Porsche 991 Targa - official

UPDATE: Pricing, specs and further details of the roof system confirmed for new Porsche 911 Targa

UPDATE: With our initial story on the new Porsche 911 Targa being based around images leaked and then 'acquired' online we can now bring you a few more pics and the official story on the latest 991 variant.

The basics - and looks - you'll have already gathered. Which is to say a return to the original 1965 Targa's distinctive silver roll hoop, the later version's glass rear hatch and a removable central roof section for ruffling your combover. A few questions remained unanswered by the leaked images though; namely the details of the roof mechanism and details of the price, performance and model line-up.

New Targa takes its inspiration from '68 car

This being the modern age Porsche wasn't going to be able to get away with the old school manually removable roof panel. Nope, we demand our al fresco delights at the touch of a button these days and the Targa is promising exactly that. You might wonder if that comes at the cost of rear seats but apparently not, the fabric roof section somehow disappearing into a space behind them. This, Porsche assures, provides 'a real spectacle' that we'll look forward to witnessing at first hand in due course.

All Targas are widebodied four-wheel drive models and based on the Carrera 4 and 4 S Cabriolet, at least up to the window line. As such you can expect an additional 70kg or so over the comparable coupe. Option one is the 3.4-litre 911 Targa 4 with the same 350hp as the equivalent Carreras and equivalent sub-five 0-62 and 175mph vmax when fitted with PDK and Sport Chrono. This starts at £86,281, a token £647 less than the Carrera 4 Cabriolet but a substantial £8K more than a coupe.

The Targa 4 S follows the rest of the Carrera range and has the 400hp 3.8-litre for a few tenths off the 0-62 and a 180mph-plus top speed (4.4 seconds and 184mph with PDK and Sport Chrono, a tenth quicker to 62 than the equivalent Cabriolet). The S also gets 20-inch wheels, PASM suspension and PTV torque vectoring (with the limited-slip diff) as standard. This starts at £96,316 with corresponding price differences to the comparable coupe and soft-top versions to the standard Targa. Order books are now open, first deliveries coming in May.

ORIGINAL STORY: In perhaps the worst-kept secret in new car news of recent times leaked photos have confirmed that the new Porsche 911 Targa will return to a more classic interpretation of the look first seen in 1965.

Silver hoop harks back to 1965 original

The first 911 Targa was unveiled in the autumn of the 911's second year of official production and came with a distinctive silver roll hoop, removable roof panel and stowable plastic rear window. In 1968 that was replaced with a fixed glass bubble, leaving just the removable centre section and a half rice/half chips compromise between coupe and full convertible that has featured, on and off and in various forms, in the 911 range ever since.

More recent Targas were basically coupes with a big retractable sunroof and sharp rather than kicked back C-pillars to mark them out from the regular 911s. The decision to return to a more distinctive 'roll hoop' look once again harks back to the original, makes the Targa a more distinctive model in its own right and, it has to be said, looks rather good with the 991's sleeker lines.