RE: Super-Rare Porsche 906 Rebuilt In The US

RE: Super-Rare Porsche 906 Rebuilt In The US

Tuesday 5th April 2011

Super-Rare Porsche 906 Rebuilt In The US

US Porsche specialist Patrick Motorsport has rebuilt one of the rarest of Stuttgart's racers. We find out more about this elusive piece of motorsport history



Phoenix may seem an unlikely place to find a fully rebuilt piece of motorsport history, but that is where we find an immaculately rebuilt Porsche 906. With Gullwing doors and beautiful 60s aerodynamic bodywork, it epitomises sports car racing of the era.

Its (re)creators at Patrick Motorsport, a Porsche specialist of fifteen years' standing, have clearly put an awful lot of time and effort into rebuilding this car (which will no doubt be reflected in the price), engineering and fabricating the hinges for the doors and replacing the original fuel tanks with slightly less explosive 'fuel cells' (not the hydrogen variety).


The Porsche 906 is not a well-known piece of automotive history. Indeed, I confess never to have heard of it until this story popped into my inbox (writes James Richardson). It was originally developed to be an engine test bed for the (then up and coming) 911 model, a little-known car that, if memory serves, went on to enjoy a modicum of commercial success.

It was also to be a racer, the replacement for the ageing 904 which, after dominating hillclimbing for a good few years was replaced as top hund by the Ferrari Dino, with its powerful engine and lightweight construction making the 904 obsolete.


In one of the many dark recesses of Zuffenhausen, the Porsche research department (headed up by a young engineer by the name of Ferdinand Piech) got to work on the replacement for the 904. With typical German thoruoughness, Piech cancelled his (and everyone else's) August break so that they could work on the new 906.

Binning the 904's ladder frame, they installed a lighter but stronger space frame chassis, encased in a lightweight body along with the new 2.0-litre flat six being tested for the upcoming 911 road car.


The 906 or 'Carrera 6' won its class in its first outing at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hours, finishing sixth overall. Not only did this prove the car's speed but also the reliability of the new engine, despite being in considerably higher tune than the roadgoing version that would find its way into the back of a 911. Before long, fuel injection replaced good ol' carburettors, with Bosch providing the new technology, and combined with a greater capacity of 2.5 litres, the new 906E ('E' for Einspritzung or injection) now produced around 250hp and was even more of a racing success than its carb-fed precursor, dominating the 1967 sports car season and winning at Sebring, Daytona and Watkins Glen.


The 906 led to a string of highly successful racing sports cars, culminating in the 917K which won Le Mans in 1970, just four years after the spaceframe chassis had been debuted in the 906. This was also the first win at Le Mans for Porsche, with the Zuffenhausen outfit going on to win it one or two more times. Or maybe 16. No one really keeps count, do they? This success also saw the indefatigable Dr Piech on the road to becoming the most powerful man in the automotive world. Not bad for a project that began with a four-cylinder, ladder-framed chassis hillclimber...



Author
Discussion

Galsia

Original Poster:

2,166 posts

189 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
That looks absolutely fantastic! cloud9

Greenwich Ross

1,219 posts

172 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Yum!

louismchuge

1,628 posts

183 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Good read, thanks PH

daytonafan

283 posts

184 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Duncan Hamilton's have one of these for sale for some time and it's road registered in the UK!

http://www.duncanhamilton.com/cars-for-sale/compet...


Looks rather lovely in silver though

Mark-C

5,010 posts

204 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
It's only Tuesday and that appears to be POTW sorted .... fifth one down with the doors open please

gareth.e

2,071 posts

188 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
If I had a fanny, right now I'd be wet...

chazwozza

724 posts

185 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Ooooh, pretty.
Cheered me up for today!

Hoofty

637 posts

189 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Gorgeous. And another example of how good steel wheels can look!

Asterix

24,438 posts

227 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
I think one of the reasons why it is not as well known as the later Porsche endurance racers is that it was overshadowed by the Ford/Ferrari war.

V8 GRF

7,294 posts

209 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Gorgeous bit of kit cloud9

UltimaCH

3,155 posts

188 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
I like the engine sitting on wooden blocks. Gives the impression of a 60's back yard operation, which it is certainly not. Very impressive and top class restoration. I wonder how much that rarity will sell for...?

BBS-LM

3,972 posts

223 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Dam! that car is just lovely. much want.

Asterix

24,438 posts

227 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Always surprises me why the Boxer engines aren't used more for racing as they help get a very low CoG.

vrooom

3,763 posts

266 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
those are nice, It has like 200hp. can able go 150mph ish.

mark3man

244 posts

210 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Asterix said:
Always surprises me why the Boxer engines aren't used more for racing as they help get a very low CoG.
Good question : I was always told it was the problem of lubrication the 'upper' faces of the cylinder when the cylinders lie flat, instead of more upright. Although this car's big brother, the 917 managed it, and it's seems not to worry all the road going Porsche's with flat engines.

RDMcG

19,093 posts

206 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Stunning. Perfection.

Liquid Knight

15,754 posts

182 months

Asterix

24,438 posts

227 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Shnizzle?

c_seven

162 posts

191 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Liquid Knight said:
Snoop Doggy why?

Riggers

1,859 posts

177 months

Tuesday 5th April 2011
quotequote all
Mark-C said:
It's only Tuesday and that appears to be POTW sorted .... fifth one down with the doors open please
Not really hi-res enough for POTW, but your request has been noted smile