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llllilffiillillluillill llllll re FRENCH FL By Peter Mills

Roostertails of spray follow the white But not its notorietY hooked on , with a definite 914-6 GT as it flies down the buring the 1970 24ilours of Le Mans, weakness for 914-6 GTs. careful right-hand edge of the Mulsanne Straight Solar Productions was filming the race Because of his avid interest, at 150 miles per hour. lt is 1970 at Le for the Steve McQueen movie, "Le research and ability to sift the wheat Mans. June monsoons have made Mans." ln addition to placing camera from chaff when others offer advice, he purchases, his course conditions for the 24-hour endur- crews around the circuit, a has parlayed trades and ance test dreadful. Many leading race race car, with three cameras on board, own reconstruction work on various cars have slipped off the asphalt and was entered to obtain on-track footage. Porsches into a collection anyone would Porsches: have shortened or narrowed themselves Sonauto's 914-6 GT survived the cut- envy. He currently has five against guardrails lining the circuit. ting room floor and appears in the movie -the Sonauto 914-6 GT; Of 24 Porsches that started, only '12 five times. -one of the BF Goodrich 924 GTR finished. But what a finish it was! Boththewhite Son- Porsches won virtually every class and auto and yellow/ category the white-with-black{rim green BP versions of . . .914-6 Gf rs flying again. Sonauto/British- Petroleum 914-6 GT, the car have been averaging 99 miles per hour, tookthe GT the subjects of 1/ Only, t trs time its wheels are production-based class and sixth over- 43rd-scale Pitmodels. jet all. The winning averaged When the jumbo not turning: lts chassis ts 119 miles per hourforthe day-long race. with the Porsche Almost two decades later, the same packed aboard landed secured to a metal Pallet 914-6 GT is flying again. Only, this time in LosAngeles,South- its wheels are not turning; its chassis is ern Californian Mike inside a 747 cargo iet bound secured to a metal pallet inside a 747 Hagen, who had been Los Angeles lnternational cargo jet bound for Los Angeles lnter- tracking the 9'14 foryears tor national from Europe. before being able to lrom Europe. Its races are over. ln fact, the 9'14-6 gain ownership of it, competed in only one major event fol- could hardly wait to lowing Le Mans:the 1970 Tour de France, take possession of in which it also finished sixth overall. lt his prize. wore the yellow and green colors of its However, a problem develoPed at turbos driven by Schurti, Miller and major sponsor, BP, for that series of that point. Let Hagen tell it: "Customs Bedard at Le Mans in'82; races held at various French tracks. held it for eight days. lt looked too much -an SCCA-prepared C-Production Apparently, Sonauto (France's d istrib- like a stock (production) car. They were 914-6; that he converted to GT utor of Porsche automobiles) planned afraid of getting burned (by someone -a1970 914-6 to enter the 914 at Le Mans in '71, and driving it on a public road). We finally specs for time{rialing; and father, Jack had the car repainted to its originalfac- convinced them with our documenta- -a 9'115 that he and his tory white-mit-swartz scheme. Plans tion that we weren't going to drive it, Hagen, co-own. changed - that year 91'ts were becom- except on a race track." Mike Hagen did not deplete a fortune ing more popular due to their larger When I first spoke with Hagen on the to obtain these cars - he didn't have engine displacement and Sonauto's telephone, I wasn't sure whatto make of one to start with. He is an average work- - job BP 914-6 GT was left at the bench when him: Was he an investor? Or a collec- ing stiff with a long-hour involving the transporter was loaded. lts major tor? Nothing in our initial conversation hazardous materials. He handles envir- league racing career was over. prepared me for the fact that he is onmentally dangerous wastes, trains Excellence Magazine DECEMBER 75 others to do the same or simply to rec- ordered from Peter Gregg's Brumos Mason put the rollcage in." This car has years, ognize what is dangerous before it's too Porsche in the same citY. been worked on over the ensuing late. lt is a multi-faceted, interesting, Hagen relates: "l went to Brumos and but is not yet finished. As you will see dangerous occupation. With his work, it talked to Buddy KennedY there. He shortly, Hagen is to be excused for the is a wonder that he found the time to didn't seem to know anything about my delay in completing the C-Prod 914. just even fiddle with one Porsche. order, but he said that there were some He was getting warmed up in this How he gathered his current collec- parts stored out backthat might be what race car buy/trade business. As it 'out market was beginning to tion - which he keeps scattered in var- I was lookin' for. When he said turned out, the ious shops and garages throughout the back,' he meant it. We walked out in a warm up as well. also L.A. Basin, depending on what stage of field behind the dealership to a small Car broker Kerry Morse, who men- restoration the vehicle is in is a tale of building sort of like a garage and deals in parts for exotic cars, first - - - the its own. Buddy unlocked the door. tioned the possible availability of Hagen's sister-in-law bought a 9.14-6 "There were all sorts of GT conver- Sonauto -6 GT about 1981. "Kerry the new in 1970. By 1974, she and her lrish sion parts just gathering dust. Buddy As Hagen recalls, thought might want a setter were looking for something with a said they just wanted to get rid of them. I owner (of the Sonauto 914) little more room; an Opel Manta as it made an offer and wrote a check for (Porsche) 906, so a trade might be in turned out, However, the Buick dealer everything. lt cost me more to air f reight the offing. I'd heard about a 906 for sale a was only willing to give her $1,300 (l)for the parts out to Cali{ornia than it cost to in Sacramento, so I decided to take the Signal Orange Porsche with primer buy the inventory." look at it. got car spots, so Mike bought it for $2,000. That As insurance, and to provide parts to "The guy in Sacramento the was his first Porsche. others, Hagen made fiberglass molds from Garretson's, who bought it from a Almost as soon as he got the car, he from the bumpers obtained from Bru- Hong Kong resident who raced it there, began competing it in Porsche Owners mos. Hagen reports a strange turn of and previously, in GermanY." "l Club time-trial events. To improve the events: "The 914-6 GT that was recently Hagen continues, checked the car 914-6's handling and performance, resurrected - Peter Gregg's old car out and decided to buy it: parts plus'car' Hagen purchased part of a GT conver- found in Mexico - has reproductions with a 'splashed'908 body on it. lt was sion kit: fiberglass trunk and engine- (bumpers) from my molds made from ugly, with a capital 'U'. lt took me five percent the deck lids, fender flares and oil lines. He Gregg's original 914-6 GT spares!" years to collect about 98 of quit racing the car in 1977 while waiting ln 1980, Hagen purchased a partially parts needed to restore it. The market jump car for parts. Finally, he planned atripto visit constructed C-Production 914-6 that started to about then, and going to be relatives in Jacksonville, Florida, so that had the rare,6-piece chassis reinforce- restoration (for the 906)was he could also see what the holdup was ment kit. "Some of the 914-6 race cars $100,000." was on the parts, some of which had been had the kit, some didn'1," he says. "John The six-figure restoration cost

