One to Buy: ex-Scuderia Filipinetti 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS
Having created various iterations of the 356 for production-based Grand Touring competition, Porsche came up with a brand new model for 1964: the mid-engined 904 Carrera GTS.
In order to qualify for the Group 3 GT class, 100 examples of the 904 had to be built, some of which were retained for works use while the remainder were sold off to Porsche’s distributor teams and privateer outfits.
Despite the 904’s specialised nature, Porsche ultimately had no problem hitting the FIA’s 100-car requirement and Group 3 homologation was approved on April 13th 1964. Two weeks later, Antonio Pucci and Colin Davis recorded a sensational outright win driving a works 904 at the Targa Florio. From this point on the little car proved almost unbeatable in its class and delivered back-to-back under two-litre World Sportscar Championship titles during the ‘64 and ‘65 seasons.
Currently on offer at the Fiskens showroom in central London is a particularly significant 904: chassis 079.
Supplied new to Scuderia Filipinetti in Geneva ahead of the annual Le Mans Test weekend of 1964, chassis 079 went on to have a cracking season.
In the car’s debut race at the Nurburgring 1000km, Herbert Muller and Andre Knorr finished sixth overall and second in class. Later that year, Muller and Claude Sage bagged eleventh overall and fourth in class at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Knorr then joined Muller for the Reims 12 Hour race where 079 bagged twelfth overall and fifth in class. Impressive results were also collected at Zolder that year and in Knorr’s four European Mountain Championship outings.
For 1965, Scuderia Filipinetti maintained chassis 079 on behalf of privateer Jacques Calderari, after which it continued to race in privateer hands until 1969.
In more recent times, the car has been maintained for its current custodian by Prill Porsche Classics. It is offered in superb race-ready condition with correct type four cylinder engine and a spare 906 unit.
Reprinted below is Fiskens’ description:
The ex-Scuderia Filipinetti Porsche 904 GTS, Chassis 079
4th in class at Le Mans 1964 with Herbert Müller and Claude Sage
Fully documented history, including 25-year custodianship by Porsche Museum
Proven historic racer, appearances at Goodwood, Le Mans Classic and Silverstone Classic
While the 550 Spyder and 718 RSK had laid out the groundwork for Porsche in sports car racing, the 904 Carrera GTS is the car that truly put Porsche on the path to international success in the 1960s, of course, ultimately earning Porsche overall success at Le Mans with the 917.
The 904 was the first Porsche to sport a lightweight fibre-glass body, employing a mid-engine layout with the reliable flat-4 engine from the 356 Carrera, making the car very successful amongst privateers, such as Scuderia Filipinetti.
Scuderia Filipinetti was founded by Georges Filipinetti, a mercurial, chain-smoking Swiss property developer and Ferrari importer for Switzerland, who clearly had a passion for speed and anything with four wheels and an engine. Pre-war, Georges raced for another Swiss privateer, Ecurie Genevoise, in Maseratis.
By 1960 though, Filipinetti had the ambition of creating his own race team, first trying out the world of single-seater racing, even entering the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 race with young Swiss ace Jo Siffert in a Lotus Climax Special, as well as dipping his toes in Formula 3 and Formula Ford.
Georges soon decided to steer clear of the expensive and complicated Formula 1 business however, and to concentrate on GT racing. Claude Sage, journalist, race driver and close friend of Filipinetti, advised him to buy a couple of Porsche’s new 904s for the 1964 season, which he duly did, opening a new chapter in Filipinetti’s history.
The first car to be delivered, chassis 904-079, the car offered here, arrived at Filipinetti’s imposing Grandson Castle just 3 days before the Le Mans test days where it would be driven by the team’s new young protégé Herbie Muller, and André Knorr. The car made her first appearance at the Circuit de la Sarthe in full red livery, not having had time to install the team’s signature white stripe and Grandson coat of arms decal, and achieved a commendable 14th fastest, a welcome result following the Scuderia’s troublesome first outing at Le Mans the previous year in an Alfa Giulietta SZ.
