Porsche 904/8 #29 – Spark

1964 Porsche 904/8
Pilots: H. Linge, E. Barth
Team: Porsche System Engineering
Race: DNF (class P 2.0) at Le Mans in 1964
Spark - S3435 (resin)

Published 06/11/17

Like the 911 (who was supposed to be called 901) the 904 also suffered a naming rights problem. That way, it officially received the name Porsche Carrera GTS. After having withdrawn from Formula 1 at the end of the 1962, Porsche came back to sportscar racing and needed a substitute for the 718. As always, for homologation purposes, FIA would only allow the car if the manufacturer presented 100. That was a tall order for their production facilities at Stuttgart. So the only way for Porsche to do that was to outsource the production of the body. Thus, Porsche contracted the airplane manufacturer Heinkel that produced all the necessary 904 bodies.

This arrangement was a first for Porsche. Another first was the unusual (for the time) body. It was made with glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and bonded to a steel chassis for extra rigidity. With that, the 904 was the first so-called “plastic Porsche”. For the 1964 Le Mans race the Porsche team had three 904 (#32 was a privateer) in the fray. Two were 904/8, and both used the Type 771 engine. It was a flat-8 displacing 2195 cm³, that had a bad reputation of blowing up. The second 904/8 was car #30 (chassis #904-008) . Unfortunately though, this 904/8 #29 (chassis #904-009) abandoned the race due to clutch issues. But, not before setting the fastest time in its class.

In scale this 904/8 #29 is a true gem of a model. Spark did a superb job in capturing the sleek and iconic lines of the car. I know it’s silly, but one of the reasons I like both my 904/8 are the auxiliary headlights on the bonnet. It’s not a very common feature on Le Mans cars, and besides that, I think they look cool.