This Porsche 911 SC Targa is a little more special than most, it’s a retired Dutch Rijkspolitie (State Police) highway patrol vehicle, and it remains in its original service specification.
The 911 SC Targa might seem like an unusual vehicle to choose for police duties. It was ultimately chosen because it was ideal for high-speed pursuits, it had room in the back to store police equipment, and when directing traffic the officer could stand on the seat, giving them a good view over the surrounding traffic.
Fast Facts – A Dutch Rijkspolitie Porsche 911 SC Targa
- The Dutch Rijkspolitie, or Highway Patrol, were tasked with constantly monitoring the nations highways and byways for the usual problems – drunk drivers, speeders, breakdowns, and accidents.
- The Porsche 911 SC was released in 1978, its 3.0 liter engine was a notable upgrade over the oftentimes troublesome 2.7 liter-powered 911 that had come before it.
- The Rijkspolitie ordered a number of 911 SC Targa models in white, with a passenger-side mirror, a rear wiper, and front and rear fog lights. One the cars arrived in the Netherlands they received the other parts necessary to turn them into police cars.
- The original Porsche 911 SC Targa Rijkspolitie shown here was given a comprehensive restoration between 2021 and 2022, and it’s now being offered for sale.
The Dutch Police And The Porsche 911
In the 1960s there were no speed limits on Dutch highways, and the police needed something that could keep up with the quickest sports cars while also offering some level of practicality.
The front of the car is equipped with police sirens and additional fog lights, some cars also had spotlights added.
They ultimately settled on the Porsche 356 Cabriolet, using them from 1962 until 1966 painted in white with the distinctive orange and black Rijkspolitie livery over the top.
When Porsche unveiled the notably faster 911 Targa model in 1967 the Dutch police switched their preferred model, and began ordering them – always in white and always with the Targa roof.
The Targa roof was chosen for a very simple reason, it allowed the police officers to stand on their seats (with the roof removed of course) to get an elevated view over the surrounding traffic, and to direct that traffic of needs be.
The cars arrived from Porsche with white paint, and a small number of optional extras including a passenger-side mirror, a rear wiper, and front and rear fog lights.
The interior is largely factory stock, with the exception of the police radio, the switches for the police light and sirens, and the lockers installed on the back seats for storage.
The police department then had them modified, a pillar was added to the Targa bar with a flashing blue light, high visibility orange livery was added on the front, sides, and rear, a rear mounted loud speaker was installed as well as sirens and additional lights, and storage lockers were added on top of the rear seats.
In total, the Dutch police would buy 507 Porsches, including the 356, 911 Targa, 914, 924, and 964. Today the surviving cars are sought after by collectors, and well-known within the Porsche community.
The 1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa Rijkspolitie Shown Here
The car you see here is an original 1980 Rijkspolitie Porsche 911 SC, it benefits from a comprehensive restoration between 2021 and 2022.
The design of the back seat lockers changed over time, they included all the of the equipment that highway patrol officers might have needed and they were permanently installed – they couldn’t be removed and so the back seats weren’t used for transporting suspects.
The car is powered by the classic 911 SC 3.0 liter air-cooled flat-six, which is paired with a 5-speed manual gearbox sending power to the rear wheels.
It’s fitted with all of its original police equipment, not to mention that eye-catching Rijkspolitie livery. The car rides on original 15 inch “hackmesser” or “cookie cutter” alloy wheels wearing Vredestein Sprint Classic tires.
The car is accompanied by its original Dutch title, plus a Porsche “Geburtsurkunde” (birth certificate) confirming its factory equipment and delivery to the Rijkspolitie. It’s now being offered for sale on Collecting Cars and at the time of writing there are a few days left to bid.
If you’d like to read more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
