I imprinted on these when they came out- I was 10. Though they are the most delicate-looking of cars, the factory team won at Targa Florio in 1966, hence the 911 "Targa". The 906 took the 911's engine, lightened and tuned by the racing department to weigh less than the old 4 cam Carrera. The 906 version made twice as much hp as the mass-market car. 50 906s were sold to customers and at least one was picked up at the Porsche factory, driven to Le Mans as engine break-in, and run in the 24 hour race there. For a racing car they are durable, efficient and uncomplicated, but you have to remove the engine from the car to change spark plugs. The only luggage space is the passenger's seat, footwell, and the ACO-mandated "suitcase" volumes in the back. Stylistically and mechanically the 906 is an improvisation- the 15 inch wheels and the moving parts of the suspension are 904 Carrara GTS parts, by economic necessity. The flat top and sides of the cross sections are unrefined. Drivers complained that they couldn't see around or over the front fenders. (910, 907 and 908 would have 13" wheels…) The yellow tinted (?) cover over the engine was more a romantic hold-over than the 904's flat back window and 'sails' And yet, it still moves for me. What a pretty car! The tension between swoopy profile and square cross section, the all curved green house and the all square opaque body, the saw-kerf-like openings for the completely faired headlights versus the protruding, round tail-lamp assemblies, with cary the only shiny trim on any part of the body… This is a visually stimulating, easily identifiable, car. It looked modern then, it looks modern today. The austere German style calls up more space-ship/rocket plane/warbird purposefulness than a room full of Lamborghinis and post-"E" type Jaguars. The wedge shape at the center of the body recalls and puts a halo over the 901/902 aka 911/912 And yet, like a Paul Simon song, it seems so simple, so un-artful. 06d11_DSC_0470

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

I can dim the lights and sing you songs full of sad things
We can do the tango just for two
I can serenade and gently play on your heart strings
Be your valentino just for you

Ooh love - ooh loverboy
What're you doin' tonight, hey boy
Set my alarm, turn on my charm
That's because I'm a good old-fashioned lover boy

Ooh let me feel your heartbeat (Grow faster, faster)
Ooh ooh can you feel my love heat
Come on and sit on my hot-seat of love
And tell me how do you feel right after-all
I'd like for you and I to go romancing
Say the word - your wish is my command

Ooh love - ooh loverboy
What're you doin' tonight, hey boy
Write my letter
Feel much better
And use my fancy patter on the telephone

When I'm not with you
I think of you always
(I miss those long hot summer nights)
I miss you
When I'm not with you
Think of me always
Love you - love you

Hey boy where do you get it from
Hey boy where did you go ?
I learned my passion in the good old
Fashioned school of loverboys

Dining at the Ritz we'll meet at nine precisely
One two three four five six seven eight nine o' clock
I will pay the bill, you taste the wine
Driving back in style, in my saloon will do quite nicely
Just take me back to yours that will be fine (Come on and get it)

Ooh love, (There he goes again just like a good old-fashioned lover boy)
Ooh loverboy
What're you doin' tonight, hey boy
Everything's all right
Just hold on tight
That's because I'm a good old-fashioned fashioned lover boy

--

Queen, do album A Day At The Races, de 1976. Quem tiver a oportunidade de escutar essa musica, escute. E das minhas preferidas, digamos que ela estara no meu top 5 Queen, quando eu tiver um :p