1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS

One of the Greatest Porsche Ever Built

CarshowClassic.com tells the story. 

Before it dominated the commercial market with the indefatigable and now iconic-Porsche 911, Porsche dominated the race tracks with what is considered to be one of the best Porsche-cars ever created—the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. 

Of course, car enthusiasts know that Porsche’s first two cars were the Porsche-356 and the Porsche 911. However, on the race track, Porsche had more productions made to prove that-it owns the competition. 

One of these productions is the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, which many consider as one-of the most beautiful Porsche cars, if not the one of the most beautiful sports cars, ever built.-This may seem like a stretch, but it isn’t—one look at the Porsche Museum would reveal-that this Porsche is indeed a beauty. Of course, because it was not meant for commercial release-like the 356 or the 911, very few people knew about the wonders of the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. But-those who know their sports car know exactly why this has indeed captured that hearts of many car-lovers worldwide.

The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS is officially named Porsche Carrera GTS. However,-because Germany does not allow the use of the number zero between two other numbers on a car name-(as they reserve the use of such designation for themselves), what should have been Porsche 904 was-renamed Porsche Carrera GTS.

Needless to say, the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS was meant to dominate the race tracks-after the company’s successful previous seasons. Because of this success, the oldest son of-Ferdinand Porsche, F.A. Porsche, designed a car that proved to be ahead of its time. Needless to-say, many of the company’s earlier creation proved to be ahead of its time, but the Porsche-904 Carrera GTS had some details that really made it very different and efficient: mixed steel and-plastic construction. It also uses a fiberglass body. 

The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS was painted silver since this was considered as the-modern racing color of Germany. In any case, the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS was indeed very successful-on the race track. During its debut season, it won the prestigious Targa Florio race. Victory at the-Sebring 12 Hours followed, as well as succeeding wins at Tour de France, the Le Mans race, and the-Reims race (the last two are brutal 24 hour races).  In 1965, the car finished second at the-Monte Carlo race. Although it continued to race during the better part of the decade, its succeeding-seasons were not as successful as its first few years on the race track. With a four cylinder, 180-HP engine and a weight of 530 kg., the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS had some needed improvements in order-to become a much better competitor. Although the car line itself was not continued (as is the case-with race cars), Porsche did one better by creating one of the greatest Porsche race cars, the-Porsche 917. 

But still, while Porsche indeed created better cars and race entrants, the Porsche-904 Carrera GTS remains to be a very iconic figure in the history of the company. Beautiful and-competent on the race tracks, the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS showed how powerful a Porsche can-be.