2017 PORSCHE 911 TARGA 4 GTS FIRST TEST

In the world of Porsche, the letters GTS mean Gran Turismo Sport, and they first made their debut in 1964 on the 904 Carrera GTS—one of the brand’s most iconic street-homologated race cars. In 1966, the word Targa entered Porsche’s lexicon, in a dainty lowercase script affixed to the base of the 911’s B-pillar. Targa means “plate” in Italian but is also related to “shield” in Old High German and Old Norse. It is associated with Porsche because of how often its racers won the Targa Florio—one of the oldest, most prestigious endurance races in world—but all of those meanings have largely been forgotten since Porsche trademarked the term for this removable-roof but not fully convertible body type of the 911.