76 Excellence Magazine DECEMBER wait for probably more than Hagen could afford, ln early 1988, Hagen Placed the ex- I had to not-so-PatientlY re-Plumb some gas lines although he did not say this to me. With Fitzgerald 935 on display at the L.A. Hagen to before dark set in, in orderto shoot pho- his ultimate goal stillthe Sonauto 914, a Auto Show. "l was having trouble stor- Fortunately for both our trade would make much more sense ing it. lt was so wide, I had to move two tos at the track. he performed the work with no to spend money he might not have cars out of a shop to fit it in." The auto sanities, than and I finally got the photo- on a car he reallY did not want. show proved to be an excellent placeto difficulty ln the meantime, the fellow who, in "store" the Porsche. "A guy called up a graphy- completed. When I earliertook pictures of the 914- 1981, might have been interested in trad- month after the show," saYs Hagen, Air France's cargo terminal at LAX, ing the 914 for a 906 had long since "and we started to put together a deal 6 at get- there was very little time to examine the divested himself of the Sonauto Porsche. that led to my trading the 935 and closely. Atthe Monte- By now (1986), there was a collector ting two race cars (the Sonauto 914 and Sonauto machine circuit there was ample time to who approached Hagen about trading the BFG 924 FTR turbo) in return." rey race the Porsche over. I was amazed at for his 906 Porsche race car. A three- Hagen is vague about how the deal look how stock the car aPPears to be. way deal was struck:The buYer would was put together, excePt to saY that no rollbar inside the purchase the J. David (Dominelli)/fitz- Kerry Morse helped forge it and that it There is Pas- Hagen gerald Racing 935 K4 MobY Dick involved a series of trades. The only senger compartment, although there are holes and plates Porsche and trade it to Hagen for the other information available indicated advises that be installed. Porsche "parts-in-a-box" 906. that the Sonauto 914-6 GT had been so that a bar can that the rollbar built into the Suddenly, Hagen had a "real" car to displayed by its German owner in a insisted was stronger than a racing bar. time{rial, Plus spares:three body sets museum in Sinsheim, West GermanY, roadster at Le Mans, the addition of a and molds; 35 wheels and tires; brand ". . . right next to an ugly, boxy Kremer ln 1970, was not required! (How things new, hand-cut rain tires; and a bunch 935 (on one side) and some Mer- rollbar changed...for the better...safety- more pieces and parts too numerous lo cedes-Benz two-door rally car on the have in two decades.) mention. other." wise, but definitely of benefitto "l ran the car twice (at time trials)"' Regardless of how the deal was Put Out of sight, the safety and handling of the 9'14-6 GT' says Hagen. "Afterdriving an 800 horse- together, Hagen is finally a happy, if factory-welded, six-piece chassis power automobile, nothing else seems busy, man. When I tried to meet with him is the kit that strengthens the very exciting. I remember that it had a to get pictures of the 914-6, he was up to reinforcement from the rollbar back to points terrible turning radius. My van has a his elbows in alligators trying to get the unibody the rear axles. better turning radius. On one turn at Sonauto and BFG race cars readY for directly over According to Hagen, this 9'14-6 was Riverside Raceway, it was all I could do June's Porsche Parade "Porsches at Le pulled the assembly line and race.- to try to break the (spooled) back end Mans" time{rialfeature at Laguna Seca off by Porsche technicians. lt loose so I wouldn't go straight into the Raceway. Although stretched thin, he irrepared assigned to French Porsche dis- dirt. lt ate turbos. That's one of the rea- succeeded in racing both cars in was tributor Sonauto for racing before the sons I stopped running it." separate heats during the event.

