Porsche 906 under construction...+1

**davewadd** · 02-24-2012, 12:09 PM

Not far from my house, is a shop that does restorations, rebuilds, maintenance, etc... on super high-end cars. ( ie...a Pebble Beach Ferrari Lusso parked by the front door...next to an F40 Ferrari.)... they seem to be able to do just about any rebuild.

Anyway, I stopped by today because I was told the shop was rebuilding a Porsche 906. It turns out that they have a couple such cars...one that is complete and has stickers from the Monterey Historics since 2005, and another 906 they are rebuilding completely from the chassis up.... Really a cool sight to see. I thought I'd share my enthusiasm with other Porsche fans here... and throw up a few pictures.

Here is the original motor for the car being rebuilt, and a couple other pics.

**JKW** · 02-24-2012, 06:39 PM

Very nice ... where?

**davidbir** · 02-24-2012, 06:48 PM

Did you happen to get a serial number for either?

**davewadd** · 02-25-2012, 05:01 AM

I didn't check serial numbers, but the guys said the cars are about 20 numbers apart. I think he said the car they are rebuilding was...19?

**davep** · 02-25-2012, 05:38 AM

Originally Posted by davewadd

I didn't check serial numbers,

naughty lad

Please, any opportunity you get to look at cars & engines such as these, please try and get the numbers.
Myself, I'd be very interested in the serial #'s of the engines, and any type & build #'s if present. There is a lot to be learned from these engines.
For that matter, good photos of the bare suspension, and brakes are also useful.
Thanks for sharing, you are so lucky to have access.

**davewadd** · 02-25-2012, 03:49 PM

DaveP

Serial numbers don't mean much to me, unless I'm going to buy a car, so I didn't make note of any. I just enjoyed seeing these cars, and seeing the 906 torn down to the chassis. It was also interesting to see how the fiberglass is bonded to the chassis.

I think the suspensions on these cars are probably well-documented, so I'm sure finding pictures probably isn't that difficult...but here is one I took yesterday. of the right rear.

**davidbir** · 02-25-2012, 06:29 PM

Here is a copy of a post I made on "The Nostalgia forum" about 906s in 2005. I know that 906/130 is under restoration in the US and wondered if it is this car.

""The mention of Alex Soler-Roig and Porsche in another thread jogged my memory and I dug out an article I had written for "Vantage", the journal of the Vintage Racing Club of British Columbia in 1979. A the time I helped out in a friends classic car shop where such as Allard J2s, AC Bristols, various Lotii and other interesting cars passed through or, sometimes stayed.

We always had an interesting group of people visiting and one day in walked a rather hippie looking fellow-beard, long hair etc but as soon as he started talking about the cars we knew we were in the company of a very informed enthusiast. When he claimed to have two Porsche 906s AND a 907 we really took notice! He pointed outside to where his 2.7 RS sat at the curbside. He offered to show me the cars so I leapt into my works replica Healey 3000 and off we went to the rather expensive neighbourhood of West Vancouver where he lived.

The man's name was Ted Rowbotham and in his garage I found:

906--126 Sold new to Dr Hans Kunis of Switzerland who won the 1966 Swiss hillclimb championship with it Ted assured me. The car was fitted with a spyder body similiar to a Chevron B19 but the engine and chassis appeared original.

906-130 Sold new to Prince Ferdinand von Bayern in Spain. Alex Soler-Roig won the 1967 Spanish National Championship with it. The car then passed to Carlos Santos in Portugal who was national champion with the car in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971 in Portugal, Angola and Mozambique Ted claimed! The car won races at Spa, the Nurburgring, Clermont-Ferrand and won the Temporada series in S. America winning Santos the Porsche Cup. When I examine the car it had it's original engine, chassis, transaxle and only required the removal of flairs on the rear arches to be original.

907-027 Works car driven by Siffert and Herman took pole position in the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch but retired with wheel bearing failure. The car was very original and Ted hoped to have Milt Mintner race it.

The cars languished in West Vancouver for a while untill a domestic dispute caused the two 906s to come up for sale (I nearly got one...) and then when Ted had left the area his now ex-wife sold off the 907 with my friend and his shop acting as the broker.

Ted Rowbotham claimed he had bought the cars in Portugal in a series of manoevers that involved bribing government officials, a revolution, unmarked trucks on dark nights etc, etc. Ted missed buying a 250F for 3000 pounds apparently!"

This prompted the following response from the then owner [2005]:

Hi David,
I was idly browsing the web last night looking for any more information on my 906, typed in Porsche 906-130 and up popped Atlas F1 Bulletin Board - Porsche 906s & 907 in Vancouver. Now I had been told that it went from Portugal to a guy called Peter Price in Vancouver, so I opened the site and was very excited when I read your comments, as I know nothing about its time in Canada. I have actually been to Portugal and met Carlos Santos. He does not speak very much English, but his son Carlos Filipé Santos does. The son still races Porsches and they own a Porsche dealership in Oporto. I was taken to their home in Oporto and was able to look through the father's leather bound racing scrap books. I also met with the mechanic who worked on the 906 when Carlos was racing it. I also heard about the Portuguese Carnation Revolution and the fact that they sold the 906 and the 907, during this period, to someone in Canada called Peter Price. It seems from your comments that this wasn't quite correct. There also seems to be some confusion over the first owner. I do not think he was a Prince, but just Ferdinand of Bavaria. I am also not sure why it went straight to him and not through the Spanish Importer. So far, I can only find one mention of him racing the car. Apparently there was no Porsche Importer in Portugal so all Porsches for Portugal had to go through the Spanish Importer. From Canada the car went to Ron Armour and I attach a picture of it at Monterey, presumably when he owned it before it was bought by Sam Yagi.
I would love to have anymore details or pictures you might have about the car. It seems from your comments that it was converted back to a proper 906 before it went to Canada. Is this correct? Do you know anymore about this Ted Rowbotham? Who was Peter Price? Any snippets of information would be gratefully received, however trivial you may think they are.
Carlos Santos was Portuguese GT Champion only three times in the 906, in 1969, 1970 and 1971.
I have not been able to find any confirmation that Alex Soler Roig won the 1967 Spanish National Championship with the car. I am also unable to find that the car won races at Spa, the Nurburgring or Clermont-Ferrand, or even competed at these circuits. I can also find nothing about the fact that it won the Temporada series in S. America winning Santos the Porsche Cup.
The car is presently undergoing a complete restoration in Florida as, although it was supposed to have been restored by Ron Armour and had done nothing since then, it was in very race weary condition.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Kind regards
Bill

I notice on You tube there is a video of 906/130 being started after a very long period of sitting. Is this video in the same shop as your photos?