As a road car it was better suited for the racetrack unless one had a passion for speed and the discomforts of a purebred racer. Porsche 944 Stock or 924GT Front Fenders Part# 201. Since the 904 was going to be a production car, the traditional space frame chassis and corresponding aluminum body would be too costly to manufacture. This 1963 Porsche 904 GTS Prototype sold at Christie's sale in Monterey, August 17, 2006, for $565,000. Power is provided by a turbocharged 2.5L flat-four from a 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX, and additional equipment includes a five-speed Porsche transaxle, seats from a 914, VDO instrumentation, adjustable coilover suspension, disc brakes, and 17 alloy wheels. 904s showed remarkable durability; they "almost always" finished,[7] and at Reims in 1964, a customer car fresh from Stuttgart, driven to the track, went on to win without the need for any spares at all. Porsche 914-6 Gt Fiberglass Fender Flare, Set Of Four; 914 1970-76 . Authentic Chrome Porsche 356 Style Wheels ( 205mm 5 Bolt Pattern )- Spare Tire mounts on top of Transmission. Details include a rear lip spoiler, engine venting, Talbot-style mirrors on both front fenders, Plexiglas headlight covers, fog lamps, and a rear clamshell secured with leather straps. Porsche released the 904 in 1963 as a purpose-built race car with road-going versions built to satisfy the FIA's homologation requirements. Because of the risen value of 904s even the totally crashed and burned-down cars have been restored. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Contact Us, Tom Cruises 1984 Nissan 300ZX Race Car Is For Sale, Rare Japanese Project Car: A 1969 Datsun 1600 Roadster, A 1/3 Scale Ferrari F40 Body Shell For Display, A 1969 Lotus Cortina Ford Transit Mark I Camper Van, A Rare 66 Lunar Jeep The Poncin VP2000, The Next Great American Supercar Is For Sale On eBay, Full Film: Follow That Girl A Motorcycle Adventure Across Australia In The 1970s. After completing the Formula 1 and RS61 projects, Ferdinand had the confidence to use a new styling language with the 904. For obvious reasons it was nicknamed the, Legendary American racing driver Bob Bondurants name will be forever linked with the Ford GT40, a car he drove at the 24 Hours of, The traditional Silodrome was a carnival sideshow attraction also called the Wall of Death." The 904's mid-engine layout was inherited from the 718, also known as the RSK (Rennsport = racing, kurz = short), the factory's leading race car. The next important race was the Le Mans 24H in June. The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS mid-engine layout was mated to a 1,966cc, Type 587/3, four-cam, air-cooled, flat four-cylinder engine producing around 180bhp. Modern day replicas of the 904 are currently being produced by a number of companies, including Martin and Walker[15] in the UK and Chuck Beck [16] and Dennis Frick at Europa Macchina in the US. Over 50 fiber glass pieces made up to the body of the 904. In typical Porsche fashion this relatively new material was put to additional use on the 904 and was employed to strengthen torsional rigidity by bonding the body to the ladder frame steel chassis. Officially designated the Carrera GTS, it was Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche's 1963 masterpiece: The first of the modern Porsches, the first "plastic" (fiberglass) Porsche, and the two-liter scourge of the open-class GTs from Sebring to Nurburgring. They were also easily able to reach a top speed of 160 mph. Ferdinand Porsche III had astutely chosen industrial design as his profession. The first series production 6-cylinder 904, chassis 906-001, was entered in Paris 1000 km on October 11, 1964, but it had to retire due to an accident. The fact it was raced only adds to its desirability. Ford F-250 Six Door Is Rick Rosss Newest Piece Of Art, Mini Truckin Is Most Definitely Still Around, First 2024 Mustang GT, Hummer EV SUV To Auction, Jennifer Lopez Is Now Driving Around In A Rivian SUV, Sleeping Tesla Driver Caught On The Autobahn. The street legal version also made its debut in the year 1964, which also contained a fiberglass body. Three factory race cars were fitted with a flat eight-cylinder power plant derived from the 1962 804 F1 car, the 225 hp (168 kW) 1,962 cc (119.7 cu in) Type 771, which used 42 mm (1.7 in)-throat downdraft Weber carburetors. Full Access to Featured Content. It's what's happening. Learn more here. Previously, seats had been pounded out of sheet metal. Details include a rear lip spoiler, engine venting, Talbot-style mirrors on both front fenders, Plexiglas headlight covers, fog lamps, and a rear clamshell secured with leather straps. [3] The 904's fibreglass body was made by spraying chopped fibreglass into a mold, the amount sprayed often varied in thickness over the shape of the car and as a result the weight of the various cars was somewhat inconsistent. There were several that were recycled in period and some rebuilt and issued same/old chassis numbers but today Porsche officially still sites a total of just 108 examples. As the FIA demanded one hundred examples had to be produced to meet homologation, the 904 was designed as a customer car with a full interior including a heater. The overlap of the plastic upper to the steel underbody became a styling