diseñado por butzi porsche, motor central 2.0 boxer refrigerado por aire, 180cv a 7000rpm , caja de cambios de 5 velocidades, suspensión independiente con muelles, barra estabilizadora y cuatro frenos de disco, autoblocante zf; muy avanzado para su época nació como coche de carreras con el objetivo de reemplazar al 356 carrera abarth para lo que tuvieron que costruir un mínimo de 100 unidades para homologarlo; hicieron 120 904/4 entre 1963 y 1965 que se cotizan por encima de 500 mil dólares y sólo 6 prototipos 904/6 de 6 cilindros.Fué el primer porsche en utilizar una carrocería de fibra de vidrio con lo que el peso era sólo de 650 kg con lo que hacía el 0-100 en 5.7 s y llegaba hasta los 260km/h. Para acomodarse tiene volante y pedales regulables ya que los asientos van fijos. Tiene un reparto de pesos de 48/52 lleno y 42/58 vacío. Más información de una casa de subastas: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/LotDetail.asp?intObjectID=4761511&SN=1744&LN=0026 1963 PORSCHE 904 CARRERA GTS PROTOTYPE Chassis No. 904-003 Engine No. P99120 Silver with blue velour interior Engine: horizontally mounted four cylinder, air-cooled, 1,966cc, c.180bhp at 7,000rpm; Gearbox: five speed manual; Suspension: independent all around with wishbones, coil springs and anti-roll bar to the front with reversed upper wishbone, lower control arm, coil springs and anti-roll bar; Brakes: Dunlop-Ate disc all around. Left hand drive. With the well-proven 356 GTL Carrera-Abarth having served formidably for three seasons, pressure from the imminent arrival of the two liter Simca-Abarth meant that Porsche was going to have to raise the stakes for 1964. Early in 1963, 'Butzi' Porsche's engineering team finished a full-size model of the internal project number 904 and although used already on body panels for their Grand Prix car, this was the first time Porsche had intended to use fiberglass on a sports car. In typical Porsche fashion this relatively new material was put to additional use on the 904 and was employed to strengthen torsional rigidity by bonding the body to the ladder frame steel chassis. Not only was this fiberglass body of benefit structurally and in terms of weight saving but it was also cost effective. Rather than undertaking this aspect in-house, the fiberglass bodies were outsourced to Heinkel Flugzeugbau, an aircraft parts supplier. The slippery new design was a low-slung, enclosed two seater and using all of their experience, Porsche created a formidable technical specification to ensure that the new race car would provide exceptional handling characteristics. Indeed thanks to the front-mounted fuel tank, weight distribution was a 48/52 balance front to rear when full and 42/58 when empty. At the same time as the 904 was evolving so was an all-new six cylinder engine and competition application was inevitable given where the design was coming from! However, it was clear that this would not be ready in time for the 1964 season thus Hans Meyer (from the Grand Prix project) was deployed to entice more power from the existing four cylinder Carrera engine used to formidable success in the preceding 356 GTL Carrera-Abarths. Designated Type 587/3, this final evolution of the two liter, four cam, four cylinder powerplant now produced a very healthy 180bhp at an ear-piercing 7,200rpm. The engine was mated to an all-new five speed gearbox (Type 901) and with a dog-leg first gear, it displaced power via a ZF limited-slip differential. Inside the svelte 904, the seats were located in a fixed, non-adjustable position thus Porsche designers gave the driver the opportunity to adjust the pedals to three separate locations and the steering column was also telescopic and adjustable to suit. In order to homologate the car, Porsche had to build a minimum of one hundred examples, therefore they needed to fill the order books quickly so to ensure the new 904 could tackle the premier sports races right from the start of the 1964 season (the cut off date being March 31st.) Heinkel Flugzeugbau produced the bodies which were painted, wired and plumbed for fuel and oil tanks at a rate of two per day and the deliveries started arriving at Porsche in November 1963. Meanwhile in Zuffenhausen, using the brand-new factory which had been built for production of the Type 901 coupe (of course later forced