One to Buy: ex-Scuderia Filipinetti 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS
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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.