cue, a run through that defined the shape of the car by wrapping around the rear to form an integral spoiler. Tomala though, opted for a chassis comprising a pair of steel . Car Collector Magazine, LLC. The Porsche 901/20 6-cylinder lightweight racing engine was standard equipment, offering circa 220bhp on Weber carburetors. Butzi (a childhood nickname that stuck), had found his calling in the design studio rather than in the engineering department like his father, Ferry Porsche, and grandfather, Ferdinand Porsche. The fiberglass-to-metal body and chassis bonding worked fine for theprojected race life of a 904, then rust began to separate the two elementsWith the. The factory Subaru ECU and engine wiring harness have been spliced to a 914 body harness, and the seller notes various connections that will need attention. Beck Bodies made in Upland CA are much stronger and MUCH lighter the later sprayed bodies in Brazil.- Clear Massachusetts Title. Driven by Edgar Barth/Umberto Maglioli it was victorious in the prototype class, but because of an accident scored only 6th overall. They were also the first 904s to be signed up for a race the SCCA Divisional Riverside race on February 2, 1964 (result unknown, so actual presence not confirmed please inform if you know). If you don't win, your existing pre-authorization will be released. Overall this is an interesting example of a Porsche 904 replica with a unique history tied to both Beck, one of the world's most respected Porsche replica manufacturers, and Avanti Motors. Articles that Ben has written have been covered onCNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine,Road & Track Magazine,the official Pinterest blog, theofficialeBay Motorsblog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more. The engine was rear-mid mounted with power sent to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. The 8-cylinder 904-009 scored 3rd driven by Edgar Barth/Colin Davis. In the beginning, the Porsche 904 was known as Porsche Carrera, but later it was renamed as Porsche 904. . This replica is based upon the car that was originally produced by Porsche as a dual-purpose street/race car and marketed under the name Carrera GTS beginning in 1963. While the 4-cylinder 904s were racing already, the 8-cylinder fuel-injected prototype (904-009) was tested on the Le Mans test day on April 19, 1964. The "904" in question is, of course, a Porsche 904. The 904s fiberglass body was made by spraying chopped fiberglass into a mold, the amount sprayed often varied in thickness over the shape of the car and as a result the weight of the various cars was somewhat inconsistent; some were heavier than others. $525.00 $625.00. View car. This photo is another gem from the Loyd Sandgren collection. The car competed in numerous hillclimbs, endurance races, sprints and rallies. Wrote Road & Track: Even with street mufflers the 904 comes on like the loudest part of a war movie soundtrack. Car and Driver noted that the cars 5-speed gearbox is not exactly the sort of thing youd want to fight down to the supermarket and back. Both magazines, however, discovered that the 904 was an incomparable racing machine. Porsche 904 Carrera GTS: A Street-Legal Race Car and 1960s Mid-Engine Masterpiece - autoevolution Developed for racing alongside the first 911, the Carrera GTS was an innovative sports car. But then came the times when 904 prices skyrocketed and the old crashed chassis were also woken alive and new number plates were fabricated with the same numbers. Exhilarating figures for 1964, but at a cost. Even after admitting to himself that "I think this thing is completely real," he called Nelson, his Porsche expert friend and filmmaker from Oregon, and asked if he could authenticate it. Unusually for Porsche, the two-seater bodies were provided by contractors, which would later become standard practice among race car builders. Your bid of $ is $ more that the current high bid of $. More than 40 years later the Carrera GTS still looks contemporary to the latest Ferraris, Maseratis, and Lamborghinis. [4] The lower image shows the chassis by itself, its a ladder type design made up of cross-braced steel box sections, on to which the fiberglass bodyshell was bonded. Check out the lot listing for yourself here. Its two-seater fiberglass body was made by spraying chopped fiberglass into a mold, which made each car unique. Zero to 60 mph could be accomplished in as little as 5.5 seconds, and the 904 could be geared for 160 mph, with four-wheel ATE disc brakes quickly bringing the car to a stop. However, from 1982 until now, its stayed with the same owner, who gave it a restoration in the 90s, lovingly caring for it since. You are not connected to real-time updates. After having retired from F1 & F2 competition at the end of the 1962 season, Porsche focused its efforts on Sports car racing once more. (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS was not a great-looking car, but it got the job done. Another pair was delivered to Los Angeles auto importer and race team owner Otto Zipper. It was designed and finished. Missed updates will be sent once your connection has been reestablished. In 1964 the road legal 904 came out with a list price of $7,245 and 106 units were released for public consumption, though demand far