1978 Buchmann-Porsche 911/30/28 Targa

By 1978, Buchmann had quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the modification world. A reasonably large number of cars had been produced by the company, and Buchmann embarked upon their first true commisson - the 911/30/28 Targa.

Upgrading the Upgraded
The car was based upon the company's own iteration of the 930 Turbo - namely a Targa with a more powerful turbocharged engine. For this car, the engine remained at original capacity, but featured a new, larger oil cooler, and boost increased to 1.1 Bar. Power output remained as Buchmann's previous 911, at 370 BHP. To translate this huge power output into meaningful propulsion, the standard width Fuchs alloys were replaced with wider BBS cross-spoke alloys, painted gold in the centre with a polished rim.

This car was an example of Buchmann's 'hybrid' thinking, which shows in the styling of the bodywork. For a start, the wider wings of the Porsche 930 are in evidence, to replace the standard narrow wings of the Targa - this gave the car its 911/30 tag. The -/28 suffix came from the car featuring front-end styling from the 928, although modified to fit amongst the standard 911 bonnet. Reference was drawn from Porsche's 935 racing cars, and in essence, this car was the first 'Flatnose' 911, which started a trend amongst other tuners to create similar cars. The bodywork took Buchmann's skilled bodyworkers a very long time to fabricate, and fit, but the fit and finish was exemplary.

The company really went to town with the interior. The seats themselves were now bucket items, with electric operation through 16 ways, and trimmed in gold fabric. The gold seats were complimented by a similar dash and carpet colouring. The rear seats were trimmed in a special 'metallic' gold fabric, and were hinged at the bottom - they concealed a champagne cooler. Other attractions of the interior were the presence of a CB radio, a television set, a stereo so powerful it would flicker the headlights on full power, and a sophisticated air conditioning system. Many instruments were trimmed in leaf gold.

Open to Offers
Despite boasting such a strong specification, the demonstrator car garnered few enquiries, due in part to its spectacular list price - of 250,000 DM. However, the demonstrator was sold to a car collector in the West Indies.

The project remained a model in Buchmann's range for a while to come - and the Flatnose body was one of Buchmann's most popular options. Several examples of the model were built, all featuring unique colours, interior options and power outputs. For example, one vehicle, which found its way to the UK, featured a fully accessorised interior, 'Disc' alloys, but body styling with cues taken from Lamborghini's original Countach. It was finished in an Oh-so-Eighties Pearlescent White.