Porsche 550
Encyclopedia
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
produced by Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
from 1953-1956.
Inspired by the Porsche 356
Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 was the company's first production automobile. It was a lightweight and nimble handling rear-engine rear-wheel-drive 2 door sports car available in hardtop coupe and open configurations. Design innovations continued during the years of manufacture, contributing to its motorsports...
which was created by Ferry Porsche, and some spyder
Roadster
A roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...
prototypes built and raced by Walter Glöckler starting in 1951, the factory decided to build a car designed for use in auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
. The model Porsche 550 Spyder was introduced at the 1953 Paris Auto Show. The 550 was very low to the ground, in order to be efficient for racing. In fact, former German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racer Hans Herrmann
Hans Herrmann
Hans Herrmann is a former Formula One and Sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany.In F1, he participated in 19 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on August 2, 1953...
drove it under closed railroad crossing gates during the 1954 Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....
.
The 550 / 1500RS or Spyder became known as the "Giant Killer". The later 1956 evolution version of the model, the 550A, which had a lighter and more rigid spaceframe chassis, gave Porsche its first overall win in a major sports car racing
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
event, the 1956 Targa Florio
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973...
.
Its successor from 1957 onwards, the Porsche 718
Porsche 718
The Porsche 718 is an open-cockpit racing car build by Porsche between 1957 and 1962.The 718 was a development of the already successful 550A with improvements being made to the body work and suspension. The new front frame resembled the letter K if viewed from the front and this led to the car...
, commonly known as the RSK was even more successful, scoring points in Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
as late as 1963. The Spyder variations continued through the early 1960's, the RS 60 and RS 61. A descendant of the Porsche 550 is generally considered to be the Porsche Boxster
Porsche Boxster
The Porsche Boxster is a mid-engined roadster built by Porsche. The Boxster is Porsche's first road vehicle to be originally designed as a roadster since the 550 Spyder....
S 550 Spyder; the Spyder name was effectively resurrected with the RS Spyder
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder is a racing car designed by Porsche to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 racing. The car takes its name from the legendary 550 Spyder of the 1950s...
Le Mans Prototype.
The Porsche 550 "Little Bastard" numbered 130 (serial number 550-0055) is best known for being the car in which James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
was killed on September 30, 1955.
Replicas
AC Cobra
The AC Cobra, also known colloquially as the Shelby Cobra in North America, is an Anglo-American sports car that was produced during the 1960s.-History and development:...
and Lotus Seven
Lotus Seven
The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car produced by Lotus Cars between 1957 and 1972....
. Several companies have sprung up in the last 25 years, some of which build near-exact replicas from the ground up, including spaceframes built to exacting specs from Porsche blueprints. Some of the companies that make replicas are Boulder Speedster, Chuck Beck Motorsports, Chamonix do Brasil, Auto Classics, Thunder Ranch, Holmes Motor Company, Le Mans 550 Spyder, Vintage Spyders, and Alloycars, which specializes in exact aluminum re-creations from blueprints.