Born at a similar time to the marque’s ubiquitous 911, the 904’s design was penned by F A Porsche, and for 1963 it featured the latest aerodynamic theories with a pointed bonnet overhang and a Kamm tail at the rear, successfully resulting in a drag coefficient of 0.34. The chassis of the 904 was entirely new for Porsche, with fibreglass panels bonded to the steel chassis to increase torsional stiffness; combined with fibreglass body panels, the 904 weighed only 655 kg. Power was provided by the proven four-cam engine before later versions received six-cylinder twin-cam engines.
Typically for Porsche, the design proved to be amazingly durable and efficient, two factors that work extremely well in endurance racing, with the 904 achieving countless class wins and giant-killing performances on both sides of the Atlantic. The importance of the 904 is not to be underestimated, as it started the programme that finally resulted in the legendary 917.
Chassis no. 904-062 was finished on 25 March 1964 and delivered new to Pierre Jaillardon in Marseille, who competed in a hill climb at Lodève just over a month later. Later it was sold to Mr René Maucort, who would become the principle competitor with 062, successfully competing in rallies and hill climbs throughout 1965 and ’66. A frontal accident towards the end of 1966 caused the 904 to be sold to Jose Piger; reportedly, he received the car without an engine or gearbox.
From Piger it passed through Freisinger and a third party to Heinz Kurek; Kurek proceeded to repair the front damage and restore 062 from 1975 to ’79, supposedly using this 904 as a reference for his other 904 builds. From him it passed via Bruce Canepa to Kerry Morse before being sold in 1989 back to France with Thierry Reynaud. Reynaud carried out restorative work on 062 before selling it to Monsieur Petitjean in 1993. Given the history of 062, we would recommend a close inspection of the car and its history file.
