Porsche introduced the 904 in 1964 with the sole purpose of racing. To meet the terms of the homologation rules, they had to build a hundred road-going examples. Such was the demand for the car that they produced twenty more in 1965.

The engine was the inevitable Porsche flat-4, although some of the later cars had the flat-6 and just a few, for racing by the factory team, the flat-8. The car had a fiberglass body and was very light as a result – it won the Targa Florio in 1964 as well as many other races. But the reason I write about it here is that it looked so good; to my eye, it is by far the best-looking Porsche ever built.

Who cares that it is way beyond our reach and probably impractical as a road car? It’s as pretty as a picture and deserves to be remembered. And it was the first step in an evolution that led ultimately to the all-conquering Porsche 917. Now that is progeny to be proud of!