CMC Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, Bonhams Scottsdale Auction 2017

Porsche 904-098 is remarkably original owing to its possession by several long-term owners and very minimal use over the last 50 and more years. Equipped with a Type 587/3 engine #99090 and upholstered with a blue cloth interior, it was dispatched on June 5, 1964. This Porsche is the only 904 GTS to leave the factory in an ivory livery.

Distributed to the Brumos Porsche of Jacksonville, Florida, 904-098 was initially acquired by a local resident before quickly passing to Ted Tidwell. With this car, Tidwell embarked on a successful racing campaign, placing second in the E-modified class at the SCCA event at Bainbridge, Georgia and then first at the Chimney Rock Hillclimb in 1964. At the season’s conclusion, Tidwell finished 6th in points in the E Modified class.

In 1965, 904-098 came in 9th overall and second in the 2-liter GT Class at the Pensacola USRRC event, while later that year the car finished first in the A Production class. These strong results combined to propel Tidwell to a 4th-place finish in season points.

In November 1965, 904-098 was offered for sale. It went through the hands of two dealership principals, who put the car on display in their showrooms. One of them sold the original engine to a buyer in Ohio. The other dealer installed a Type T 547/4 Carrera motor for the 550 Spyder. He was also believed to have the car painted in the current dark blue livery with a white racing stripe and numbering circles.

In November 1968, the 904 GTS was acquired by Bruce Herrington, who noted that the odometer displayed only 1,900 miles. Because the car had been exclusively raced and exhibited, it was never registered for road use, and Herrington finally convinced the Virginia DMV to issue a registration in April 1969. But with little time for serious driving, he basically domiciled the racing machine for the next twenty years or so.

In 1989, Werner Schoch, a Swiss national living in Southern California, acquired the car in conjunction with Heinz Heinrichs, a 904 expert. It happened and a Porsche collector from Denmark was searching for an original unrestored 904. The purchase was eventually arranged through the mediation of a marque collector.

In 1992 the owner acquired and re-installed the original 4-cam motor, engine no. 99090, which had come into the possession of period racing driver Warren Eads and was rebuilt by his mechanic, the respected Carrera expert Al Cadrobi.

Since it was imported to Demark, this 904 GTS was occasionally enjoyed for gentle cruises in the countryside. It has been spared from crashes or neglect. The original interior remains in situ, and the fiberglass body and chassis construction are both original and intact. Very few sports racing cars of any kind, can boast such conditions. 904-098 was sold for US $2,310,000, premium included, at the Scottsdale Auction in January 2017.