The Porsche 356 was a highly competitive racing car in the under 2 litre GT class in the 1950s and early 1960s. By 1963 Porsche realised the 356 was no longer sufficiently competitive and they decided to design a purpose built car to compete in the under 2 litre class. The 904 was the result. The beautiful looking bodywork was designed by Ferry 'Butsi' Porsche, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, and was the first glassfibre bodied Porsche. Heinkel the aircraft company was subcontracted to build the glassfibre body which was then delivered to Porsche who bonded it to a steel ladder type frame. The result was a very light yet stiff car, which handled superbly.
It had a mid-engined 2 litre flat four cylinder engine, which was similar to the engine used in the older 356, but which was tuned to produce 180bhp. Originally Porsche intended to put the new 2 litre flat six engine that was developed for the new 901 (which became the 911 after Peugeot objected to the use of the "901" name) into the 904, but the engine was not ready to put into the new race car in time to homologate it for the 1964 season. An all new 5 speed gearbox was developed for the car. 100 904s had to be built to homologate it for racing in the under 2 litre GT class. Porsche cancelled it's moderately successful Formula 1 program to free up resources for the new 904 program and the car was homologated by April 1964.
The 904 was extremely competitive and scored a class win at LeMans in 1964, and won the 1964 Targa Florio outright. A 904 also came second in the 1965 Monte Carlo rally behind the winning Mini Cooper. The flat six engine was eventually installed into the 904, being known as the 904/6, and a 2 litre version of the Porsche 8 cylinder Formula 1 engine was also used in the 904/8. Insufficient numbers of the 6 and 8 cylindered 904s were made to homologate them as GT cars and they had to race as prototypes.
This model was the first 1:18th diecast released by Minichamps back in 1999. Up to that point they had been known for making superb 1:43rd models (and still are), so it was exciting to see them branch into a larger scale (especially for collectors like me who only buy 1:18ths). I went to alot of trouble at the time to buy this model from a hobby shop in the Netherlands who would only accept payment via bankers draft. I was very pleased with my new 904 model but I was annoyed to see it on sale in my local hobby shop a few weeks after I bought it! I could have saved myself alot of trouble had I been more patient!
It was a first rate model by the standards of 1999, but now that it is 6 years old it is no longer a cutting edge 1:18th. Having said that, Minichamps did a great job capturing the look of the 904 (an absolutely beautiful little car, even with it's ugly steel wheels!) and it has a fully opening body. The hinge arrangement for the rear engine cover is particularly clever on this model. The seats have a realistic covering on them, but do not have any seatbelts. As this car was first built in 1963, it is possible that they didn't originally have belts at that time, so it is perhaps not an oversight by Minichamps. A slight defect on my 904 is a poorly fitting drivers door. Otherwise the quality of the model is very good overall.
