At the 1965 Frankfurt Motor Show, Porsche launched a new iteration of the 911 sports car that remains to this day. Named the ‘Targa’ by Porsche marketing man Harald Wagner, this new version of the 911 sported a removable hard top roof, rather than a conventional folding soft top. Porsche’s reasoning behind the creation of the Targa was manyfold. Firstly, with the 356 finally easing into retirement, Porsche needed an open top model to feed the hungry American market. However, rumours circulated that soft top cars faced a ban in the USA due to safety concerns. Porsche’s now iconic ‘Targa’ roll hoop would hopefully circumnavigate this legislation which ultimately never arrived.

Like many Porsche model designations, motorsport is the core inspiration in both name and spirit. Harald Wagner’s inspiration for the first open top 911 came from Sicily’s infamous road race – The Targa Florio. Founded in 1906 by a wealthy wine and spice merchant, Count Vincenzo Florio, the Targa Florio tested car and driver to the limit around the winding roads of Sicily.

The Targa Florio’s original Madonie circuit measured a whopping 146 kilometres in length. By the time Porsche’s works team arrived at the Targa Florio for the first time in 1956, the circuit had reduced to ‘only’ 72 kilometres. However, the reduction in length did nothing to reduce the ferocity of this savage road circuit. Situated South-East of Palermo, the Targa Florio course linked the towns of Collesano, Caltavuturo and Cerda with perilously tight mountain passes, narrow villages, and a long blast along the seaside. Furthermore, each crew faced ten laps in the searing Sicilian sunshine. It is little wonder why the Targa Florio pilots were hero worshipped by the avid fans throughout the island. If drivers were unfortunate enough to break down on circuit, they would be quickly consoled as the guest of honour at the nearest family lunch!

Porsche’s first attempt at the Targa Florio in 1956 was a far cry from the typically exhaustive planning of the works team today. Preparations for Porsche’s first major outright endurance victory began less than two weeks before the green flag.

After a satisfying debut for Porsche’s new 550 Spyder RS at the 1000km of the Nurburgring, Porsche PR and racing boss Huschke von Hanstein welcomed a select band of racing guests at his Kräherwald home near Stuttgart. Renowned for their hospitality, many top drivers flocked to Ursula and Huschke von Hanstein’s post-race parties. On the 29th of May 1956, von Hanstein’s guests began a sales pitch over dinner. Journalists Uli Wieselmann and Bernhard Cahier joined Daimler-Benz press officer Artur Keser in convincing von Hanstein that he should take Porsche’s promising new 550 Spyder RS to the infamous Targa Florio.

Despite von Hanstein’s considerable skill behind the wheel, a star driver was required to challenge the mighty Ferrari and Maserati. Wieselmann, Cahier and Keser believed that Umberto Maglioli was the man for the job. Luckily, the Italian sat across the von Hanstein dinner table in this impromptu summit. At the age of just 28, Maglioli was already a Targa Florio veteran. Since 1948, Maglioli had started five Targa Florio races, highlighted with a win for Lancia in 1953. Maglioli’s knowledge of the 72-kilometre circuit was essential to Porsche’s campaign.

Although a tilt at the Targa Florio was unanimously deemed to be a super idea by his guests, von Hanstein had to secure a blessing from Ferry Porsche. Luckily, Ferry’s father Dr Ferdinand Porsche had fond memories of the Targa Florio. Back in 1922, Dr Porsche designed the Targa Florio 1100cc class winning Austro Daimler Sascha. Two years later, the engineering wizard took Mercedes to outright victory as chief race car designer for Daimler. This family heritage at the Italian road race provided the final lubricant to green light this last-minute project.

Porsche’s only mechanics for this ‘works’ effort, Willi and Werner Enz, set up their workspace and living quarters in a tiny garage in Termini. Umberto Maglioli and wife Gerti stayed with friends in Palermo along with von Hanstein. Completing the homespun nature of Porsche’s first official crack at the Targa Florio, von Hanstein and Maglioli slapped on a coat of German racing white to the 550 Spyder RS with paint brushes! Nevertheless, neither Maglioli nor the 550 Spyder RS could be considered amateurish. What the Porsche crew lacked in polish of the major Italian marques, they made up for in on track performance.

On a baking hot spring afternoon on the 10th of June 1956, Count Vincenzo Florio waved off the #84 Porsche into the ten-lap epic. As the experienced hand, Maglioli planned to undertake most of the driving with von Hanstein in reserve.

A disgruntled Hans Herrmann felt aggrieved to be overlooked for the Porsche drive in favour of an Italian driver. Nevertheless, the young German star ironically found a berth in the race with Scuderia Ferrari!

Eugenio Castelotti immediately burst into the lead with trademark flamboyance at the wheel of the Scuderia Ferrari Monza 3.5 litre. Piero Taruffi gave chase in his Maserati 300S. These brutish Italian machines dwarfed the power of the puny Porsche. However, the 550 Spyder RS’s lack of inertia proved vital through the twisting tracks of Sicily. Castelloti’s initial charge soon faded with a driveshaft failure on lap two. Furthermore, Taruffi’s Maserati was plagued throughout the race by a fuel tank issue.

Meanwhile, Maglioli and the little Porsche clicked off laps without incident. On lap six, over 350 kilometres into the race, a sunburnt Maglioli came to the pits for his only stop. Despite the punishing heat and exertion of negotiating the endless stream of corners, Maglioli pushed on as von Hanstein watched on from the pit wall.

After seven hours, fifty-four minutes and twenty-two seconds of driving, Maglioli crossed the finish line in first place. Only eight years since building their first sports car in the Austria hills in 1948, Porsche had won their first endurance race overall. Porsche’s subsequent ten wins at the Targa Florio undoubtedly involved significantly more preparation than this initial slapdash attempt for the works team. Nevertheless, this win cast the die for not only Porsche’s revered works team, but also its iconic ‘RS’ moniker.

No other manufacturer conquered the Targa Florio like Porsche until the event’s demise from World Championship competition in 1973. It is a fitting tribute to the exploits of Maglioli, van Lennep, Redman, Elford, Davis and many more that the Targa name survives on the flanks of Porsche’s open top 911.