I have a Porsche 996 Targa. The factory roof rack is different than on the Coupe and Cabriolet, and no one in the US seems to have one. I recently purchased and installed a Willwood Systems bike rack that fits into a hidden receiver, under the license plate, bolted to the solid metal inner bumper.

The completed project.




Hole cut in the bumper, exposing the heat shield that is between the solid aluminum bumper and the outer plastic skin.




With the plastic bumper skin removed, the hidden receiver has been bolted to the solid aluminum bumper.




The bumper skin has been reinstalled and a hinge for the license plate has been screwed on.




The license plate flips up to enable inserting the bike rack. Alternatively, a trailer hitch could be installed.




The rack without bikes. The rack as purchased will clamp to a fork with a standard skewer. On newer high-end mountain bikes, the skewer has been replaced with a 10-mm-diameter bolt. To clamp to these forks, I bought an adapter made by Yakima. I also added a pair of Thule front-wheel holders, which had to be adapted to mount rotated by 90 degrees from their original mounting direction. I had to purchase separate front-wheel (100-mm-long) skewers and some round plastic stock with through-holes to hold the front wheels. I bolted on some old reflectors to help avoid being rear-ended.




With two mountain bike and front wheels, it is tight. It takes about 10 minutes to put the bikes in, but just 3 minutes to remove and assemble them.




The pedal of the bike nearest the rear hatch is about 1.5 inches away with my aftermarket spoiler. I put a leather glove over the pedal to prevent scratches when mounting the bike and when driving.

 

Nicely done, but what I'd really like to see is more pics of your car without the rack. I've never seen a ducktail on a targa, can you post some more pics? Looks pretty sweet

 

Where did you get the duck tail?

 

Here are some photos showing the ducktail.
This is the Ducktail Sport from Getty Designs in San Bernadino with the third brake light deleted. (MA Shaw appears to have the same mold.) It cost me about $1300 for the fiberglass ducktail, with several coats of primer and sanding, plus the wiring harness, tax, and shipping. It was another $300 or so at a local body shop for more primer and sanding, black paint, and clear coat.
I also replaced the original incandescent taillights with Depo/Dectane LED taillights. This cost about $600 from a place in the UK, shipped to California. These came with 12 ohm of resistance in parallel with the LEDs so that no error is give due to low current (a sad waste of power).

Front angle view.




Rear angle view.




Close-up of ducktail.

The screens came separate. I had them painted along with the ducktail. Epoxying them in was a nightmare. I sanded the mating surfaces to improve adhesion. I tried using epoxy putty, but it would not stick, so I went to two-part paste epoxy. You get one chance to place the screens from the inside of the ducktail. I misaligned one of the screens, getting epoxy where it doesn't belong. Our fat cat likes to sit on warm car engines, which is right on a screen for the 996, causing it to break loose. I added a lot more epoxy, but it dripped a bit, getting more epoxy where it doesn't below. I'm still working on fixing that.

 

So the issue I have with the Willwood hitch receiver is that the retaining pin is set up to go vertically, rather than horizontally (like most receivers). I have a bike rack, ski rack etc. and don't really want to get second set that work only with the Porsche.

From your install, do you think it would be feasible to put a hitch receiver in the same mount location that used a horizontal pin instead? I was thinking of having one custom made.

 

Yes, a horizontal pin should work fine.
One option that avoids custom fabrication and is probably cheaper would be getting the same Willwood receiver, then drilling a horizontal hole. You would have to cut a horizontal slot rather than a vertical one in the plastic bumper skin. The cut into the aluminum foil heat shield would be the same.

 

And a photo of the ducktail from the back.

Rear view of ducktail.

 

So Im not the only one in San Jose with a ducktailed 996 targa. The getty tail looks great btw !

 

she looks a beauty!

and its answered my question on what dectane LED's looked like on a black 996 ;-)
think i'll go for a set myself

 

Genius. I love how Pcar enthusiasts don't revolve their lives around the car (e.g. careful sunny short trips on Sundays) but rather mod their cars to suit their lifestyles. Just when I thought I couldn't throw bikes or coolers on top of my convertible... there's an option to hitch it on the back. Bravo

 

Yep, and I drive it up to Yosemite full of camping and climbing gear. It's really a great car for long trips on windy mountain roads.
Unfortunately for autocrossing, the glass top adds about 200 pounds in the worst possible place, but I have fun anyway.

 

Can anyone recommend a shop to install the Wildwood System on a Porsche Cabriolet in San Francisco?

Thanks for any help in sourcing the best option!

 

Before you buy a rack, check with Will on mounting to your internal bumper. 996s have solid aluminum bumpers. I think Will mentioned that 997s have hollow bumpers, so some modification would have to be made.