The GT40s 1-2-3 result for Ford was the big story at the 1966 LeMans 24hrs race, but almost as impressive was Porsche's 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th place finishes achieved in the 906. This particular 906 longtail finished in 4th place and won the under 2 litre prototype class. 906 number 30 completed 338 laps in 24hrs, only 9 laps behind the 3rd placed GT40, and 21 laps behind the winning McLaren/Amon GT40.
Behind the wheel of the 4th placed finisher was the driver pairing of Swissman Jo Siffert and Colin Davis from the UK.
The 906 was the first racing Porsche designed by Ferdinand Piech (nephew of Ferry Porsche, the company founder) and his deputy Helmut Bott. This pair would go on to design some of the most successful racing Porsches ever, most notably the 917 series, and Piech himself went on to head Volkswagen until his retirement in 2002. The 906 had a 2 litre 220bhp six cylinder engine, mounted in a mid-engined configuration within a tubular spaceframe chassis. Additonally, for LeMans, Porsche developed a "longtail" body with longer nose and tail sections compared to the standard 906 that increased top speed by 10mph on the long Hunaudieres straight at LeMans (often known incorrectly as the Mulsanne straight, but it is the corner at the end of the straight which is the Mulsanne corner, not the straight itself).
Had the 7 litre GT40s faltered, the 2 litre 906s would have scored a giant killing win for Porsche, but the superb Ford team did a great job in 1966 and Porsche had to wait until 1970 for it's first outright LeMans win.
This particular model of the 906 LE is part of a range of 1:18th Porsche 906s made by Minichamps. They have done a great job in my opinion, this model having a fully wired 6 cylinder engine, fabric covered seats, and good body detail with removable rear bodywork and a spare tire under a front body panel. There are no seatbelts, but I'm not 100% sure if the real car had them in 1966. It may have been the case that the Porsche team was not using them then (they were relatively new to racing in the mid-1960s) but if the real car did have them then it is an omission on Minichamps part. Also, the BP and Dunlop logos on the front wings of the car are incomplete, which I thought was due to a licensing problem preventing Minichamps from adding the full logos onto the model. However, another collector friend of mine e-mailed me with a photograph of the real car which had the same incomplete logos as the model does. So Minichamps were right all along!
A must have for any LeMans and Porsche collectors.
