Team story
Origins
Porsche’s route to Grand Prix racing passed through sports cars and Formula 2. Its first World Championship appearances date from the Nürburgring in 1957; the 718 single-seater derived from the RSK, with a longer wheelbase, larger fuel tanks and a central driving position. The new 1.5-litre Formula 1 of 1961 offered suitable ground.
The Formula 1 journey
Dan Gurney took three second places in 1961, but victory required the new 804. At Rouen in July 1962, the American won the French Grand Prix; another victory followed at the non-championship Solitude race. Pole position and third place also came at the Nürburgring.
Jo Bonnier was the works programme’s other principal driver.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Porsche
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · German Grand Prix
Edgar Barth · German Grand Prix 1957. The recorded position is P12; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · French Grand Prix
Dan Gurney · French Grand Prix 1962. The recorded position is P1; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Dutch Grand Prix
Carel Godin de Beaufort · Dutch Grand Prix 1964. The recorded outcome is DNF. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
The 804 combined a tubular steel frame with aluminium bodywork and a new 1,494cc flat-eight engine. Porsche adopted disc brakes on all four wheels, alongside torsion-bar suspension. This was not a relabelled customer car: both engine and car belonged to the Stuttgart manufacturer’s development programme.
What remains
After the works effort ended, Porsches continued to appear with privateers such as Carel Godin de Beaufort, recorded in the archive until 1964. Gurney’s victory remains the marque’s only World Championship win as a constructor. It must be distinguished from later engine supplies: McLaren’s TAG-Porsche turbo tells the story of a different role and another period in its history.
