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Jul 06, 2023

Porsche 904 Entered In The 24 Hours Of Le Mans Is A Rare Racer

The 904 is one of only 126 examples ever made, and it survived the endurance

The 904 is one of only 126 examples ever made, and it survived the endurance race by being damage during testing

Surviving the racing circuits of the 1960s and living to tell the tale nearly six decades later is no small feat, and that's what makes this particular 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS a rare bird. Particularly so considering the Carrera GTS once banged doors in the lead-up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, even if a stroke of bad luck meant it never saw the official green flag. This stunning Porche FIA GT Sports Car with a silver metallic exterior and blue/gray interior has an interesting history, and the model itself led to one of the most iconic Porsche race cars in the brand's history.

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After focusing on creating cars that were only legal to drive on a racetrack in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Porsche expanded their production to make a limited number of street-legal vehicles. This Carrera GTS is part of that elite first group of cars made to be legal to drive on the road, and it was used as a template to design the Porsche 917K in 1969. The 904-049 was first purchased and driven by Jacky Dechaumel, a Parisian racer who raced the car for five successful seasons. Its original four-cylinder engine is considered one of the most complex to ever be designed and put into production.

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In races, the 904 topped speeds of 260 kph (about 161 mph) and went from 0 to 100 kph (about 62 mph) in less than six seconds. In keeping with the tradition for German race cars to have unpainted aluminum bodies, this 904 was painted silver, the German National racing color. Its 2.0-liter engine has a five-speed transmission and is air-cooled. The coil springs suspension was the first made by Porsche to not use a trailing arm front and swing-axle rear suspension. Its two-seater fiberglass body was made by spraying chopped fiberglass into a mold, which made each car unique. Using fiberglass was also significantly cheaper than the thin aluminum traditionally used to make German race cars before the 904. The fiberglass proved to be an effective choice and continued to be used in a long line of later models. It was lightweight, did not rust, and was easy to fix in the pit.

From 1964-1969, the Porsche 904-049 officially raced 17 times, placing in the top five in 10 different events. It was successfully raced in multiple events in France including the Coupes de Paris Montlhery, and the Côte de Soissons. It was also driven at Buttonwillow and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the United States. Perhaps most notably, it was entered into the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, in testing leading up to the famed endurance race, the 904 was damaged and had to be returned to the factory for repairs. Delays in those repairs meant the Porsche never took the green flag, perhaps allowing it to survive to be available today.

The 904 Carrera GTS is currently up for sale at RMD. In 1990, Swiss car collector Jose Manuel Segimon had the car restored by Porsche Client Services. As part of the restoration, a 2.7 liter, six-cylinder engine used in the Porsche 911 engine was installed. After Mr. Segimon sold the 904-049, it was carefully maintained by British sportscar specialists DK Engineering and was stored in private collections. To comply with Federation Internationale de l’Automobile regulations, a new six-cylinder 2.0-liter engine replaced the 911 engine. As an early Porsche race car legal to drive on the road, this vehicle has been carefully owned and maintained by racers and collectors in the US and Europe. It is sold with a separate fresh 2.0-liter Tuthill-built race engine, spare wheels, and other spare parts.

Laurel is a writer, communications consultant, and educator who loves studying how the world is interconnected. She is particularly attracted to cars because they are a sign of economic trends and consumer preferences. As car companies become mobility and technology companies, consumers get to reap the benefits.