Porsche 904/8 (chassis #008) photographed in the Porsche Museum, September 2020
F.A. ‘Butzi’ Porsche, the eldest son of Ferry and Dorothea Porsche, joined the family business in 1958 having shown great interest in the field of industrial design. Working under the direction of Erwin Komenda, F.A. Porsche set about learning the business from the inside, and was soon given the task of ‘working’ on the new shape of the 718 racer for the ’61 season. Showing an aptitude for the work at hand, and having the benefit of a privileged family position, he was thrust into the role of Head of the Styling Department in 1963 at the young age of just 28 years.
Porsche 904/8 (chassis #008) photographed in the Porsche Museum, September 2020
Porsche had set its sight on a two-pronged attack on the motorsport world, the two arms of this campaign being Grand Prix single-seater racing and the 2-litre class of the GT Championship. These two sectors of the sport, while quite distinct from each other, served to divide resources within the company which resulted in two disadvantageous outcomes. Firstly, development of its Formula 1 single-seater race cars consumed vast amounts of financial resources and manpower, effectively leaving too little in the pot for the development of its GT racers.
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