Porsche 550

Porsche had been successful at motor racing since the word go - in fact, the company's first success was in an Innsbruck road race with a 356 Gmund coupe. The 356 was rather quick on track, but due to the small engine size, was limited by class restrictions. Porsche had a dream to produce, from the ground up, a racing car, which would sever many of the roots with the 356, and crucially, the Volkswagen Beetle. The car was called the 550, a number of no significance to the company, and was unveiled in 1955.

The First 'Proper' Racing Car

Ferdinand Porsche always viewed motorsport as a lucrative marketing tool, to show off his company's abilities. Many insiders later went on to say that the road car operation, in the early years, stood only to pay for Porsche's racing exploits. The Porsche 356 was quite successful, but Porsche wanted more, and subsequently created the 550.

The car drew heavily from a modified 356, built by German Volkswagen dealer Walter Glocker. The Glocker 356 featured more power, but more specifically, no roof. Glocker had already used the car in competition, embarassing the Porsche works effort. Porsche laid down a brief that requested a lightweight construction, but with proven mechanicals underneath. A simple steel ladder chassis was created, with an Ernst Fuhrmann designed 1500 cc four cylinder power plant placed a-midships. The whole construction was clothed in aerodynamically formed aluminium.