Chassis 079’s proper race debut was at the gruelling Nürburgring 1000 Kms, driven by Herbie Muller and Claude Sage, where it finished 2nd in class and 6th overall, confirming the Swiss team had found both a strong driver line-up and efficient car for the 1964 season.
This was all very auspicious for the team’s second outing at the all-important Le Mans 24 Hours, where 904-079 was to be Muller and Sage’s weapon of choice. The main goal was to finish the race, which would be no small feat. As the race went on, the little 4-cylinder 904 steadily kept going, gaining positions hour after hour, only being slowed down by a broken throttle cable at one o’clock in the morning, which was quickly fixed by Muller on the side of the road. The Team finished 11th overall, and 4th in the -2L class. Muller’s speed coupled with Sage’s experience and the 904’s reliability was clearly a winning strategy.
Two weeks later, 079 was back out for the Reims 12 Hours, finishing 12th overall. Between World Sports Car Championship events, 904-079 was handed to André Knörr to compete in the European Mountain Championship, achieving best results of 2nd in class at the Mont Ventoux and Cesana-Trestriere events. 904-079 would barely get any weekends off in the summer of 1964, racing week-in, week-out around Europe!
By the end of the summer, Filipinetti had taken delivery of his two Ferrari 250 LMs, which took over the heavy-lifting in the Sports Car Championship for the Swiss team for the remainder of 1964
For 1965, the car continued to be entered and prepared by the Scuderia Filipinetti, although it was now under the ownership of Swiss driver Jacques Calderari. Once again, the car appeared at the Le Mans test, achieving 16th overall, before travelling to Italy for the Monza 1000 kms. Unfortunately, all 4 cars entered by Filipinetti that weekend were withdrawn following the tragic accident of one his drivers, Tommy Spychiger, in one of the Ferraris.
904-079 was then sold to Frenchman Jean-Marc Massoneri, who continued to campaign the car in the French Rally Championship, including an overall win at the Rallye de la Baule in May 1965. She then passed on to another French gentleman driver by the name of François Dumousseau, who also fielded her in various French rally events, bringing a further two overall wins to 079’s tally in 1966.
904-079’s believed final period race outing was at the Tour de France Automobile in 1969 with Raymond Touroul, another French amateur driver.
By the early 1970s, the car had passed to Manfred Freisinger before being acquired by Herbert Kuke in 1979. The latter commissioned former Scuderia Filipinetti Technical Director Franco Sbarro to restore the car at Filipinetti’s headquarters in Grandson Castle in tandem with Porsche themselves.
Following the restoration, 079 was preserved in the Porsche Museum from 1982 right up until 2006, only coming out on rare occasions, chief among which at the 1986 Targa Florio classic event with non-other than Walter Rohrl at the wheel, as well as a couple other historic racing appearances at the Nürburgring in 1986 and 1989.
In 2006, the Porsche Museum made the decision to sell 904-079, finding a new home in the collection of British collector John Ruston.
In 2009, the car was sold to Richard Frankel, who handed the car to Porsche specialists Lee Maxted-Page and Andy Prill to prepare for her return to Le Mans for Le Mans Classic in 2010. Frankel would then regularly enter the car in historic racing events, including appearances at Goodwood and Circuit Paul Ricard.
In 2013, the car was sold to her current discerning owner, who continued to campaign the car in numerous historic racing events such as the Goodwood Revival, Le Mans Classic, Spa Classic and Silverstone Classic, always being maintained and prepared on a no-expense-spared basis by Prill Porsche Classics.
Chassis 079 represents an incredible opportunity to acquire one of best examples of Porsche’s iconic 904 Carrera GTS model. With clear history from her delivery to Scuderia Filipinetti in 1964 to present, 904-079 is offered with a correct original 4-cylinder engine as well as a recently refurbished and race-prepared 906 flat-6 engine, and is ready to once again tackle the rallies and circuits of Europe and the world.
