Legacy Metrics

1964 Porsche 904 GTS

904-026racingGermany
Engine
2.0L air-cooled flat-four (Type 587/3), two Weber 46IDM twin-choke carburettors, ~180 bhp
Colour
Silver Metallic

Porsche 904 GTS chassis 904-026, one of the pioneering mid-engined competition coupés introduced in early 1964, was delivered new to a Kaiserslautern dealer and entered a distinguished career in European hillclimb racing. Under Fritz Leinenweber and then Michel Weber, the car accumulated numerous class victories and course records across Germany, France, Austria, and Belgium, with Weber achieving a tied first place in the 1965 German GT Hill Climb Championship. The car later passed to Venezuelan ownership, where it competed into the early 1970s, before returning to Europe with its correct Type 587/3 four-cylinder engine.

Ownership

  1. Auction sale
    Sold €1,428,000 (≈ $1.57M)

    RM Sotheby's catalogue lot →

  2. 1964-02-19 → 1964-04-01Factory delivery
    Rittersbacher Porsche dealership, Kaiserslautern
    full documentation

    Car delivered new in Silver Metallic with blue interior, equipped with safety belts and a sports exhaust, clearly prepared for competition use.

  3. 1964-04-01 → 1965Private sale
    Fritz Leinenweber
    full documentation

    Pirmasens-based competitor with motorsport experience since 1956; ran the car in numerous hillclimbs through the 1964 season and into early 1965 before selling after the Bergrennen Kautenbach.

  4. 1965 → 1966Private sale
    Michel Weber
    full documentation

    Textile dealer and capable sports car driver who targeted the German Hill Climb Championship; modified rear arches to accommodate wider rear wheels. Traded the car for an ex-works 904/6 after the 1000 KM of Monza.

  5. 1966 →Private sale
    Armando Capriles
    partial documentation

    Venezuelan owner who acquired the car through Porsche in 1966; raced alongside Alfredo Atencio at Venezuelan events during 1966 and into 1967. Source is Pantis' reference book on the 904/906/910.

  6. Date unknownAcquisition unknown
    Flavio Espino
    partial documentation

    Caracas-based owner believed to have acquired the car after Capriles; raced it at Road Atlanta in October 1972, at which point it carried a six-cylinder engine.

  7. Date unknownAcquisition unknown
    Harem Cruz
    partial documentation

    Caracas-based vendor who advertised the car in a 1973 Road & Track issue at $8,500; at that time it had been refitted with a new factory four-cam Type 587/3 engine.

Competition

  1. 1964
    Bergrennen Happerg
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber1st in class
  2. 1964
    Course de Côte d'Urcy
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber1st in class

    French hillclimb event.

  3. 1964
    Course de Côte Merveilleuse
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber5th overall

    Held the weekend after Bergrennen Luxemburg in September 1964.

  4. 1964-08-19
    Hunstrück Bergrennen Revival
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber1st in GT class, best overall time, new hill record

    First competitive outing for the car; Leinenweber dominated the entire field, not just his class.

  5. 1964-09-13
    Bergrennen Luxemburg
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber1st in class

    Fourth consecutive class victory for Leinenweber with the car.

  6. 1964-11-01
    Bergrennen Viaden
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber1st in GT class

    Held in Belgium in early November 1964.

  7. 1964-11-01
    Bergrennen Taubensuhl
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber1st overall, new course record

    Final round of the 1964 season for the car, held later in November.

  8. 1965
    Bergrennen Kautenbach
    Driver: Fritz Leinenweber2nd in class, 4th overall

    Opening event of 1965 for the car; Leinenweber sold the car to Weber shortly after.

  9. 1965German Hill Climb Championship
    Bergpreis Bad Neuenahr
    Driver: Michel Weber1st in class

    Weber's first outing with the car; set a strong early-season benchmark.

  10. 1965German Hill Climb Championship
    Bergpreis Taunus
    Driver: Michel Weber3rd in class

    Weber finished behind both Rolf Stommelen and Udo Schütz on this occasion.

  11. 1965German Hill Climb Championship
    Bergrennen Eberbach
    Driver: Michel Weber1st in class
  12. 1965German Hill Climb Championship
    Sudelfeld-Bergrennen
    Driver: Michel Weber1st in class
  13. 1965German Hill Climb Championship
    Spessart-Bergrennen
    Driver: Michel Weber1st in class
  14. 1965German Hill Climb Championship
    Olympia-Bergrennen Axamar Lizum
    Driver: Michel Weber1st overall, 1st in class

    Austrian event held approximately two weeks after Rossfeld; wider rear wheels and arches believed to have been fitted beforehand.

  15. 1965
    Bergrennen Ratisbona
    Driver: Michel WeberTied 1st in class with Sepp Greger

    Weber and Greger posted identical times, sharing top honours.

  16. 1965
    Hunsrück-Bergrennen Revival
    Driver: Michel Weber1st overall, new track record
  17. 1965-06-13German Hill Climb Championship
    Alpen-Bergpreis Rossfeld
    Driver: Michel Weber5th overall, 2nd in class

    Described as the season's most prestigious event.

  18. 1965-08-01European Hill Climb Championship
    Bergpreis Freiburg-Schauinsland
    Driver: Michel Weber1st in GT class

    Weber beat Sepp Greger and Günter Klass, who were in a works 904; points counted toward the European Hill Climb Championship.

  19. 1965-11-01German Hill Climb Championship
    Bergpreis Rhön
    Driver: Michel Weber1st overall

    Held in wet and foggy conditions that disadvantaged factory Ferrari and Porsche prototypes; all top three finishers drove 904s. Weber tied for first in the German GT Hill Climb Championship but was placed behind Spiess due to displacement rules.

  20. 1966-04-25
    1000 KM of Monza
    Driver: Michel WeberDNF — engine failure

    Co-driven by Jochen Neerpasch; the 904 led its class by nearly three seconds over an Alfa Romeo TZ2 before retiring with mechanical trouble. This was the car's final event under Weber's ownership.

  21. 1972-10-01
    Road Atlanta

    Believed to have been entered by Flavio Espino; car was fitted with a six-cylinder engine at this stage.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. 1965
    Modification

    Weber fitted wider rear wheels and tyres prior to the Axamar Lizum hillclimb, which required slight flaring of the rear wheel arches to accommodate the wider track.

    Modification carried out by Weber himself according to the prose.

  2. 1966
    Modification

    A six-cylinder engine was installed, believed to have been done following the engine failure experienced at the 1966 Monza race, and the car was in this configuration when raced at Road Atlanta in October 1972.

    Exact date and installer unknown; inferred from the sequence of events described.

  3. 1973
    Engine rebuild

    A replacement factory four-cam Type 587/3 engine (number 99 099) was fitted, restoring the correct four-cylinder configuration, as noted when the car was advertised for sale in Road & Track.

    Engine number 99 099 recorded at the time of the 1973 advertisement.

Are you the owner of this car?

This car's public record is built from its auction and competition history. Register your ownership and privately add your own records to make it a verified Legacy Metrics passport — provenance that backs your car's value at sale and gives your insurer evidence to price against. Roy reviews and verifies every registration personally.

Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.