78 Excellence Magazine DECEMBER

il from car left the factory. Little more than that cial. The rear trailing arms are "boxed" each cylinder head bank. Hidden is known, "The factory records are not to prevent suspension flex, and high- view are the 906 camshafts, Pistons very detailed," claims Hagen. pressure oil lines stretch forward to a and cylinder barrels. The car was equipped with a 2 liter, front-mounted engine oil cooler (hid- The car's ride level seems high bY saYs 210 DIN horsepower /25 den behind the f ront bumper). The front today's standards. That is due, flat six race engine couPled to a 5- engine mount and the transmission Hagen, to 1970 rules that stated GT to speed, syncromesh transaxle with a 40 mount in the rear are reinforced. category automobiles had to be able percent limited slip differential. Gear Beautifully bent and welded exhaust drive over, and clear, a box B0 cm x 80 x 4,0 ratios for transmission and ring and pin- header pipes (sans heater boxes) cm x 10 mm tall (31.5 in. x 31.5 in. ion could be changed dePending on underneath the mid-mounted motor are in). "The areas they had to watch were race course requirements. a giveaway that this engine has more wherethe suspension parts hung down," Although the GT's flared fenders are kick than the standard 125 horsepower he adds. how he succeeded in made of steel, many other bodY Parts powerplant. Checking out the upper I asked Mike were replaced with lightweight fiber- engine compartment by lifting the deck, his quest to obtain the creme de la glass components - specifically the reveals a pair of three-barrel 46 IDA 3 creme of 914-6 race cars, front trunk lid, the rear deck lids cover- C/3 Cl Weber carburetors, one for Mike credits friends for much of his good fortune. "l got good advice. I did lots of homework." And then he adds, "lt's cheaper than a jet boat!" "You really have to do Your home- work. When you're interested in a race car, use these guidelines to get an idea as to the car's value: 1) How many were made? (Rare is best.)2)Who drove it? 3) Where was it driven? 4) Did it run Le Mans? 5) Did it place? "Who drove the car is not as imPor- tant as where it was raced," he claims. "Le Mans is very important (to a car's value) at this time." Maybe it is a moot point as to whether or not an average working stiff will be able now, or in the future - to dupli- cate -the wheelin' and dealin'that net- ted Hagen the car he was after. Maybe it's enough to know that one man suc- ceeded in making his dream a reality. And certainly,others willfollow. But only a very few "others." Those willing to put in the effort, the research, the plain hard work necessary to reach their objective.

ing the engine and rear storage area, the front and rear bumpers. Plexiglas was substituted for glass in the rear window. An upholstered racing bucket was installed for the driver. By going to this much work to reduce weight, Porsche engineers and mech- anics were able to trim 100 pounds from the 9't4-6 GT's normal2,070 Pounds. Even full of gas and fluids (race ready), the racing GT was almost 100 Pounds lighter than its street counterpart. Except for the obvious sponsor decals and race numbers, there is very little exterior evidence that this 914-6 is special. Underneath there is more evidence to the practiced eye that this car is spe-

80 Excellence Magazine DECEMBER