A superb and rare
photo of the very 1953 Porsche 550 Spyder. This was the
very
first Porsche 550 Spyder that was constructed, it bore Porsche
chassis / VIN number 550-001!
It was prepared for the 1953 24 Hours
of Le Mans.
It shows “the
Porsche that would participate in the 1953 24 Hour of Le Mans race; and would
be ridden during the race by German riders Helm
Glockler and Hans Hermann.
Engine: 1.5 L flat 4-cylinder boxer. Details: chassis number 550-001.”
The photographed Porsche was ridden by Helm Glockler
and Hans Hermann and finished the race in a magnificent 16TH place! It covered
a total of 247 laps in the 24 hours of racing. The car was entered for the race
by the Porsche factory.
The Porsche
550 Spyder was inspired by the smaller Porsche 356 Spyder which was
created and raced by Walter
Glöckler in 1951. The Porsche
factory specifically designed to build the 550 Spyder in car racing. The 550
was designed as a very low and aerodynamically efficient car. It was so low
that former German Formula One racer Hans Herrmann drove it under closed
railroad crossing gates during the 1954 Mille Miglia. The 550 became known as Spyder
or RS, and gave Porsche its first overall win in a major sports car racing
event, the 1956 Targa Florio. Its successor from 1957 onwards, the Porsche 718,
was even more successful, scoring points in Formula One as late as 1963. A descendant of the
Porsche 550 is generally considered to be the Porsche Boxster S 550 Spyder; the
Spyder name was effectively resurrected with the RS Spyder Le Mans Prototype.
The Porsche 550 "Little Bastard" is well known as the car in which James Dean
died. Interestingly, the 550
is amongst the most frequently reproduced classic automobiles, like the Shelby Cobra
and Lotus Seven. 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, Automotive Legends, Chamonix do Brasil, Thunder Ranch, and Vintage Spyders.
Professor Ferdinand Porsche
initially started the company called "Dr. ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" in 1931, with
main offices at Königstrasse in the center of Stuttgart. The company offered motor vehicle
development work and consulting, and did not initially build any cars under its
own name. One of the first assignments the new company received was from the
German government to design a car for the people, a "Volkswagen" in
German. The first Porsche, the Porsche 64, was developed in 1939 using many
components from the Volkswagen Beetle. After World War II, Ferdinand Porsche's
son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car because he could not find an
existing car that he would be interested in buying. The first models of what
was to become the 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria
and had aluminum bodywork: the modern Porsche company was born. The prototype
car was shown to German auto dealers, and when pre-orders reached a set
threshold, production was begun. Many regard the 356 as the first Porsche
simply because it was the first model sold by the fledgling company. Porsche
commissioned Zuffenhausen-based company Reutter Carosseri, which had previously
collaborated with Porsche on Volkswagen Beetle prototypes, to produce the 356's
steel body. Porsche constructed an assembly plant across the street from
Reutter Carosseri; that assembly plant is now known as Porschestrasse. The 356
was road certified in 1948. Not long afterwards, on January 30, 1951, Ferdinand
Porsche died from complications following a stroke. In post-war Germany
parts were generally in short supply, so the 356 automobile used components
from the Volkswagen Beetle including its engine, gearbox, and suspension. The
356, however, had several evolutionary stages, A, B, and C, while in production
and many VW parts were replaced by Porsche-made parts. The last 356s were
powered by entirely Porsche-designed engines. The sleek bodywork was designed
by Erwin Komenda who also had designed the body of the Beetle. Porsche's
signature designs have, from the beginning, featured air-cooled rear-engine
configurations (like the Beetle), rare for other car manufacturers, but
producing automobiles that are very well balanced. In 1964, after some success
in motor-racing, namely with the Porsche
550 Spyder, the company launched the Porsche 911 another air-cooled,
rear-engined sports car, this time with a 6-cylinder "boxer" engine.
The team to lay out the body shell design was led by Ferry Porsche's eldest
son, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (F. A.). The design phase for the 911 caused
internal problems with Erwin Komenda who led the body design department until
then. F. A. Porsche complained Komenda made changes to the design not being
approved by him. Company leader Ferry Porsche took his son's drawings to
neighbouring body shell manufacturer Reuter bringing the design to the 1963
state. Reuter's workshop was later acquired by Porsche (so-called Werk II).
Afterward Reuter became a seat manufacturer, today known as Keiper-Recaro.
This is a very
nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of
Porsche ‘s automotive history in a wonderful way. This is your rare
chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format
of ca. 8" x 12" (ca. 20 x 30 cm). It makes it perfectly
suitable for framing.