- Here's a sad sight that WILL have a happy ending (double happy ending actually!!).
This original 904 GTS Carrera is owned by a friend of Jurgen Mohr (Mohr/FMS near Dresden who are Classic Roadsters Business partner). The client had had it fully prepped by a separate car body restorers and it had been waiting to go into the paint booth.
The heaters were turned up overnight to ensure perfect last minute dryness before the painting process - see where we're going with this?! Yep, at 4.0am the following morning the fire alarm went off - and this was all that was left. This was NOT at Mohr's premises we hasten to add, but the previous "restorer".
Mohr have now been given the task of saving the car and rebuilding it totally. They tracked down the ORIGINAL moulds and chassis jigs [ mercifully the chassis was only "scorched"], and have negotiated a deal to produce new working moulds to produce a totally authentic "Replica" body. The car is a well known competition car with full provenance, but for obvious reasons must remain anonymous.
Now the "quirk of fate", being in "the right place at the right time", whatever - it just so happened Chris, (Classic Roadsters Development engineer) was in Heyda at the time that the 904 arrived in a VERY sad state. He was putting the finishing touches to the new 550 Spyder chassis and was neeedlets to say, fascinated by the state of the vehicle. After the 904 was unloaded the tape measures came out, and yes, with minimal adjustment to the wheelbase the 550 chassis would be suitable for the 904!
King Moulds have already been prepared and a prototype body will be made available when Chris returns in July. The rebirth of an original legend and the birth of a new replica - good things DO sometimes come from bad!
So here's an open invitation for a caption competition - the prize for the best (donated by Classic Roadsters Ltd.) a copy of the ORIGINAL sales brochure that came with this car.
Good luck. To ensure a fair deal - the judging will be carried out by your forum meister.
Oh yes, I'm just off to start putting together the sales literature for the new Classic Roadsters 904!!
You can also just make out in the background the Classic Roadsters 356 Cabriolet German demonstrator!
Finally, there is also a nasty rumour that there's a 908 Spyder awaiting restoration so keep watching this space!!
"Hans immediately regretted trying to weld the repair patch on the body"
