by Mike –
Introduced in 1964 as the successor to the Porsche 718, the Porsche 904 Carerra GTS, is a mid-engine two-seater coupe race car. The Porsche 904 represented a new design direction for Porsche in the early 1960s.
The 904 has a fiberglass body on a ladder steel chassis instead of the tubular space frame covered by an aluminum body. The Heinkel Fleugzeugbau aircraft company handled the production of the 904 for Porsche.
From 1964 to 1965 122 examples were produced. Most had the 2-liter 4-cylinder engine but a few had a 6-cylinder engine similar to the 911 engine and even fewer had an 8-cylinder engine.
Weighing only 1,444 pounds the 904 was fast, 0 to 60 MPH in less than 6 seconds, with a top speed of 160 MPH. It achieved considerable success in many forms of racing. It also achieved real beauty.
It has become a very desirable and valuable collector car. I wrote about a Porsche 904 for sale here.
The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS logo.
At one time Chuck Beck made a replica not sure if he still does, but I remember seeing one being built when he was located in Highland Ca. Chuck had taken a six cylinder 911 engine and cut the center cylinder out, no small job. This gave him a overhead cam 4 cylinder with much more power than the 4cylinder Porsche or VW. Chuck worked on the GT40 team early in his carrier and he knew how to make cars go fast, he always had interesting projects.
I have seen a few Beck Spyder replicas but not a Beck 904.
He picked two beautiful cars to build, maybe he learned that from his GT40 experience too?
I used to see him at Concorso looking at the talent for his next project.
He also built a Lister Chevy replica. His frames were always top notch and the fiberglass work was excellent. You could tell he kept his molds in good shape because the later cars were still very high quality.