Porsche racing history · 1964–1965
Porsche 904: Carrera GTS History, Specs & Wins
By CarWhere Research · Updated
The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS is a mid-engined GT racer from 1964. It was Porsche's first car with a fiberglass-reinforced plastic body, bonded to a steel frame. Porsche built 106 with four-cylinder engines, and owners could register them for the road. Works cars ran six- and eight-cylinder engines, the 904/8 with 240 hp.
The 904 was the first Porsche to carry the racing type-number 9. Porsche sold it as the Carrera GTS, and the GTS badge is what customers saw. It was a homologation special. The GT rules of the day required a production run of at least 100 cars, so Porsche built a batch of road-registrable coupes. Privateers could drive one to the track, race it and drive it home.
The construction was new for Porsche. The body was glass-fiber-reinforced plastic glued to a steel ladder frame, and the result was a stiff, light unit. Customer cars used the four-cam flat-four from the Carrera line. The factory also raced 904s with a six-cylinder engine related to the 911's and with an eight-cylinder from its racing program. At its Le Mans debut in 1964, the 904 won its classes.
904 history, year by year
- 1963 — The 904 debuts late in the year, ahead of its first racing season.[1]
- 1964 — Porsche completes 106 four-cylinder 904s. Secondary sources say GT homologation required at least 100 road-going cars.[1],[2]
- 1964 — At the Targa Florio, Edgar Barth and Umberto Maglioli win the prototype class in an eight-cylinder 904.[2]
- 1964 — The 904 makes its Le Mans debut with a fourfold class victory in the up-to-2-liter category and a class win among 2-liter GT cars.[3]
- 1965 — A 904 finishes second overall and wins its class at the Monte Carlo Rally. About forty six-cylinder 904/6 cars are built for the season.[1]
How many 904s were made?
| Model / variant | Years | Units | What the figure counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 904 Carrera GTS (four-cylinder) | 1964 | 106[1],[2] | Porsche figure for cars with the four-cylinder engine, the homologation run. |
| 904/6 (six-cylinder) | 1965 | ≈ 40[1],[2] | Secondary-source estimate. Porsche describes six-cylinder works cars with 210 hp but gives no count. |
| 904/8 (eight-cylinder works cars) | 1964–1965 | 3[2] | Porsche says three 904s received eight-cylinder powertrains. |
Road-car totals for every Porsche model: Porsche production numbers.
Porsche 904 Carrera GTS specs
| Sales name | Carrera GTS[1],[2] |
|---|---|
| Engine (customer cars) | Type 587/3 four-cam flat-four, 1,966 cc, 180 hp[1] |
| Engine (904/6 works) | Six-cylinder, 210 hp[2] |
| Engine (904/8 works) | Eight-cylinder boxer, 1,982 cc, 178 kW (240 hp)[2] |
| Top speed | 263 km/h (904/8); about 260 km/h (four-cylinder, tall final drive)[1],[2] |
| Construction | Fiberglass-reinforced plastic body bonded to a steel ladder frame, Porsche's first GRP body[2],[3] |
| Weight | About 655 kg (race-prepared four-cylinder)[1] |
| Frontal area | 1.4 m²[2] |
| Price new | US$7,245 FOB Stuttgart[1] |
904 race results and wins
| Year | Event | Result | Car / drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Targa Florio | 1st and 2nd overall[1] | 904 Carrera GTS (four-cylinder) — — |
| 1964 | Targa Florio | Prototype class win[2] | 904/8 — Edgar Barth / Umberto Maglioli |
| 1964 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Fourfold class victory, up to 2.0 L[3] | 904 Carrera GTS — — |
| 1965 | Monte Carlo Rally | 2nd overall, class win[1] | 904 Carrera GTS — — |
What made the 904 significant
- It was the first Porsche with a fiberglass-reinforced plastic body.[2]
- Bonding the composite body to the steel frame gave a very stiff unit, and Porsche treated it as a step forward in lightweight construction.[3]
- It was the first Porsche with the racing type-number 9 to start at Le Mans, the line that continued with the 906, 908 and 917.[3]
- As a homologated GT, it could be road-registered, unlike Porsche's later pure prototypes.[1]
The 904 and Porsche's road cars
The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS was built to race. For the road cars that share its engineering, history and factory records, start here:
Porsche 904 Carrera GTS FAQ
How many Porsche 904s were made?
Porsche built 106 four-cylinder 904 Carrera GTS cars, the run that homologated it as a GT. Secondary sources add about forty six-cylinder 904/6 cars for 1965. Porsche says three works cars got eight-cylinder engines.
Is the Porsche 904 street legal?
The 904 was built as a homologated GT, and secondary sources describe the 100-plus production cars as road-going. Owners could register them and drive them on the road. Whether a given car is road-registered today depends on its history and local rules.
Why is the 904 called the Carrera GTS?
Porsche sold the car as the Carrera GTS, which links it to the four-cam Carrera engine. Secondary sources say the 904 type number was kept internal because Peugeot claimed three-digit names with a zero in the middle.
How much horsepower does a Porsche 904 have?
The four-cylinder customer car's 1,966 cc Type 587/3 engine is rated at 180 hp in secondary sources. Porsche lists the six-cylinder works cars at 210 hp and the eight-cylinder 904/8 at 178 kW (240 hp).
Related Porsche race cars and specials
Porsche history, specs and production research
Sources
Dates, production counts, specifications and results on this page come from the sources below. Where sources disagree, the page says so or uses Porsche's own figure.
- Porsche 904 — Wikipedia (secondary reference)
- Porsche 904 Carrera GTS — Porsche Newsroom (Porsche Museum press kit)
- Part 1 - 24 hours that mean the world — Porsche Newsroom
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