Rare and immaculate Porsche 911 Targa has had the same owner for 51 years

A man has owned a rare Porsche 911T Targa since 1973 and has managed to keep it in immaculate condition.  

While some car lovers like to jump onto the latest and greatest vehicles rolling off production lines – Richard Raimist has remained loyal to his beloved Porsche which he bought more than 50 years ago.  

In a clip shared on YouTube, Richard showed off the stunning car that he bought all the way back in April 1973 from a dealer in California.  

READ MORE! These two Porsches look identical but one’s worth $1m more than the other

On his YouTube channel, Richard reveals that the Porsche cost him around $10,000, which – adjusted for inflation – is around $70,000 now.

Quite a decent bargain, considering you’d need to part with more than $130,000 to pick one up today – not that Richard would be looking to sell up anytime soon.  

Explaining why he wanted to get himself a Porsche 911T Targa all those years ago, he said: “Living in Los Angeles, just driving around the streets and seeing some of the earlier Porsches, it just really fired up my passion for Porsche.” 

He went on to share that, at the time, he was working in the film industry and was making ‘quite good money’ but still needed a bit of help from his mom before he was able to splash the cash on the car – and the rest is history, literally.  

With more than five decades behind the wheel, Richard had plenty of stories to share about his car including the time he was on an early morning drive in 1974 with his then-girlfriend and accidentally hit a deer.

Not ideal.  

Fortunately, the deer – and car – were largely unharmed in the incident.  

Exactly how everything emerged unscathed is anyone’s guess on that one.

Over the years, Richard has had some modifications to his car, so that he was able to compete in some time trials and autocross, which sounds like a whole heap of fun.

Amongst the mods made to the Porsche was the addition of the fender flares from a 1973 911 Carrera RS; as well as 16-inch wheels, with the rear coming from a 1986 930 Turbo and the front from a 1986 944 Turbo; and a rare European-style amber reverse light.  

Mods aside, Richard has held onto the original plates; tool kit; owner’s manual; window sticker, and certificate of authenticity.

Impressive – but is it as impressive as the UK businessman who has collected a staggering 24 Aston Martin Lagondas?

Well, each to their own.

You can also keep up with Richard’s work on Instagram here.