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AnAnother Giant Killer: 1963 Porsche 904/6 Carrera GTS


tomo

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These days, racing classes seem well defined by both the cars' speed and appearance. Fifty year ago, the racing class lines could be easily blurred depending on the track...and the car. On some circuits a small-displacement machine could be like a fox among the chickens.Porsche's mid-engine 904 is a perfect example. Take the 1964 Targa Florio, where 904s finished 1-2 on the Sinuous Circuit. Or that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, 904s coming home 7-8-10-11-12 and winning their class in a field of 55 cars littered the likes of Cobra Daytona coupes, Ferrari 330Ps and Ford GTs. Says a lot for being quick and reliable.

Porsche first built the 904 with a 2.0-liter flat-4 and made enough of them for the road and track to homologate the 904 as a GT race car. We used to see a street version in LA's San Fernando Valley, parked at the curb like any other car. One 904 is said to have been used as a daily driver in the U.S. for more than 100,000 miles.Unlike earlier Porsches, the 904 had a fiberglass body over a steel frame and was reported to have a drag coefficient of 0.34. Weight was just over 1400 lbs. Also different on the 904 is a coil spring suspension with upper and lower a-arms at the front.

 

It would appear that 126 904s were built and a few those were 904/6s, five now known to exist. These were factory race cars with the Type 901 2.0-liter flat-6 engine that produced about 200 bhp. You can spot the 6s by the larger air scoop aft of each side window. This Porsche offered at the RM auction – chassis 906-002 – was used for testing, driven by the famous Herbert Linge. It then had a hillclimb career and was later used in vintage racing.

If only the 904 owner in the valley had responded to one of the notes I left under the windshield wiper...rats.546b50b854e9f_-_1963-porsche-904-6-carre546b50b8be2d4_-_1963-porsche-904-6-carre546b50ba5fdd2_-_1963-porsche-904-6-carre546b50b944f65_-_1963-porsche-904-6-carre546b50b9c9de7_-_1963-porsche-904-6-carre546b50bb7aef8_-_1963-porsche-904-6-carre546b50bc01831_-_1963-porsche-904-6-carre

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Absolutely gorgeous car...one of my all time favorites. I'll never be able to afford one, but I'd love to build a replica/tribute one day. Perhaps a nice Beck 904 with a GT3 engine or turbocharged 928 v8.

Porsche made a couple with a flat 8 too, it sounds farking glorious.

 

 

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A bit more info;

Engines

Originally, the chassis of the 904 was designed to accept a number of engines and specifically the flat-6 from the upcoming 901 or 911 as we know it. Since the six-cylinder unit was developed to slowly, a revision of the type 587/2 engine found in the Abarth Carrera was chosen. This was Porsche’s most famous engine at the time, featuring all-alloy construction, two spark plugs per cylinder and over-head cam shafts.

Dipl.Ing. Hans Mezger and his team of engineers, massaged the 587/2 turned into the 587/3. Most importantly, they raised horsepower from 155 to 180 at 7200 rpm. Another modification included larger cylinder fining as cooling to the engine was primarily executed with these fins and the large oil cooler.

Optionally, Porsche offered the type 771 eight-cylinder engine with the 904. It was again a two-liter engine, but offered 210 horsepower.

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