sport Seats L+R - brown leatherette/cord inserts

119310206 Y USA Silver Metallic - 6851 9316 tonneau cover; Nurburgring gears 9041; Sport Seats L+R - red; heavily optioned
119310212 Y Switzerland Polo Red Sport Seats L+R - black leatherette
119310217 Y France Tangerine 100l tank; Dunlop tires
119310230 Y Germany Polo Red 9316 tonneau cover; heavily optioned; passenger side mirror, elec. Ant
119310231 Y UK Polo Red RHD; 9316 tonneau cover; special trans 9046; brown interior
119310271 Y Germany Blue Metallic - 6853 tow hook
119310274 Y Germany Signal Yellow - 6861 9316 tonneau cover; heavily optioned
119310278 Y Germany Tangerine special trans 9046
119310279 Y Germany Tangerine heavily optioned; special trans 9046
119310299 Y Germany Silver Metallic - 6851 FULL black leather interior 9291 + Sport Seats
119310351 Y Germany Blue Metallic - 6853 heavily optioned; 9316 tonneau cover
119310367 Y Italy Light Ivory no options
119310404 Y USA Medium Ivory - 6821 9316 tonneau cover
119310411 Y Germany Light Ivory heavily optioned
119310412 Y Germany Blue Metallic - 6853 heavily optioned
119310422 Y Germany Light Ivory heavily optioned; 9316 tonneau cover
119310429 Y Germany Turquoise Green - 6831 Sports seat driver only
119310430 Y Germany Canary Yellow - 6824 heavily optioned
119310463 Y Germany Polo Red Black leather; TTG Driving lights, tow hook
119310468 Y France Silver Metallic - 6851 Dunlop tires & 9115 shocks
119310481 Y USA Irish Green 9316 tonneau cover; muffler skirt; wheel arch trim; elec ant.
119310487 Y Italy Light Ivory *known car on S Registry; Full luggage set; special headrests
119310504 Y USA Signal Yellow - 6823 black leather; LSD, black side script
119310522 Y Germany Light Ivory Sport seat L; 100l tank; Dunlop tires
119310563 Y Germany Light Ivory black leather; special headrests
119310592 Y Germany Tangerine TTG Driving lights, Sport Seats L+R, Dunlop tires
119310605 Y Belgium Aga Blue - 6861 Hella 169 white fog lights; Beige leather

69E SWT

ongoing research. list will continue to change.

Data format:
VIN | Kardex confirmed (Y/N) | Market | Color | Miscellaneous Notes/noteworthy options

119210203 N Germany Polo Red *Registry member car 9316 tonneau cover; but NO 9356 (first week of Nov 68… record keeping); rear seat delete(per registry member); heavily optioned
119210254 Y USA Canary Yellow - 6824 last week of Nov 68, no noteworthy options other than color
119210266 Y USA Tangerine special trans; TTG driving lights
119210271 Y USA 6861 6861 special order paint - "Mercedes", over red leather seats w/houndstooth inserts
119210279 Y USA Tangerine L+R sport seats, TTG driving lights
119210280 Y USA Slate Grey steering wheel lock
119210282 Y USA Ossi Blue 9316 tonneau cover, beige vinyl seats
119210295 Y USA Golden Green - 6828
119210305 Y USA Silver Metallic - 6851 Sporto; A/C; 9316 tonneau cover, TTG driving lights, ski rack, black leather seats
119210309 Y Germany Burgundy black vinyl w/corduroy inserts
119210310 Y USA Burgundy fog lights under bumper
119210327 Y Germany Bahama Yellow brown vinyl interior
119210348 Y Germany Burgundy Sporto
119210351 Y USA Tangerine 9316 tonneau cover, tow hook, electric antenna, Becker Europa
119210356 Y USA Cocoa Brown - 6837 brown leather seats, under the bumper fog
119210357 Y Germany Tangerine black leather seats, fender chrome strips
119210371 Y Germany Signal Green - 6829
119210385 Y Germany Signal Green - 6829 9316 tonneau cover, Driver leather sports seat, passenger vinyl sport seat, fender chrome strips
119210387 Y Japan Light Ivory Sporto; Mitsuwa Motors
119210404 Y Germany Tangerine SWT; 9316 tonneau cover, tow hook, sport seats, TTG driving lights
119210405 Y Germany Tangerine SWT; 100 l tank; Driver sports seat
119210411 Y USA Burgundy steering wheel lock
119210441 Y UK Polo Red SWT RHD; 9316 tonneau cover, rear bumper guard, muffler skirt, under bumper fog lights

69T SWT

Given the production volume of 69 T Targas, it is a bit surprising that so far SWTs account for a much smaller % of production volume when compared to the 69S SWT.

ongoing research. list will continue to change.

