1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupe

The Porsche 904 Carrera GTS sports car was introduced in November of 1963 and the final twelve examples were built for the 1965 season. These vehicles used a boxed steel chassis, lightweight fiberglass coachwork, a race-tuned TYpe 587/3 engine, a five-speed transaxle, and four-wheel disc brakes. Among the twelve that were built for the 1965 were a group that included several ultra-lightweight hill climb cars, knwon as Bergspyders, as well as updated six-cylinder versions of the 904 called the 904/6 or Carrera GTS6. These cars received a competition-prepared version of the new Type 901 six-cylinder engine that had been developed for the 911.

Among the accolades achieved by the 904 was a 1-2 finish at the Targa FLorio in 1964, along with class victories at Le Mans, Goodwood, Monza, Montlhery, Mugello, Nürburgring, Reims, Sebring, Silverstone, and Spa.

Just six examples were the 904/6 coupes, which made their racing debut late in 1964 at Montlhery and Monza. Distinguishable features compared to the earlier four-cam-powered 904s were large, rectangular-shaped 'elephant ear' air intakes, a centrally located fuel filler, and short doors with pull-up rather than sliding Plexiglas windows. At least two late-production 904/6s received a new shark-nose front engine, including this example.

This Porsche 904, chassis number 906-011, was constructed in late 1964 and made its racing debut at the Le Mans test weekend in April 1965. Both 906-011 and chassis 904-082 were entered by Porsche in this event, with 011 fitted with a six-cylinder engine and 082 with a two-liter, eight-cylinder Type 771 engine. The two works-entered 904s were driven by Gerhard Mitter and Herbert Linge and recorded the 9th and 10th fastest laps. Chassis number 906-011 was entered by the Porsche works team in two additional events during the 1965 racing season, including the Mont Ventoux Hill Climb in June and the Solitude Grand Prix in July. Following these three outings, Porsche retired 906-011 from competition use.

Chassis 906-011 was transferred to the sales department on January 31st of 1966. By this time, the suspension and driveline had been removed and the odometer showed a total mileage of 8,700 km. The car was sold, along with two other 904 chassis, to Vasek Polak during the winter of 1967/1968. Polak's lead race mechanic Dieter Inzenhofer (later of ANDIAL fame) prepared 906-011 for SCCA A-production racing, which required the car to be fitted with a four-cam, four-cylinder engine and have a 904 rather than a 906 chassis number. With this, the Porsche received the fictitious identity of '904-109.'

The car was entered by Polak in 1969 and raced in SCCA races at Santa Barbara, Riverside, and Tucson, Arizona, where it was driven by Don Pike. He won at Santa Barbara (his best result) and placed 28 seconds ahead of the 2nd Place finisher.

Later in 1969, the Porsche was sold to Brent Doell and Gerry Gregory of Palos Verdes, California, and they entered it in three races in late 1969 and early 1970. In the summer of 1970, it was sold to Jim Cook of Cypress, California, who raced it at Willow Springs, Sears Point, Phoenix, Road Atlanta, and Riverside. At Riverside, it was involved in a collision with a Corvette and caught fire.

After the Porsche was repaired, it was repainted Silver and wore Vasek Polak sponsorship, as Cook had entered into an agreement whereby Dieter Inzenhofer would maintain the car for him throughout the 1971 season. Racing at Willow Springs, Pacific Raceways, Vacaville, Riverside, Laguna Seca, and Road Atlanta, Cook achieved several podium finishes.

The Porsche's next owner was Dr. Jack Zimmer of Hopkins, Minnesota, who acquired it from Vasek Polak in 1972. Dr. Zimmer had it painted green and then sold it to David Sablan of Tacoma, Washington, in spring 1973. While in Mr. Sablan's care, the car was driven on the road and in PCA autocross events.

Jamey Mazzotta acquired the Porsche from Mr. Sablan in 1980 and the following year raced it at the Monterey Historic Automobile Races before selling it to his brother, Joey, who continued to expand upon its racing resume until it suffered mechanical failure in 1985. Broken, the Porsche was sold to Jeff Lewis of Southern California who commissioned Kevin Jeanette of Gunnar Racing to perform a complete restoration.

Research performed by Jeanette revealed it to be 906-011. It was then given the correct silver livery and fitted with a proper two-liter, six-cylinder engine rebuilt by Porsche specialist Jerry Woods.

Since that time, the 904/6 has been owned by several Amerian collectors and campaigned in historic races in the U.S. and Europe, including multiple visits to the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, Le Mans Classic, Tour Auto, and the Goodwood Revival. It has been exhibited at Rennsport Reunion III, Luftgekühlt 5, and was displayed at the North Carolina Museum of Art, taking part in a curated exhibition titled Porsche by Design: Seducing Speed.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2022

This Porsche 904-6 is one of six 2-liter 6-cylinder prototype coupes originally built as 1965 Porsche factory Werkes cars. All six of these cars were given serial numbers beginning with 906. Only four survive today. 906-011 participated in the 1965 Le Mans Trials piloted by factory driver Gerhard Mitter. That same year it finished 9th in the 1000 km of Nurburgring driven by Mitter & Davis. It achieved a 3rd at the Grand Prix of Solitude at Stuttgart driven by Herbert Linge and managed a 2nd place at Course de Cote in France driven by Mitter.

In 1968, Porsche sold this car to Vasek Polak in Southern California without an engine. It competed with a 4-cylinder, 4-cam engine in numerous SCCA competitions in A-Production and GT class at tracks such as Riverside, Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Pacific Raceways, Road America, Sebring, Daytona and Watkins Glen.

In 1985 the car went through a complete restoration by Kevin Jeanette (Gunnar Racing) and its 2-liter, 6-cylinder heritage was re-established. Since 1986 906-011 has campaigned continuously in vintage race events, including several Monterey Historics appearances, the Rennsport Reunion III and Tour Auto in Europe.