![]() Porsche 550 Spyder Chassis #550-0017Ĭhassis #550-0017 was completed on 19th January 1955 as a white spyder with blue darts and beige interior. It was sold to Josef Jeser and was raced in April 1955 at the Solitude Rally (and won). 550-0016 was finished with blue darts along its rounded rear fenders and a blue vinyl interior. The spyder was mated with the latest 1498cc type 547 quad cam engine design which started with the new numbering sequence of 90001. ![]() It was the third car to be delivered with 550-0018 delivered five days before. With an additional three bodies in production by December, 550-0016 was not completed until 20th January 1955. In many ways this car was still a prototype in nature because it was the first production car built by Wendler on its own frame, so they had to develop tooling and production techniques. Porsche 550 Spyder Chassis #550-0016Ĭhassis #550-0016 was the first production Porsche 550 Spyder and went into production in September 1954. The first ‘production’ 550 was assigned a 4-digit chassis number, 550-0016 with the last ‘documented’ spyder as 550-0090. Porsche assigned build numbers to each of the 550/1500RS cars built (RS short of rennsport which translates to ‘racing’ in English), with the prototype starting with 2-digit chassis numbers, 550-01 through to 550-15. For a full in-depth review of each chassis number please take a look at, we got most of this content from that wonderful site. Given that only 90 Porsche 550 Spyder’s were made, we decided to dive into each chassis and tell you a brief story about each variant and chassis number. Only 13 spyder-bodied prototypes were made ( Chassis #550-03 and #550-15) until regular production began in 1954 of the Porsche RS Spyder. ![]() These were quite successful on faster circuits, but the roadster was later preferred as a more saleable car. Two of these were fitted with removable hardtops ( Chassis #550-01 and #550-02) that transformed the diminutive roadster into a sleek coupe. One year before Porsche started production of the legendary RS Spyder, they experimented several unique 550 Prototypes. “We were certified sports-car nuts,” wrote John Jerome nostalgically, “and we needed something to believe in.” The Spyder kept the faith.Porsche 550 Spyder Chassis Numbers & Stories Chassis #550-0016 to #550-0090 Demanding to be driven well, these Porsches provided intensive course work for an entire generation of drivers who graduated from Spyders to stardom: von Trips, von Frankenburg, Barth, Moss, Bonnier, Behra, Gendebien, Ginther, Gurney, Holbert, Jennings, Gregory, Penske. “The greatest long-distance racer in the world” was Ken Miles’ assessment of the Spyder. The 1.5-liter Spyder won the Targa Florio outright, defeating a trio of 3.5 Ferraris, three 300SL Mercedes and a gaggle of Maseratis. ![]() But for sheer audacity it didn’t compare with the trip to Sicily in 1956 for which Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein took just one 550A, driver Maglioli and two mechanics. ![]() Spyder man Ken Miles said the difference was “almost unbelievable.” Still, if the predecessor 550 confused drivers in a turn (one couldn’t be sure where the car would end up) and the successor RSK scared them to death (the tail breaking away viciously without warning), winning remained a constant with all Spyders.Ĭlass victories for the 550A were so commonplace they don’t bear mention – except perhaps for the last Mille Miglia in 1957 where Umberto Maglioli’s 88.31 mph average, 5th overall and 1st in class was Porsche’s best ever in that Italian classic. But impeccable handling was the 550A’s long suit. These benefits in turn permitted another 60 pounds to be taken off the all aluminum body – all of which made a considerably faster car. Chassis weight was cut by up to 95 pounds and rigidity increased. But whereas the 550 had a ladder chassis, the 550A had a space frame, which made a huge difference. Ernest Fuhrmann-designed air-cooled flat four that combined gear and shaft driven double overhead cams, roller bearing crankshaft, twin ignition, dry sump lubrication – and which, to the cognoscenti, was already approaching legendary status. The 550A carried on the Giant Killer image begun by the 550, but did so with better manners. Despite its designation, this Spyder was a brand-new model. ![]()
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