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Porsche 550
Overview
Manufacturer	Porsche
Production	1953–1956 90 produced
Assembly	Germany:Stuttgart
Designer	Erwin Komenda
Body and chassis
Class	Sports car
Body style	2-doorcoupé 2-doorspyder
Layout	RMR layout
Powertrain
Engine	1.5L (1,498 cc) DOHCflat four engine
Transmission	4-speedmanual 5-speedmanual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,100 mm (82.7 in)
Length	3,600 mm (141.7 in)
Width	1,610 mm (63.4 in)
Height	980 mm (38.6 in)
Curb weight	approximately 550 kg (1,212 lbs)
Chronology
Successor	Porsche 718

ThePorsche 550 is a racingsports car produced byPorsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is amid-engine car with an air-cooled four-cylinder engine, following the precedent of the 1948Porsche 356/1 prototype designed byFerry Porsche.  The mid-engine racing design was further developed with Porsche's718 model; its advantages led to it becoming the dominant design for top-level racing cars by the mid-1960s.

The Porsche 550 has a solid racing history; it won theNürburgringEifel Race in May 1953, the first race it entered. The 550 Spyder usually finished in the top three in its class. Each Spyder was designed and customized to be raced.

A 1958 Porsche 550A Spyder sold at auction in 2018 byBonhams for $5,170,000 (£4,115,763); it was the highest price for a 550 at auction.^[1]

The Type 550/550 A is powered by thePorsche 547 engine, or "Fuhrmann Engine" after Dr.Ernst Fuhrmann,^[2] an all aluminium 1,498 cc (1.5 L; 91.4 cu in) (85 x 66 mm)naturally aspiratedair-cooled4 cylinder boxer engine, thus similar to the Volkswagen design. Itsvalvetrain is quite different, though, as it usesdouble overhead camshafts on each cylinder bank, driven by vertical shafts, actuating 2 valves percylinder. The engine is equipped with twin 2-barrelSolex 40 PII sandcastedcarburetors anddual ignition. In its first version it produced 110 PS (108 hp; 81 kW) at 6200 rpm and a maximumtorque of 121 N⋅m (89 lb⋅ft) at 5000 rpm.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

The engine of the 550 is mounted in front of the rear axle making it aRear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. This gives it a more balanced weight distribution, and allows for largely neutral handling. On the other hand, the low mass moment of inertia about the vehicle's vertical axis can lead to a sudden, difficult to control rotation of the car.Ferdinand Porsche had pioneered this design layout with theAuto UnionGrand Prix car of the 1930s.

The first 550 had a fully synchronized 4-speed gearbox. Starting in 1956, a 5-speed gearbox was used, but its first gear only had to start and (like the reverse gear) had to be placed over a barrier and not synchronized. Excessive slip to the drive wheels in corners was prevented by alimited slip differential.^[11]

Inspired by the original "No.1" mid-enginedPorsche 356/1 which was created by Ferry Porsche, as well asSpyder prototypes built and raced byWalter Glöckler starting in 1951, the factory decided to build a mid-engine car designed for use inauto racing.^[12] The Porsche 550 Spyder was introduced at the 1953Paris Auto Show.^[13] The 550 was very low to the ground, in order to be efficient for racing. In fact, during the1954 Mille Miglia,GermanFormula One racerHans Herrmann drove it under closed railroad crossing gates.

The first three hand-built prototypes came in a coupé with a removable hardtop. The first (550-03) raced as a roadster at the Nurburgring Eifel Race in May 1953 winning its first race. Later that year the 550 took class wins in the24 Hours of Le Mans and theCarrera Panamericana; the Carrera Panamericana win was commemorated with theCarrera branding for later Porsches with performance options. From 1953 to 1957, the Porsche works team evolved and raced the 550 with outstanding success and was recognized wherever it appeared. The silverWerks cars were painted with spears of different colors on the rear fenders to aid recognition from the pits.Hans Herrmann’s particularly famous ‘red-tail’ car No 41 went from victory to victory. For such a limited number of 90 prototype and customer builds, the 550 Spyder was always in a winning position, usually finishing in the top three results in its class. During its tenure with the works team it was challenged only twice among the smaller cars at the1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a 1.5-literOSCA MT4 finishing ahead but disqualified in the 1954 race and a 1.1 literLotus Eleven trailing the 1.5 liter winning 550 by one lap in the 1957 race. The 1956 version, the 550A with a lighter and more rigidspaceframe chassis, gave Porsche its first overall win in a majorsports car racing event, the 1956Targa Florio, not a part of the World Championship that year, though. During this era Porsche was the first European car manufacturer to get race sponsorship for North American events, which was throughFletcher Aviation, who Porsche was working with to design a light aircraft engine, and laterTelefunken andCastrol.

The 550 was also raced by privateers, who kept the type in competition after the works team had moved on to the 718 in 1957. The 550 was both a road and track car and it was common for privateers to drive it to the race track, race it, then drive it home. One 550 was purchased by Yugoslav leaderJosip Broz Tito for Milivoje Božić, with which he finished third in the 1000-km Supercortemaggiore Grand Prix atMonza Circuit with only one set of tyres in 1958 before winning his class in the 1960European Hill Climb Championship; the car was sold toPrada in 1961.^[14]

Each Spyder was assigned a number for the race and had gumballs positioned on doors, front and rear, to be seen from any angle. On some 550s owned by privateers, a crude hand written number scrawled in house paint usually served the purpose. Cars with high numbers assigned such as 351, raced in the 1000 mile Mille Miglia, where the number represented the start time of 3.51am. On most occasions, numbers on each Spyder would change for each race entered, which today helps identify each 550 by chassis number and driver in period black and white photos.

Its successor from 1957 onwards, thePorsche 718, commonly known as the RSK was even more successful. The Spyder variations continued through the early 1960s, the RS 60 and RS 61.

ThePorsche Boxster S 550 Spyder is a modern mid-engined sports car that pays tribute to the 550; the Spyder name was effectively resurrected with theRS Spyder Le Mans Prototype.

One of the first 90 Porsche 550s built wasJames Dean's, numbered 130 (VIN 550-0055), which was involved in a collision at the CA Rte. 46/41 Cholame Junction on September 30, 1955, resulting in Dean's death.^[15]

As Dean was finishing upGiant's filming in September 1955, he suddenly traded in his 356 Porsche Super Speedster at Competition Motors, for a new 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder on September 21, and immediately entered the upcoming Salinas Road Race event scheduled for October 1 and 2.^[16]

A contemporary of Dean, the rising actorTom Pittman also died prematurely when he crashed his Spyder over a cliff in 1958.^[17]

The 550 is among the most frequently reproduced classic automobiles.^[18]

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Points	WCC
1957	Dr Ing F. Porsche KG	RS550	PorscheF4	?		ARG	MON	500	FRA	GBR	GER	PES	ITA				N/A	N/A
					Edgar Barth						12*
					Umberto Maglioli						Ret*
	Ecurie Maarsbergen	RS550	PorscheF4	D	Carel Godin de Beaufort						Ret*
1958	Ecurie Maarsbergen	RS550	PorscheF4	D		ARG	MON	NED	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	MOR	N/A	N/A
					Carel Godin de Beaufort								Ret*

* Indicates aFormula Two entry

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