Data format:
VIN | Kardex confirmed (Y/N) | Market | Color | Miscellaneous Notes/noteworthy options

119110036 Y Germany Light Ivory kardex in SWB format; 9/9/68 prod
119110071 Y* Germany Light Ivory 9922 interior, Sept 68 prod, 9316 tonneau cover; but NO 9356 (early production/record keeping)
119110109 Y* Germany Burgundy 9933 interior (brown vinyl w/cord inserts), Sept 68 prod, 9316 tonneau but NO 9356 (typo'ed option code), 9119 stabilizer bar
119110116 Y Germany Slate Grey 9942 interior (black vinyl w/pepita inserts), Sept 68 prod, S instruments
119110222 N Germany Light Ivory 98xx interior, Nov 68 prod; Sporto, Comfort Group, red leather seats, heavily optioned
119110256 Y* Germany Irish Green Nov 68 prod (recordkeeping changes), 9316 tonneau but NO 9356, black leather, ski rack,
119110273 Y* Italy Light Ivory Nov 68 prod (recordkeeping changes), 9316 tonneau but NO 9356, leather covered steering wheel,
119110504 Y Germany Ossi Blue tow hook
119110520 Y USA Tangerine special trans 9046, passenger mirror
119110555 Y USA Burgundy S instruments
119110727 Y USA Canary Yellow - 6824 beige interior, factory A/C
119110872 Y USA Silver Metallic - 6851 Comfort Group, CD ignition
119111280 Y USA Tangerine Comfort Group, CD ignition


119111254 N Silver Metallic http://media.collectorcarpricetracke...0510480801.pdf, highly suspect

How about some imagery

Place holder for any recorded 69 Dealer or After-market independent shop conversions (SWT to HWT)

Attachment 307077 a 69s swt.

Interesting thread.
The only reason that I ever heard of for Porsche discontinuing the soft window was customer dissatisfaction.
I started at the dealer in 72 and by then the windows were brown, cracked and the vinyl was usually torn.
The main problem as I was told by customers was..when the trip started it was warm so the window was down and when it turned cold on the way home the window was too stiff to zip up so they froze...
EVERY customer with a soft window that came in our dealership begged for a glass conversion. Many came from far and wide because not every dealer thought it was worth their time to help.
We had so many conversions that I made an order list of the parts for quick reference. There was such demand from Porsche during that time that the many of the parts frequently were back-ordered and we resorted to Aase and decimated their Targa stock.
There were some ways you could always tell if the car was originally delivered with the soft window so verification should be certain.
Typical of many great ideas, it just took a while to catch on....kinda like all of the 4 cams we took out :)
H

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Harvey Weidman

. . . EVERY customer with a soft window that came in our dealership begged for a glass conversion . . .

. . . There were some ways you could always tell if the car was originally delivered with the soft window so verification should be certain . . .

---

Thanks for that, Harvey

OK-now ---- heeeeeeere we go . . .

So. Given . . .

..1) Harvey's account --- of miserable customers . . .

..2) . . . + given the wholesale conversions performed @(Harvey's) dealerships --- at Customer Request . . . Back-in-the-Day . . .

..3) . . . + given the un-reliability of the Kardex . . .



. . . how many SWTs are out there today . . . camouflaged by their conversion?

;)




Which begs The Big Question . . .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LongRanger

Thanks for that, Harvey

..3) . . . + given the un-reliability of the Kardex . . .



. . . how many SWTs are out there today . . . camouflaged by their conversion?

;)




Which begs The Big Question . . .

---

From the few I have seen, the Kardex is pretty good, it is the translation into english that is shown on the COA that is terrible. I think the person in charge of translating the Kardex has never SEEN a long hood (or a 356), let along have a clue what the options stood for. On my ex E, the factory muffler skirt that was listed on the Kardex was translated as 'spoiler' on the COA.