The Porsche 906 or Carrera 6 is a street-legal racing car from Porsche. It was announced in January 1966 and 50 examples were subsequently produced, thus meeting the homologation requirements of the FIA's new Group 4 Sports Car category to the number. The type would also compete in modified form in the Group 6 Sports Prototype class.
n its debut in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the Carrera 6 finished 6th overall, and won its class against Ferrari Dino 206 Ps.[3] At the 12 Hours of Sebring, Hans Herrmann/Herbert Müller finished fourth overall and won the class, as well as at the 1000 km of Monza, Spa, and Nürburgring.
Willy Mairesse/Gerhard Müller, driving a privately entered 906, secured an overall victory at the 1966 Targa Florio when the factory cars failed.[3] At the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 906 placed 4-5-6-7 behind three Ford GT40 Mk IIs, outlasting all of the previously dominant V12-engined Ferrari Ps.
For the year of the car's debut in 1966, it achieved numerous victories. American-British race car driver Ken Miles took the 2.0-liter class in the Las Vegas Stardust and Laguna Seca USRRC races.[2] These victories didn't just stop in 1966, but went on through 1967 and 1968. Another well known Porsche driver by the name of Peter Gregg secured himself some wins at the Bahama Speed Weeks.[2] Now not only were professional racers driving these cars, but so was comedian D**k Smothers and Fred Baker.[5] They secured 8th overall to win it's 2.0-liter class in 1969.
Unlike previous racing Porsches, the 906's body was tested in a wind tunnel, resulting in a top speed of 280 km/h (170 mph) at Le Mans, quite fast for a 2-liter engine car. At the time it showed a close resemblance to future Porsche racing cars. As in the Mercedes-Benz 300SL, gull-wing doors were fitted, and the mid-ship mounted engine was covered with a large plexiglas cover. The Porsche 906 was fitted with an engine that actually came from the Porsche 911 just with a few modifications done to it. These changes included some exotic metals in the connecting rods and the crank case to help the car perform at a higher level.
In order to save money, spare suspension components produced in advance for a possible new series of Porsche 904 had to be used for the 906, along with big 15-inch wheels. Yet, Formula One used lighter 13-inch wheels, and Porsche had already used Team Lotus suspension parts in earlier years. The wheels were bolted on with 5 nuts as in a road car, which cost time in pitstops compared to a single central nut. Porsche had reused a lot of different parts on the 906 like the suspension from the 904 and the engine from the 911, but they had also utilized the 5 speed manual gearbox that came from the Porsche 911.
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The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced Nine Eleven or in German: Neunhundertelf, or colloquially Neunelfer) is a family of two-door, high performance rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche of Stuttgart, Germany, and now in its eighth generation. All 911s have a rear-mounted flat-six engine, and usually 2+2 seating, except for special 2-seater variants. Originally, 911s had air-cooled engines, and torsion bar suspension, but the 911 has been continuously changed and im...
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