As you all know by now, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche passed away on April 5th, at the age of 76.

While best known as the designer of the original Porsche 911, arguably, his most important design was the Porsche 904/Carrera GTS. While the 911 is still in production, and on an appearance basis, is clearly a descendant of the original, the 904 has had a broad and lasting impact to the sporting car/super car world.

The 904 was purely a racing car, and an accomplished one at that. Yet its accomplishments on the track do not capture how important its design has been to racing cars from the Porsche 917, to the current Le Mans Prototype vehicles, to various sports cars around the world.

Though he will be remember for the 911, his legacy is far broader.