exceeded the 106 cars Porsche willingly produced. . Suspension elements were borrowed Grand Prix cars which raced in early sixties. In 1964 the Porsche 904s were victorious in the Targa Florio, in 1965 they won the Spanish Rally, Hellbronner, Rossfiel, Nrburgring, and Gaisberg races and a year later, American Sam Posey won the Watkins Glen 500 driving a Carrera GTS. [7] In addition, 904s won their class at the Monza 1000 Kilometer, Targa, Spa, Daytona Continental, Le Mans, and Zandvoort, among others, repeating their E-Sports title win and adding an SCCA E-Production championship. The most notable successes for Porsche in Formula 1 occurred in their final season 1962. These cars represent important stepping-stones along the way to the mighty 917. The 4-cylinder cars were shown chassis 904-002, 003 and 004 (002 and 003 being the prototypes). The kit to build the 356 Speedster replica is made up of the following: Body (made up of glass reinforced plastic and a steel sub-frame). Which seems to correlate to the rest of the car, too. Porsche, the 904 GTS was the first Porsche to used a fiberglass-reinforced plastic body to help shed some curb weight. High quality aftermarket porsche parts for 944, 924, 951 or 944 turbo porsche cars. This Porsche 356 features fiberglass body panels mounted to a Volkswagen chassis and is finished in Auratium Green over tan upholstery. Welcome back! Expertise gained while racing and developing the 550 and RSK Porsches laid the foundation for the 904. While the design is derived from a couple of predecessor companies, he has incorporated some new features into the chassis. While most 904s received the four-cam flat-four, 10 were fitted with the flat-six, and six were fitted with the flat-eight. After abandoning Grand Prix Racing in 1962, development was focused on sports car racing. Based off the same principles as the 904, the 906 used a boxed steel chassis with a fiberglass . The four-cam, four-cylinder version was the most popular. The 904 was a car built during the end of an era having affordable race cars. . If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. If you have an exotic or another collectible youd like to insure with us, let us show you how we are more than just another collector vehicle insurance company. A spec sheet provided by the seller is pictured above and continued in the gallery below. These are street legal and registrable cars in North America. DAA Industry Opt Out Question of the Week: What's Your Favorite Single Issue Of A Car Magazine? In 1966 the car was sold to Hollywood superstar Robert Redford, who would keep it for almost a decade. [4] While many German race cars had used unpainted aluminium bodies since the famous 1934 Silver Arrows, most 904s were painted silver, the modern German national racing color. ( Factory Spare )- Authentic Porsche 550 Tubular Frame with Hand Laid Fiberglass Body by Beck Development. The Porsche 904 rode on coil springs (the first Porsche not to use trailing arm front and swing axle rear suspension),[5] with unequal-length A-arms in front. The 904 (as it soon became popularly known) was also the last full-competition Porsche that could be readily driven on the street. Then engine featured a complex design that proved very expensive and time consuming to build but very durable. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Fiberglass bodywork is finished in silver and fitted over a tubular steel chassis. [3] Frontal area was only 14sqft (1.3m2).[3]. Another fact worth to mention is that some of the cars around the globe have same chassis numbers. A new 904 was initially priced at $7,425, directly from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Producing approximately 180 horsepower in road going form, it produced ample power to push the lightweight fiberglass bonded body. The 904 made use of an unusual steel ladder type chassis with a fiberglass body bonded onto it for added rigidity. Required fields are marked *. Success! Following the unveil of the 901 on September 12 at the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show, around 10 weeks later, on November 26, the 904 was presented at the Solitude race track near Stuttgart. PORSCHE 1970-1972 914 FRONT LEFT . One of only three examples produced by Avanti Motors in cooperation with Chuck Beck, this particular car was the factory demo. Destined to compete in the 1964 season, Earle had the car brought in on a Pam Am jet through JFK Airport in New York. They had developed the Porsche 804 specifically for F1, as well as an advanced flat-eight engine. According to the seller, Avanti reduced the engine bay by two inches in order to increase cabin space for the occupants. Future plastic-bodied cars, beyond the 904, would soon become to advanced and expensive to sell as a production vehicles. First and foremost, Porsche built the 904 for racing it had a mid-mounted engine that churned out an impressive-for-the-time 180 horsepower, according to Gooding & Company. Start for the 1965 rallye was given in the following cities: January 15, 16:32 Stockholm, January 16, 03:26 London (GMT), 04:38 Warzaw, 06:21 Athens, 06:34 Minsk (Moscow time), 07:35 Lisbon, 11:12 Paris, 12:36 Frankfurt and 13:19 Monte-Carlo. Archival Photos Courtesy of Porsche AG. 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