A Random Porsche 906 Post

Mike Rahal/Werner Frank/Hugh Wise were DNF at Sebring in 1971 with a broken oil line in Mike's 906.  Decades
later, Bobby Rahal tracked this car down, restored it, and gave it to his Dad.

This fun short clip gives me an excuse for some random comments on the Porsche 906:

https://youtu.be/H4lNo1Ti9QE


The car had large wheel arches to accommodate it's original 15-inch wheels (not shown above).  And that was because Ferry Porsche insisted that Ferdinand Piech use wheels, hubs, brakes, and suspension arms left over from the 904 racing cars.  Any wonder that Ferry hired John Wyer to run the factory 917 race cars in 1970 because he thought Ferdindand was spending too much money on the racing program?  (In fairness, Porsche was a much smaller company back then.)

The 906 was plenty fast for a 2-liter race car.  I saw one hang onto a Ford GT 40 easily, at an SCCA Regional in Connellsville, PA in 1967.  As long as it was raining.  ;-)

I've always loved the 906 because it was street-legal in 1965.  Emissions regulations were still three years away.  The orange one in the video appears to have LeMans gearing--that's a long first gear.  And when was the last time we heard carburetor stumble, even in a race car, as it pulled away from rest?

I know a guy who owned a couple of 906's.  He sold them both.  He'd have kept one except that A) he didn't fit--the cockpit, especially head room, is even more cramped than Piech's later 900-series cars and B) the flimsy gullwing door kept popping open.  Maybe because he was conking it with his helmet?