Porsche 550 Spyder
Yes indeed, this is the car in which James Dean lost his life and his mechanic escaped with injuries, it was in a collision with an oncoming car which unexpectedly turned in front of him.
The Spyder 550 was created on the initiative of the Frankfurt VW-dealer, Helm Glöckler, who won the 1952 German Road-Racing championship in a construction of his own. Indeed, the idea of turning the
complete former Beetle power-unit around, had already been realised in the first Gmund-Porsche.
Nothing else of course, was of any use, despite retaining the suspension from the rear part of the frame, so that the axles could be directly connected through a tubular frame. In the meantime, this was also altered more.
Apparently, the low tare-weight, linked to the light weight of the frame, was responsible for the model name '550'.
Generally speaking, looking at the silhouette of the Porsche, for many years it remained pretty much unchanged. This was not the case with the interior, whereby, the above mentioned alterations to the tubular frame, e.g.,
in the RS, are not the only examples. These included the changeover from the push-rod- to the Fuhrmann-engine, which you can read about here.
Although the Fuhrmann-engine was already running in the Porsche at the beginning of 1953, the Eifel Race e.g., was won by Glöckler, still using the push-rod engine. Apparently it produced just under 59 kW (80 HP),
enough for just under 200 km/h. This should tell you, just how good the bodywork was. This was however not enough. Just as a comparison: Ferrari's 125, with its 1,5 liter-V12, produced 74 kW (100 HP) from the word go.
Apparently, the Spyder was only given this name after being fitted with the Fuhrmann-engine. They competed, e.g., in Le Mans with the, in the beginning 81 kW (110HP) and scored a double victory in their class. This was to
be repeated often, until the 917 won the overall victory for the first time. Whatever the case may be, the Spyder was, more or
less, the start of Porsche's racing career. 01/15
