The 550 History
Inspired by the Porsche 356 which was created by Ferry Porsche, and some spyder prototypes built and raced by Walter Glöckler starting in 1951, the factory decided to build a car designed for use in auto racing.
The Porsche 550 Spyder became an active participant around the European and US championship circuit between 1953 and as late as 1965 starting in over 370 races. With approximately 95 overall wins along with an additional 75 class wins, the Spyder dominated against more powerful cars not even in its class.
Perhaps the most famous of the first 90 Porsche 550’s built was James Dean’s “Little Bastard” numbered 130 As Dean was finishing up Giant’s filming in September, 1955, he suddenly traded in his 356 Porsche Super Speedster at Competition Motors for a new 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder on September 21st
The 550 Replica
Our 550 replica took over a year to complete prior to going into production. From the start of the project the idea “to keep it simple” was strictly followed yet to try and maintain the original cars feel and sporting heritage
The 550 recreation is a tubular chassis with a mid mounted air cooled engine folloing the footsteps of the original vehicle
Technical Information (Beetle Based)
| Chassis | Tubular Steel Chassis |
| Bodywork | ISO Fibreglass Panels |
| Suspension – Front | VW Suspensions |
| Suspension – Rear | Independent Rear With Coil Cover Springs |
| Brakes | Drum Brakes Front and Rear |
| Dampers | Quantum |
| Engine | VW Air Cooled Engine |
| Engine Location | Mid, Longitudinally Mounted |
| Aspiration | Naturally Aspirated |
| Cooling | Air Cooled |
| Gearbox | Beetle Box |
| Drive | Rear Wheel Drive |