1966 Porsche 906

If the new owner knew that 906.016 was a weird but very real chassis number, and that it had both factory development and extensive race history, then he had the unfair advantage

When introduced in 1966 the Porsche 906—marketed generally as the “Carrera 6”—combined a multi-tubular space-frame chassis with strikingly low and curvaceous lightweight fiberglass body paneling aimed at minimum aerodynamic drag. It marked Porsche’s response to new FIA governing body regulations introduced for the 1966 season, which specified a minimum production requirement of 50 identical units before a model could qualify for homologation within the new Group 4 Sports class.

According to a fax from factory customer racing director and former works driver Jürgen Barth, Porsche 906 chassis 016 was originally a works test car and participated in the 1966 Le Mans test weekend, registered “S-XE37.” Barth goes on to list the first private owner as a “W. Bock” in Italy, who purchased the car on May 12, 1967.

Invoices with the car document its restoration and subsequent maintenance, and a report carried out on behalf of the current owner in...