Introducing the P/904 Carrera concept

When Porsche left Formula One in the early ’60s and went sports car racing with the 904GTS, they embarked on a journey that would lead them through some of their most iconic machines – the 904, 906, 908 and 917.

In order to satisfy homologation requirements for the World Sportscar Championship, Porsche needed to produce a street-legal 904. They only needed to make one hundred and, despite demand, that’s what they did. Finding one today would require some serious searching and pockets to match.

Happily, they made a great deal more than one hundred Boxsters – and they are what Gullwing America was planning using as the basis for the P/904 Carrera, but it seems it never happened.

The innards are all modern – it’ll use the mid-mounted 295-horsepower 3.4 litre boxer from the Boxster, along with its 6-speed gearbox and modern trickery like ABS and power steering. The modernity continues through its appointments – active rear wing, air-conditioning and GPS to name a few.

The look, however, is pure retro raciness. Those curves! Scoops! The incredibly low ride-height (slammed, in the vernacular of young people). The original 904 seems lithe and petite in comparison. It reminds me of the cars you’d see in old sci-fi films, which always seemed to refer back to the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s to inform the look of the future.