Hi my name is Bob from Santa Barbara Ca I worked at Schneider Autohaus for over 20 then the dealer for 10 year I am new to 914 world I am Happy to say the #30 914-4 is still alive but it is not the same as when it raced I bought it from Jim at Schneider some 30 years ago who got it from Rod Harrison who bought it from Dwight. Rod raced IMSA way back then and bought a factory 914-6 to campaign he needed a back up car and converted the #30 car to look like his factory 914-6gt. I raced it in POC for over 15 years first with a 2.0 now 2.7 back then no one really knew what a Richie Gunther car was or cared the good new was I never got in any big accidents. How the car is now the body is 914 Sheridan 2.7 roll cage is like a 914-6 10in wheels 5 lug side shift transmission fiberglass front and rear hood doors bumpers fenders . My last race was at Laguna Seca where I hit a cone when the car looked like a 914-gt after that I changed the body to Sheridan and never painted it .I have been a Porsche mechanic all my life and was hoping to one day bring the car back to its glory at this time the car sits in front of my house and is turn key ready to race I will post picture when I get a chance cheers Bob

The 1970 Celebrity race cars were Ginther prepped 6's. Are they still around ?
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Who is talking you out of this?

Some people may recognize the stripes in the car with the completed cage. I understand this car is under a tarp outside the same owners shop in the pacific northwest. Who remembers the name of the autocross event they had in northern California on the street course?

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Didn't Ginther run 914-4s? I seem to remember a Panorama or Up-Fixen article explaining the changes they made to the cars for racing. Solex carbs, undercar sway bars, etc. I imagine I still have the article somewhere, though it must be buried back in my archives.

paul,

i found this googling around .....

Bob Hindson, from Kansas City, the proprietor of Hindson's Foreign Car Sales and Service, was already a successful racer before he moved to Datsun. Running in C Sedan, his immaculate #31 Mini was a regular sight on the National and Regional circuit and he twice took it to the American Road Race of Champions. At the 1966 event, after winning the MidWest divisional championshipc, Bob came within a second of winning the national championship. He exchanged the lead virtually every lap with Richard McDaniel, also racing a Mini, and led going into the last lap. Most agreed that the title should have been shared as this was the most exciting race of the weekend. McDaniel went on to win three national championships in C Sedan.

While racing the Mini, Bob also invested in a beautiful 1967.5 Datsun 2000 Roadster (see Gallery below). For the 1968 season he raced both cars, building on his previous success. A busy season culminated in an invitation to race both cars at that year's ARRC at Riverside. From the MidWest division, Bob qualified his Datsun alongside the Datsun 2000s of Dick Roberts and Doc Foerster (Pages coming soon). Unfortunately, Bob recorded a DNF with the Mini, although he faired a little better with his Datsun, placing 12th, two places behind Roberts.

Around this time, Bob was asked to sit on the committee that decided the SCCA's car classifications. The committee included Bob Sharp, Kas Kastner, (Triumph), Joe Huffaker (then MG, later Jensen-Healey) and other great names from the sport. There were apparently a number of full and frank committee meetings, each member having their own view on the class in which they, as well as their rivals, should compete.

Bob's success soon sparked interest from Porsche. The 914-6 had just been launched with mixed reaction from the US public, and Porsche-Audi was looking for some good PR. None other that Richie Ginther was asked to prepare six orange cars in his West Coast shop. Two cars went to each of three divisional teams for racing in C Production - Alan Johnson and Elliott Forbes-Robinson (later Datsun) raced two of the cars for Ginther himself. In the Southeast, Porsche racer Peter Gregg ran two cars for Pete Harrison and himself, and in the MidWest, Bob Hindson and Kendall Noah ran cars for veteran Porsche racer and Kansas shop owner Art Bunker.

It was mid-1969 when Pete Brock released Art Oehrli, his engine building guru, from BRE. Art had done some wonderful things with the Datsun 2000 roadster (U-20) engine and had also produced some major power increase in the 240Z. Art moved to Porsche and was given the task of developing the 914-6 engine. By the end of the 1970 season, he had squeezed 212hp from the 2-litre Porsche unit, sufficient to worry its main competition - the Datsun 240Z. Bob Hindson won the 1970 C Production title in the MidWest first time out, ahead of Kendall Noah (Porsche 914-6, 2nd) and BRE's John McComb (Datsun 240Z, 3rd). Bob was invited to the ARRC, along with six other 914-6s. Here, although Bob showed well, the best 914-6 finishes were 4th and 5th for Johnson and Forbes-Robinson, behind the Datsun Z cars of John Morton, Bob Sharp and John McComb.

Although factory sponsorship of the 914-6 was withdrawn for 1971, Bob continued with the car and won the MidWest title again that year. Bob Hindson went on to win no less than 13 divisional titles, with various Porsche machinery - perhaps Bob's greatest achievements were his two GTU wins at the Daytona 24 hours in 1976 and 1977.


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Bob Hindson Racing is still a major force in the MidWest, although Bob himself is now retired from the business. Bob's Porsche 914-6 is the only known survivor of the six race cars, and it was rebuilt by Bob himself in 1985.

The whereabouts of Bob's Datsun 2000 is sadly not known.

Rob Beddington