to be renamed 911), Porsche built one 904 per day. As expected, the 904 proved to be an outstanding race car and in 1964 alone a 904 came first overall (humbling machinery with far greater displacement!) in the Targa Florio and it recorded class wins at Le Mans 24hrs, Sebring 12hrs, Nürburgring 1,000km, Spa, Rheims and many more in both factory and private hands. True to form, Porsche built three prototypes as factory development test-beds to iron out any obvious flaws prior to owners taking delivery, and the example we offer here is the third produced. Visually different to the production models it features grills rather than eared vents on the rear bodywork, squared-off doors, does not have fog lights or (easily visible) brakeducts and had a narrower 'mouth' at the nose of the car. This distinct 904 was used by Porsche for the official 904 press release at Solitude and was featured in the February 1964 edition of Car & Driver magazine. Suitably impressed, the author commenced his write up by stating, 'The Porsche factory has another winner in the two-liter Carrera GTS, or Type 904.' Also acknowledged was the chassis and suspension layout and in the statistics section, this (previously-noted) assumption was well founded as Car & Driver noted performance figures of 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds with a quoted top speed of 162mph. Once 904-003 had served its term at the factory, it was sold to a gentleman in the US by the name of Robert Hess who used it as an exhilarating road car. In due course 904-003 found its way to Guatemala where it resided until its then owners' passing and in the late 1980s it returned to American soil when it was acquired by Weldon Scrogham of B&W Motorwerks Ltd in Waynesboro, Virginia, and was more recently purchased by the current vendor. Overall condition of this uniquely-styled 904 is handsomely original particularly to the interior where the sun-bleached blue velour seats have aged with grace. A refurbished wood-rimmed, three spoke steering wheel dominates the drivers' area and the dashboard is in fine order. The fiberglass body and tub are in very good order, there appears to be no evidence of prior repairs and paint finish is very nicely presented. Though not driven, upon inspection the engine certainly ran well, was 'on the button' and the loud, clean exhaust note raised hairs on the back of this cataloguer's neck! This distinctive 904 is the only prototype that retains the same visual profile as it did when used by the Porsche factory and having not being exposed to the maladies often experienced with racing, it is a pure example of the attractive, hugely effective 904 and is highly recommended. motor 6 cil el auténtico cayman:) BONITO COCHE!:[yahoo] ¿hubo realmente también prototipos flat 8? en que modelos?llegó a montarse ? esto merece post aparte.
904 Es un coche precioso pero con algunas pegas. Las luces posteriores redondas y la cola sesgada zaga recuerdan a un Ferrari. Fue el primer Porsche con carrocería de material plástico ( poliester reforzado con fibra de vidrio ). La carrocería se "encoló a un bastidor plano tipo " escalera" construido con dos vigas transversales unidas por otras longitudinales, con un pequeño impacto se puede desencajar y la dirección se puede volver imprecisa. Juan Fernández que corrió con uno de ellos me contó que tuvo problemas con el motor. Esta poco protegido contra el polvo , los carburadores se pueden tragar la suciedad , es conveniente rodar siempre por carreteras asfaltadas. Podeís ver mas detalles en: El rincón del porschista:[porsche]
muy interesante y completo link y las aportaciones de primera mano de un propietario. las pegas que propones las veo hasta justificables tratándose de un coche de carreras y teniendo en cuenta las ventajas que aporta en contra. La trasera me parece imponente y no le pongo falta por parecerse a un ferrari ya que en aquella época en la que se empezó a tener en cuenta la aerodinámica era común encontrar esas zagas cortadas tipo ferrari o gt40 o cobra daytona cupé, etc, por motivos, como digo aerodinámicos más que estéticos, 260 km/h para solo 180cv no está nada mal; además la utilización de este diseño creo que es anterior a ferrari al menos en el caso 904/dino aunque en rojo y con los pilotos redondos recuerde inmediatamente al italiano. :)
