Porsche’s 904 mid-60s GT racer reborn as Aerfal Automotive Æ94
The Dutch firm plans to bring back the mid-engined 904 in 400bhp flat-eight form
Thought every possible combination of Porsche-based restomod, remaster, and tribute had already been done? Well, it seems there are still more combinations out there, as one Dutch company has created a tribute to the Porsche 904 of the 1960s.
The original 904 Carrera GTS was a fibreglass-bodied sports car designed as a follow-up to the open-topped 718, to compete in group 3 GT racing in the mid 1960s. It was mid-engined and initially used flat-four power, though Porsche later fitted the 911’s flat six, and a handful even got an F1-derived flat eight.
It’s the latter cars that Dutch firm Aerfal Automotive is paying homage to with the Æ94. Using the mid-engined 914 as a basis, the Æ94 closely echoes the styling of the original, but the most interesting aspect is probably that Aerfal plans to bring back that rare flat-eight engine variant for its own reimagining.
The company hasn’t released many details – all the images you see are renderings, so the project is likely in its very early stages – but Aerfal is promising a 4-litre flat eight making around 400 horsepower, a combination that it says is “not about chasing numbers, but about creating an engine that breathes character, a soundtrack and sensation that connects the driver directly to Porsche’s primal racing heritage”.
Naturally it’s mid-mounted, and aircooled like the original too – the original, incidentally, being half the capacity and making more like 240 horsepower. For the rest of the car, Aerfal is pitching it as an interpretation of what Porsche’s mid-60s engineers might have achieved with today’s technology and tools.
The styling is certainly convincing, though it’s likely that the end product will be a little larger than the original – the 914 it’s based on has a longer wheelbase than the 904, so everything will need to be that little bit bigger in order to keep the 904’s proportions (though that should also make fitting that flat-eight engine a little easier).
The wheels are notably larger (the renders show it wearing Michelin Cup 2 tyres), no doubt to shroud brakes capable of hauling the car down from 400-horsepower speeds, the front and rear lights are thoroughly modern, and the cabin should be a little more accommodating of modern frames than the tiny 1960s racer.
The renderings show some typical restomod touches inside, from a comprehensive retrim to plenty of exposed titanium, a pair of racy bucket seats, and a gearlever positioned on a turret with an Elise-style exposed linkage below. Pleasingly, you apparently still get manual window winders, and there’s not a touchscreen in sight.
Price, release date, full specifications? All unknown, though cars like this don’t tend to come cheap: the Kimera EVO37 tribute to the Lancia 037, perhaps conceptually closest to this 904 revival, is in the half-million Euros range, and you’ll pay similar money and more for some traditional restomods from the world’s best. It would certainly be fun to see the Æ94 among them.
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