For non-Porscheophiles, there are three different roof options with 911s. Coupés have a conventional steel roof; cabriolets have a conventional soft top; and Targas have a removeable vinyl roof panel.

I originally wanted a cabriolet, but was soon sold on the Targa. With the roof off, it feels exactly like a cabriolet, but with better rear visibility and less likelihood of leaking.

The targa roof was rather tatty. Porsche is normally superb at supporting older cars, continuing to make parts for them pretty much forever. The targa roof is an exception. Porsche made one per car, and never made any more. Supply-and-demand means that breakers can and do charge the earth for very average roofs, so I decided to buy a fibreglass one from a Californian company. This had the advantage that it could be sprayed to match the car for a sort of semi-coupé look when the roof was in place, which I figured might be more secure.

The roof itself was about $600, but shipping to the UK was as much again! So I came up with a cunning plan. I was in New York on business the following week, so I asked them to quote for shipping it to my hotel. That was cheap, so I spoke to BA: was there any limit to the size of a piece of hold luggage? It appeared not: if it was within my weight limit, it was fine.

The next question was: could they insure it for the full replacement value, rather than the crappy Warsaw Convention rate. Yes, no problem, just go see the cashier at JFK. Could they tell me how much this would cost? Not exactly, but not much - maybe £20-30. So the plan was hatched!

The package did look quite large in my hotel room:

Things didn't go entirely smoothly at the airport. While BA at Heathrow knew all about Excess Baggage Valuations, BA at JFK didn't. They variously told me that such a thing didn't exist, that it only applied to clothing and that it only applied to jewellery and works of art. I told them they could call it a sculpture if it made life easier. Eventually they found the rules, and confirmed that it was acceptable. Now all they had to do was find the formula for calculating the insurance premium ...

This took a very, very long time. Various BA staff asked various other BA staff whether they'd ever done one before. No-one had. One person did the sums, muttered a lot and then asked someone else to check them. Then someone else did the sums again, and someone else checked those. The phrase 'That can't be right' was uttered quite frequently. They were also scribbling down various frightening numbers like 250.

Eventually, they were satisfied. I was handed a slip of paper confirming that the roof was insured for the full replacement value and presented with the bill it had taken three BA staff 20 minutes to calculate. Four dollars.

I swear I am not making this next bit up. She really did ask: "How would you like to pay?" Tempting as it was to ask about an installment plan, I figured they would probably start consulting the rule-book again, so I handed over four dollar bills and went on my way.

There was more good news at Heathrow. Not only did the roof survive the tender ministrations of baggage-handlers, but when I went into the Red customs channel to declare it, expecting to have to pay VAT at least, the very nice man took a quick look at the invoice and told me he wouldn't charge me anything. You can tell those guys have seen and heard it all: when he asked what the package was, he didn't bat an eye-lid when I replied that it was a car roof.

Here's the roof in the original finish, after the original frame was fitted but before spraying:

Once both roof and rollover bar was sprayed, it gave the car a semi-coupé look with the roof in place:

Although a fibreglass roof of course can't be folded to go under the front luggage cover (what would be the bonnet on a front-engined car), it fits behind the rear seats - just don't expect to carry any rear-seat passengers!