I’ve always been a fan of the Porsche 904. Built in 1963, and making its racing debut in 1964, Porsche built a little over 100 of these flat four, street-legal racers in order to meet the FIA Group 3 (Grand Touring) homologation rules. Today, if you want a 904 you have two choices. You can either hire a broker and hope to find a new one (assuming you have the seven figures needed to purchase one) or you can buy a kit or replica from one of the two or three better known builders (Beck, Martin Walker, etc.).
Enter Gullwing America and Arturo Alonso
Gullwing America is a specialty coachworks firm headed by Arturo Alonso in San Antonio, TX. A quick search of the web will lead you to information on his recreation of the Mercedes 300SL and even a classic Ferrari 340 Mexico Berlineta. What’s unclear in the articles is if any of these cars have ever been built, hence the name of this post.
According to information on worldcarfans.com if the P/904 does get built, it will be done using a Porsche Boxster (987 series) as the platform with a body crafted from composite materials. Unlike the original 904s, the P/904 prototype will use the Boxster’s 3.4 liter engine to produce 291 hp (as compared to 198 hp in the original) and will wear custom-designed 5 spoke wheels (they look a lot like the new Fuchs to me). Gullwing America will add adjustable suspension and sports tuned exhaust to their interpretation of this classic Porsche.
While I’d like the option of more power than what the Boxster platform provides (I’m assuming this re-make will be much heavier than the original) and don’t care for the Carrera script on the doors, if the finished version stays true to these renderings above it will be one sharp looking replica. However, keep in mind that the expected price of 70,000 Euros (about $92K) seems a bit steep considering it doesn’t include the donor car or any customizations.
What do you think? Should it be built?
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[Source: worldcarfans.com]
