The Beck 904

Chuck Beck with my cousin and his Beck 904 at Road Atlanta.  That's Ray, who
swapped a VW 411 engine into his Porsche 911-E, in the background. 

Some readers may recall the Beck Spyder, a VW-powered replica of the Porsche 550 Spyder, from a few years ago.  It was a righteous car, a bargain, and Pilote considered buying one before he decided he wanted V-8 torque and "all mod. cons." (as the Brits say) in his toy.  With air-cooled VW engines in short supply, Beck sold the rights to that car when he moved back east from California several years ago.

The Beck 904 is what he's been up to lately.  One can be yours for a base price of $75,000.  Each Beck is custom-built to an agreed specification between Chuck and the prospective owner.  He has made about a dozen of them.  Chuck's son, Randy, races one.  Go to www.beck904.com if you want to know more.  The car in these pictures had not turned a wheel until he brought it to Road Atlanta for the ALMS race last weekend.

Strictly speaking, the Beck 904 is not a replica.  The original Porsche 904 had a stamped sheet steel central backbone frame, bonded to its fiberglas body, and Porsche's 4-cam, 4-cylinder engine.  Chuck's 904 has a semi-space frame (the body bears no chassis loads) and a 6-cylinder Porsche Typ 901 engine (or its derivatives).  His fiberglass bodies are laid-up by hand and look like a 904, but differ in detail.  They have flared fenders for much wider tires (16 X 8 and 16 X 9, mounting 50-aspect ratios) and a more pronounced rear spoiler.

This view emphasizes the fender flares and larger rear spoiler on a Beck 904.

Not as far apart in spirit as you might suspect: the Beck 904 next to Chuck Keene's '32 Ford 3-window street rod.  The wheels on the Beck 904 are a "tribute" to Porsche-style Fuchs alloys, but they are wider and have Beck center caps.  Or you can install Porsche logo center caps.  Or you can specify BBS wheels.  Or...

The "standard" engine in a Beck 904 is a stock air-cooled 6-cylinder from a Porsche 993 (the last air-cooled "911"), as shown.  So we are talking 300+ horsepower in an 1800 lb. car.  How fast do you want to go?  How much money do you want to spend?  Spare a moment to absorb the fabrication craftsmanship you see here.  Visit Chuck's website to see more.

The office: VDO gauges would make any Porsche owner feel at home, and a "proper" wood-rim aluminum-spoke steering wheel.