The video is a few years old by now, but Porsche 904 Carrera GTS is a timeless classic. The car is adored by Porsche fans and critics all around and is regarded as one of the finest models the company has ever produced.
Seeing it rip up the Belgian F1 track – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is a celebration in itself. The sound of the flat 4-cylinder engine is exhilarating, even though the car is moving rather slow by today’s standards.
Porsche created the 904 in 1963 – just one year after they dropped out of Formula One for good. Тhe car made a racing debut in 1964 and proved incredibly durable and reliable. After a modest start, Porsche 904 won 1-2 at Targa Florio. The car secured class wins at Sebring and Spa and finished third at Nürburgring.
By far the most impressive feat was its performance at Le Mans the same year. All five Porsche 904s finished the race and taking 7th through 12th place. For the two seasons the car ran in Le Mans, it secured 4 class wins.
The 2.0-liter engine powering the 904 Carrera GTS is one of the most complicated 4-cylinder engines of its time. It’s a boxer style unit with 1 camshaft per cylinder and hemispherical combustion chambers. Air and fuel are drawn through two Weber carburetors sitting on either of the opposing banks. The engine develops 180hp and 144 lbs/ft of torque.
A 5-speed manual transmission delivers the torque the rear end which has ratios ranging between 3.362:1 and 4.605:1.
The construction utilizes a standard ladder-type chassis with a rigid fiberglass body bonded on top. 904 is very light. Race-prepped cars would usually weight under 1,500 lbs.
Combined with a frontal area of 14 sq. feet and drag coefficient of 0.34, Porsche 904 shows remarkable performance for its age. The car accelerates from 0 to 60 mph under 6 seconds and can reach speeds of 160 mph.
Today, Porsche 904 Carrera GTS is a highly sought collector’s car. An example was sold at RM Sotheby’s 2015 auction for $1.65 million.
