Porsche 910 at 1967 Targa Florio

Successor of the Porsche 906

The Porsche 910 was a purpose built race car based on the Porsche 906. The main difference to the 906 is the use of 13 inch wheels and tyres as in Formula 1, plus a single central nut instead of the 5 nuts as in a road car. This made the car not suitable for street use, but it saved time during the pit stops. Overall, the Porsche 910 was lighter, shorter, quicker and more nimble than the 906.

The Porsche 910 was first entered in mid 1966, starting with the hill climb from Sierre to Crans-Montana in Switzerland. As engines, either the reliable 2000cc 6-cylinder with 200 hp or the 2200cc 8-cylinder with up to 270 hp were used.

Porsche 910 and the Targa Florio

The Porsche 910 was raced for about two years by the factory, and quite successful during that time. The main class rivals, the Ferrari Dino 206P, were mostly beaten now, but overall victories on fast tracks against the more powerful Ford GT40 and Ferrari Prototypes were still not hope for – yet. On twistier ones like the Targa Florio, another victory was expected though, and the Porsche 910s dutifully delivered a 1-2-3 win in 1967. The winning car was the car seen on the featured picture, bearing number 228 and driven by Rolf Stommelen and Paul Hawkins. Porsche 910 ( number 174) finished 2nd with Leo Cella and Giampiero Biscaldi at the wheel. The podium was completed by Jochen Neerpasch and Vic Elford.

Porsche 910 Udo Schutz 1967 1000KM Nurburgring
After the race: Udo Schütz and his winning No. 17 car. (C) Porsche

At the 1000km Nurburgring in 1967, as fleet of 6 factory cars were entered in an attempt to score the first overall win in Porsche’s home event. Two of the three 8-cylinders broke, and the remaining one finished 4th. The three 6-cylinders were more succesful.  A 1-2-3 victory brought Porsche its first outright win in a third major event of the World Sportscar Championship for Porsche, after the 1956 Targa Florio and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1960. Winners of the 1967 1000km Nurburgring were Udo Schütz and Joe Buzzetta, 2nd Paul Hawkins and Gerhard Koch and 3rd Jochen Neerpasch and Vic Elford. To make that victory even more glorious, the Porsche 910 8 cylinder that survived the race finished in 4th position with Gerhard Mitter and Lucien Bianchi. The winning Porsche 910 ( 910-107) now resides in the Collier Museum ( Revvs Institute)  in Florida.

In hill climbing, the career of the short and light open-top 910 “Bergspyder” version with its 8-cylinder continued, winning the 1967 and 1968 European championships. At the hill climb of Ollon-Villars, which counted towards the World Sportscar Championship in 1967, the 910 even scored a 1-2, with Gerhard Mitter and Rolf Stommelen beating Herbert Mand in his big V12-Ferrari P.