If you wanted to go racing during the middle of the 1960s, you're options were plentiful, depending on how deep your pockets were. You could aim for the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula One, but battling it out with the best every weekend was not only dangerous, but also hugely costly. For more grassroots racers, Touring Car Championships were gaining populairty all over the world, but for those itching to win in the big leagues of sportscar racing, and those who had around 11,500 dollars spare, reserving the latest speed machine from Porsche, the 906, would be an ideal head start.

Although it was a successor to Porsche’s winning 904 GTS racecar, the 906 Carrera 6 featured a nearly comprehensive redesign, with development closely supervised by Ferdinand Piëch himself in the factory experimental department. This was truly a bold move by Porsche, as the 904 was deemed as the ultimate racing variant of the four-cylinder 356 model, while the 906 was the first racing machine based on the new 911 road car. The term featherweight was used to describe the car, and is a term used flippantly with modern sportscars, but the 906 Carrera 6 true was as light as a feather and made an already deeply impressive race car into a pioneering marvel for Porsche. Weighing a staggering 580 kilograms, lighter than a modern-day Fiat 500, the car almost immediately found success on the racetrack, with privateers desperate to get their hands on one. This example was one of those successful machines, and is set to cause a stir as it heads to RM Sotheby’s upcoming sale in Munich on October 18th.

The 906 boasted a featherweight multi-tubular spaceframe chassis of notable stiffness, and was powered by a 210-horsepower, six-cylinder Carrera engine, all neatly wrapped in a skin-tight fiberglass body. The recipe was perfect, possessing a remarkable power-to-weight ratio that was masterfully realised races all over the world. The car featured a tubular steel spaceframe chassis, a low-slung nose cone, it’s famous “Kamm” tail, and curved windscreen, creating a purposeful yet highly attractive race car, which could also still accommodate a suitcase to satisfy the rulebook. 

A total of 65 Carrera 6 examples were produced, of which 52 had the 2.0-litre engine seen in this example. The cars were immediately snapped up by privateer drivers, and quickly dominated world-class 2-litre endurance racing for two seasons while becoming one of the most memorably powerful and beautiful competition automobiles of its era. 1966 was the car’s defining year, with victories at the Targa Florio and Paris Grand Prix, a sweep of 4th through 7th place at Le Mans, as well as class wins at Daytona, Sebring, Spa, and Monza. For the privateer racers out there looking to bring home the glory, no other car could do it quite like the 906 Carrera 6. 

One of those privateer teams was Racing Team Holland, who took this example, chassis 906-146 to Zandvoort circuit just a month after it rolled off the assembly line, where driver Wim Loos claimed a 2-litre class win in the NAV National. Much like the 906’s winning around the world, David van Lennep would be next behind the wheel of this example, where more podiums arrived at Trier and in the Paris Grand Prix at Montlhéry. The Carrera 6 enjoyed regular outings over the next year, including Ben Pon Jr claiming a flurry of outright wins at Zandvoort.

Spirits were high, but an unfortunate crashed during practice ahead of the 1,000 Km of Spa meant the car was returned to the Porsche factory to be rebuilt in 1968. Once complete, it was sold Antoine Hezemans, who gave the car a new white livery featuring a blue, white, and red, honouring the Dutch national colours. Three more victories would arrive, before another owner claimed the car and raced it until 1971.

The years that followed would see the 906 join collections of various Dutch owners, remaining with one until 2002, before it left The Netherlands in 2005 where it has remained with its current owner ever since. Treated to a body-off restoration by Gustav Ulrich and August Deutsch Mechanik, the Porsche was returned to its period, and arguably most visually appealing look, a bright orange hue. The car was also fitted with a 911 engine, and comes complete with its spare, correct-specification 901/20-type flat-six. 

With historic racing truly thriving all over the world, 2.0-litre racers such as this 906 Carrera 6 enable weekend racers and competitive historic teams alike the chance to experience what is truly a masterpiece from Porsche. Incredibly lightweight, fiercely agile and low enough to slice through the car with ease, the 906 is a race car built only for success, and we have no doubt it’s trophy cabinet has some space left for one or two more! Built during some of Porsche’s most experimental and passionate years, this example is a must-have for any collector affiliated with Stuttgart’s creations. With a 1.8 to 2.2 Million Euro estimate, we expect plenty of waving hands to rise up as this one heads on the auction block in Munich!

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