Porsche 904 GTS Carrera “Ecurie Lutéce”

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

Porsche 904 GTS Carrera

This project was based on the old Aurora 1/25th scale Porsche 904 kit first issued in 1965, re-released in 1991 by Monogram and once again by Revell of Germany in 2003. It has a reputation for being “fiddly”, and indeed it is. But that’s because it is extraordinarily finely detailed and because the Aurora designers engineered the kit to assemble much like the original 1:1 car would have. Unfortunately much of the beautifully rendered detail is eventually buried under subsequent parts and will never be seen once the model is completed. But what a delight to assemble! It’s a 3D journey through one of the most significant sports racing machines of the postwar era. It was a true road licensed GT with over 100 copies produced to comply with the FIA Gran Touring regulations of the era (the car was first introduced in 1964). Many were raced, but perhaps just as many were used on the open road.

The version I modeled is based on a fictitious privateer team, “Ecurie Lutéce”, in the tradition of the great mid-century privateers like Ecurie Ecosse from Scotland and Scuderia Serenissima from Venice, Italy. The decal scheme is based on the layout from the Serenissima 904 with the large rondels, but that car was, of course, Italian racing red. This car is French racing blue (Tamiya TS10). It is inspired by a 904 currently being run by the French business man and collector Jean-Marc Bussolini. Like his car, I went with the upper body panels in blue with the lower bellypan molding in silver. “Lutéce” is the ancient Roman name for the city of Paris, home base for my make-believe privateer.

This model is virtually 100% out of the box. The complex detail you see is entirely the handiwork of those inspired Aurora designers back in the day. Definitely not the kind of kit we would normally associate with that brand. The parts fit is very good. The only reason it’s “fiddly” is because of high parts count. But the result is well worth the work. The only additional parts I added were the wiring and plumbing, a couple of ignition coils from Morgan Auto Detail, a rudimentary throttle linkage and some seat belts. Otherwise, it’s all in the box! And with virtually no flash in the 1992 vintage Monogram edition I used. The decals are a mixture of homemade (the French racing stripe down the middle, the Ecurie Lutéce badge and the Dunlop logo), and numbers and rondels from Go-Fer Decals.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

[KRAZY RICK]

Wow Bernard - you really did it this time !!!

[BADSEED]

Here here ! What an awesome build!!!

[Deleted]

wow you did that model justice
l wish l had your patience to take 
that kit on

[BRITBOY]

I always thought there was a good looking model hiding in those moulds! You've proved there is!

[BERNARD "HOT ROD" KRON]

Thank you everyone. Your comments are much appreciated.

In retrospect this was quite a challenging build, even though it was pretty much Out-Of-The-Box. This isn't a reflection on the original kit, which is extremely detailed and quite well engineered. It has more to do with the fact that this style of build is not what I usually do (I'm a confirmed kit-basher, working mainly in hot rods, kustoms and staightliners). But I intend to do more projects in this vein and I suspect I'll become more accustomed to the discipline it demands.