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COLLIER COLLECTION PORSCHE® 550-01 HIGHLIGHTS
CAYMAN® S MID-ENGINED PEDIGREE

Seminal machine in the storied history of Porsche’s racing debut displayed during launch of new Cayman S coupe

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The form of the new Porsche Cayman S has many progenitors, the most obvious being the Boxster® model on which the new car is based. But within the aggressive style of its tapered flanks—and mid-engined architecture—lie hereditary cues from several earlier Porsche machines. These include the 1963 904 Carrera GTS Coupe, and Porsche’s original factory race car, the 1953 550 Coupe. To accompany the launch of the all-new Cayman S, a fully restored, landmark Porsche 550 is on display in Birmingham.

In the early 1950s, though many of its production cars were being successfully campaigned, Porsche was not a manufacturer of race cars. As on-track challenges increased from other manufacturers’ purpose-built competition machines, Porsche realized it could no longer rely on modified versions of its 356 production car to carry the corporate banner in international events.
In early 1953, Porsche began its first factory derived race car project. Engineers drew from the original 356 prototype, which had placed the powerplant in front of the rear axle in a mid-engine format, and from the era’s Glöckler-Porsche race cars, which used a similar layout. Chassis design was also based on the successful, Porsche-powered Glöckler cars, utilizing a welded, steel-ladder frame with six cross members, capped by aluminum body work.

Using a production-based, Super 1500 engine, the factory installed the 1500cc push-rod “boxer” Fours into two machines: chassis 550-01 and 550-02. In its premiere outing on May 31, 1953, 550-01 won its first-ever event, taking victory in the rain at the Nürburgring. Though the race was held in inclement weather, the 550-01 car competed as a roadster, minus its aero-aiding hardtop.
With hardtops in place, both of the 550 cars battled to a truly remarkable dead-even finish at that year’s 24-hour endurance race at LeMans, with car 550-02 (co-driven by journalist Paul Frere) granted the 1500cc class victory. Later that year, car 550-01 won the 1000 Kilometer race in Buenos Aires, and both machines competed in the grueling, five-day, 3000-kilometer Carrera Panamericana. Car 550-02 took the class win, after sister-car 550-01 retired with the fastest time in four of the event’s eight stages.

The car on display here at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is the original Porsche 550-01 race car, and appears courtesy of the Collier Collection of Naples, Fla. After its Carrera Panamericana debut, the car continued to be raced in Mexico until 1957, appearing in over 30 events. The car was tracked down by Porsche Club of America Historian Dale Miller in 1987, and sold to an Australian collector in 1997, who began a restoration with Joe Cavaglieri of Sherman Oaks, Calif. Shortly after the extensive restoration was undertaken, the car became part of the Collier Collection. Almost eight years later—on March 13, 2005—Porsche 550-01 made its debut at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, where it won “Best of Show Porsche” and “Best of Show Sports.” Porsche 550-01 appears here in Birmingham in its Amelia-winning La Carrera trim.

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA), based in Atlanta, GA, and its subsidiary, Porsche Cars Canada, Ltd., are the exclusive importers of Porsche sports cars and Cayenne® sport utility vehicles for the United States and Canada. A wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, PCNA employs approximately 300 people who provide Porsche vehicles, parts, service, marketing and training for its 210 U.S. and Canadian dealers. They, in turn, provide Porsche owners with best-in-class service.