Carrera GTS or 904 repro

I am thinking of having Chuck Beck build me one of his 904s. They can be seen on his web page "chuck beck 904". Sorry that I don't know how to post the link.

Does anyone have any experience here? He says that the car is vintage eligible.

 

I'm going to meet him. I'll be in his shop on Monday.

 

http://chuckbeck904.com/

If they are, they shouldn't be.

I vote for anything original over any reproduction. Just my $0.02.

 

Thanks for the link Simon.

I have mixed feelings about eligibility myself.

Just filling the time till I can land a 225 S Vignale in my stable.

 

Chuck's 904 doesn't seem to be very close to the original thing. Depends if you want a true to the original replica or do you want something that looks like the original and drives like a more modern car. The suspension is pretty much a rip off of a Chevron, and Chuck seems to have a version that uses wider wheels and tires and has a 3.2 liter motor in it..

These guys http://www.technic-motorsport.com are producing a pretty true to life 904 replica, but I don't have a clue as to the cost. From what I am seeing the Beck 904's are in the $50k-to $60k range, (less engine and tranny). There are obviously a lot of Porsche engines out there and they can be had for a reasonable amount, so the car isn't too expensive. The 904, while a great performer at the time, was designed just before a big leap forward in tire and suspension technology came along and had a short racing life. The original 904 only had 5.5 inch wide rims! Because of that, a replica that is "true" to the original car is not going to perform all that well compared to a 906 or GT40 replica. Chuck is addressing that by upgrading the suspension, but then is it really a 904 replica?

The RCR turnkey (minus engine) replicas or the Superformance GT40 continuation cars are only a bit more expensive and offer a lot more bang for the buck, in my estimation. If you're a Porsche guy and always wanted a 904, go for it. I just like the 906 a lot better, but the replicas of that are a good bit more expensive. I did see that there is a company called Kraftwerke that is making a 906 replica from the factory chassis drawings, which to my mind is pretty cool, but it sells for $95k (less engine!) which, although its a faithful replica is, to my mind overpriced for what it is...

 

Well........for the price of the Beck replica and it's exceptional quality (their spiders are just one example of this) I think it would be worth it and a really neat car to own.

After all......116 real ones were built and the survivors are worth probably $750K - $1MM each.......

 

+2.