Lot 151: 1966 Porsche 906

At Le Mans in 1951, a lone 356 aluminium bodied 1.1 litre car was entered and finished 20th overall. It was to be but the beginning of great things to come - throughout the rest of the fifties the marque continued to improve and add to its growing list of competition successes. The 550 series was particularly instrumental in building the sporting reputation towards the end of the decade.The 904 model's appearance in 1964 displayed a vehicle of even more sporting appearance, with a four cylinder engine of 1966cc. Enormously successful in the under 2 litre class for the works, they had many successes in private hands too. Increasing opposition was however coming from the direction of Maranello and elsewhere and it became clear that the transition to a six cylinder car of more serious race orientated concept was required if Porsche was to retain its superiority. For 1966, Porsche had the 906 ready to show the world. Otherwise known as the Carrera 6, the car was quite different technically to its predecessor but had been designed by the same team headed by Professor Porsche's grandson, Ferdinand Piech, in close conjunction with Huschke von Hanstein, head of Porsche's racing department. The 906 was built around an ultra-light tubular space-frame topped by a very streamlined body with an overall height of only 38.6 inches. The engine was quite similar to the production 911 unit in basic design but significantly lighter, making extensive use of magnesium and aluminum alloys. With dual ignition, 10.3:1 compression, two triple-throat, Weber 46IDA carburators, and special manifolds and exhaust system, this 90½0 put out 220 bhp at 8000 rmp and 145 ft lbs maximum torque at 6000 rpm.The first outing for the 906 was the 1966 Daytona 24 Hours, where a dark blue car finished sixth, beaten only by a factory team of fleet Ford GTs and a single Ferrari. The lead car at Sebring spunout, but 906s nailed fourth, sixth, and eigth. At Targa Florino that year they ended up 1-3-4-8. Racing delelopments came thick and fast in the late Sixties; those from Porsche were mostly logical evolutions. Thus, the 904's suspension and brakes went into the 906. There were 52 Porsche 906s produced: the 50 were of course necessary for homologation into Group 4 class. Completely dominating the under 2 litre class, the cars continued to build upon the growing legend of the Porsche name. Chassis number 906-114 made its racing debut at none other than Le Mans in 1966 where Porsche finished 4-5-6 and 7 only beaten by Fords monster 7 litre GT40. That year 906-114's career was to continue, the car competed at Bergrennen and also Monthlery, driven by Robert Buchet the car finished third overall in both events. The 1967 season for buchet and 906-114 was a memorable one, he took the car back to Monthlery and again finished third. he also competed at the Rallye Bordeaux and the Grand prix of Paris where the car on both occassions was overall winner. In June '67 Buchet along with his co-driver Herrmann drove the car in the Reims 12h endurance race and finished third. October '67 was to be the last time that Buchet was to compete in this most high achieving car where he raced once more at Monthlery and came in forth.During the seasons of '69/'70, 906-114 was piloted by Bonnemaison in which he drove the car to victory at Course de Cote de Mortagne, and second overall at the Challenge International. Throughout the 1970s the car was campaigned at a number of Hillclimbs and Rallys exclusively in France. In recent years 906-114 has taken part in a number of events to include, the Oldtimer Grand Prix, Goodwood Festival of Speed and raced at Silverstone and the Nurburgring. This '60s racing icon is supplied with all relevent paperwork to include, FIA Papers, a letter of authenticity from Porsche and a number of articles, race results nd images of the car in Period.