Are you the next Porsche 911 Targa?

The 991-type Porsche 911 was introduced in 2012, but it's just now hitting its stride in terms of the numerous variations for which the 911 is known. Following closely on the heels of the 911 Turbo Cabriolet models revealed at the LA Auto Show, Porsche looks to be readying the return of the 911 Targa.

Rather than the most recent Targa, which had a sliding roof panel, these patent images dug up by French automotive site TF1 Automoto show a roof design more reminiscent of the original Targa models that date back to 1967. These images look similar to what we've seen from spy shots for the Targa, but the patent images do show the car from various angles with the roof both on and off. Instead of a manual roof panel, we heard back in September that this car would get some sort of trick automatic sliding roof. In all honesty, we can't imagine how that will work on this car, but we look forward to finding out.

That report also indicates that the 911 Targa was slated for an introduction at the Detroit Auto Show, so we don't have too long to wait.