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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Porsche’s Rare 904/6 Racer
Honoring the late F.A.Porsche, a look at the short-lived but highly successful six-cylinder version of the iconic sports racer that he designed.
Built early in 1965, chassis 904-006 was the fourth 904 with the six-cylinder engine and the familiar Ferdinand Porsche-designed body. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who passed away April 5 at 76, was the grandson of company founder Ferdinand Porsche and best known as the designer of some of the company's most iconic models, such as the 911 road car and the 904 sports racer, which was his personal favorite.
To pay our respects to “Butzi” Porsche, here’s a closer look at the machine that combined the six-cylinder engine of the 911 with the shape of the 904. Dubbed the 904/6, it was the ultimate development of the 904 racer and campaigned by the works team in the 1965 with considerable success.
Among the highlights of the rare racer's career was a class win and fourth overall at Le Mans against opposition with engines often two or three times larger. For the 1966 season, the “hybrids” were replaced by the purpose-built 906. By then, just over a dozen of these experimental machines had been produced. Of these, six sported the original 904 design for long-distance events, while most of the others featured spider bodies for hill-climbs and were nicknamed “Kangaroos.”
Over the years, we have seen no fewer than four of the six cars originally produced, which we understand are all of the survivors. Among them is the very first car, which is the actual Le Mans class winner, pictured in action back at the French track during the 2004 and 2006 Le Mans Classics as part of a 30-shot gallery.
In 1963, Porsche set out to design a completely new car to continue the manufacturer's stronghold in the sub-2-liter GT racing class, This decision was sparked by the introduction of new cars from Abarth and Alfa Romeo designed specifically for the GT class.
Porsche's lineup for 1962 consisted of the 356 Carrera 2, which was equipped with a two-liter version of Porsche's quad-cam four-cylinder boxer engine. It was basically a modified road car and the German manufacturer figured that more would be required to take on the new Italian competition.
For homologation purposes, at least 100 examples of the new car had to be produced in 12 months. This would require a road-going version because Porsche was highly unlikely to sell 100 full-blown racers. In order to free resources for the project, the expensive Formula 1 program was dropped. In theory, the development costs of the GT racer would be earned back by selling them. The F1 project on the other hand did not offer much in return, except for the potential strengthening of the manufacturer's racing heritage.
Porsche's engineers had to start with a clean sheet because the space-frame construction used on previous sports racers such as the Type 718 was too expensive and time consuming to built for what was basically a production car. What they did carry over from the 718 was the mid-engine layout, until then reserved solely to the marque's race cars. A combination of a steel ladder frame and a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) body was chosen. This was the start of a long line of “plastic” bodied Porsche racers.
To pay our respects to “Butzi” Porsche, here’s a closer look at the machine that combined the six-cylinder engine of the 911 with the shape of the 904. Dubbed the 904/6, it was the ultimate development of the 904 racer and campaigned by the works team in the 1965 with considerable success.
Among the highlights of the rare racer's career was a class win and fourth overall at Le Mans against opposition with engines often two or three times larger. For the 1966 season, the “hybrids” were replaced by the purpose-built 906. By then, just over a dozen of these experimental machines had been produced. Of these, six sported the original 904 design for long-distance events, while most of the others featured spider bodies for hill-climbs and were nicknamed “Kangaroos.”
Over the years, we have seen no fewer than four of the six cars originally produced, which we understand are all of the survivors. Among them is the very first car, which is the actual Le Mans class winner, pictured in action back at the French track during the 2004 and 2006 Le Mans Classics as part of a 30-shot gallery.
In 1963, Porsche set out to design a completely new car to continue the manufacturer's stronghold in the sub-2-liter GT racing class, This decision was sparked by the introduction of new cars from Abarth and Alfa Romeo designed specifically for the GT class.
Porsche's lineup for 1962 consisted of the 356 Carrera 2, which was equipped with a two-liter version of Porsche's quad-cam four-cylinder boxer engine. It was basically a modified road car and the German manufacturer figured that more would be required to take on the new Italian competition.
For homologation purposes, at least 100 examples of the new car had to be produced in 12 months. This would require a road-going version because Porsche was highly unlikely to sell 100 full-blown racers. In order to free resources for the project, the expensive Formula 1 program was dropped. In theory, the development costs of the GT racer would be earned back by selling them. The F1 project on the other hand did not offer much in return, except for the potential strengthening of the manufacturer's racing heritage.
Porsche's engineers had to start with a clean sheet because the space-frame construction used on previous sports racers such as the Type 718 was too expensive and time consuming to built for what was basically a production car. What they did carry over from the 718 was the mid-engine layout, until then reserved solely to the marque's race cars. A combination of a steel ladder frame and a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) body was chosen. This was the start of a long line of “plastic” bodied Porsche racers.
Goodwood Festival Of Speed
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