After the Midland race in July 1955, Bunker decided to repaint his car a bright yellow colour with a red interior and lined up for his next race at Kansas City in September 1955. Throughout the 1955 season, Bunker raced at numerous tracks throughout the United States with podium finishes at most meetings. Although Bunker qualified in practice, it is unknown why the car was not entered in the main race. The first race Bunker entered 550-0020 in was the 1955, 12 hour Sebring race.
550 SPYDER DRIVER
The car was purchased by Art Bunker, a prominent US racing driver who owned a Porsche – Volkswagen dealership in Kansas City.
The spyder was ordered by Max Hoffman, a New York based luxury car dealer, who was the first Porsche dealer on the US east coast. The body was painted blue with white tail darts and a tan interior. 550-0020 was the fourth customer type 550 spyder built by Porsche in Zuffenhausen and completed on the 2nd February 1955, with Type 547 engine number 90006. Now onwards to the star of this spot, the 550 spyder! I am gonna do a quick and easy copy paste on some info about this particular car, thanks to Jeffrey for doing the research. None of it would have been possible without the little giant-killer, Porsche’s first venture into factory racing, the 550 Spyder.Įlevate your 1:8 scale collection with one of our elegant, harmonious and handcrafted display cabinets, stands or plinths.Wow! What an amazing sight to see,It is not often that the transportation car might be cooler then the car that is being transported! When you google the plate of the VW you find so much information! The car was stolen all the way back in 2008 and there are even many miniature cars to buy including ones with an actual 550 spyder loaded up! There is also a video showing part of the (re)build of this car. Today, Porsche’s museums are bursting with racing legends. Among the giants slain were the Ferrari 860 Monza and the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. The 550’s most important win, however, came in 1956, when an updated space-frame version took overall victory at the Targa Florio, then one of the most famous and challenging races in the world. The pairing of the 550 and the Fuhrmann four-cam engine would dominate competition the world over.īy 1955, Porsche’s fifth time competing at Le Mans, the 550 had become not only the runaway winner in its class but also a force to be reckoned with in the race for outright victory against larger and more powerful cars.
550 SPYDER SERIES
Its roots can be traced to 1951, when German privateer racer Walter Glckler began constructing a series of homegrown racing cars, based on existing Porsche components. The engine’s development, led by Porsche engineer Ernst Fuhrmann, featured a 1.5-liter four-cam (versus earlier twin-cam) engine with a brilliantly compact layout that would offer a claimed 110 hp from virtually the same dimensions as the company’s earlier flat-fours, which produced around 80 hp. The Porsche 550 Spyder had some rather humble origins, as its basis was originally conceived outside the factory. The pièce de résistance, however, was its engine, known as the Type 547. The car featured a ladder-type frame and sleek bodywork. The definitive 550 form was unveiled to the world at the Paris Salon in October 1953. After a few more wins in Europe, the cars were sold off to a buyer who continued to race them. Weeks later, a two-car effort took first and second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite pouring rain and carburetor troubles, the 550 won the very first race it entered, a sign of what was to come. The first factory-built 550 debuted at the Nüburgring for the Eifel Races on May 31, 1953.
By 1952, Porsche had started developing its own purpose-built race car in-house-the Type 550. Successes continued to mount in the prototypes. From 1951 on, Glöckler prototypes bore Porsche branding.
Porsche took notice, and began to support Glöckler’s car, eventually entering an informal mutual assistance pact. Spyders scored famous successes at both Le Mans and at the formidable Nurburgring. That year, his Porsche-powered prototype won the 1,100cc sports car class championship in Germany. Porsche designed the Spyder 550 to go racing. Prototypes were developed starting in 1950 by Walter Glöckler, a motorcycle racer and Volkswagen salesman who wanted to use Porsche’s 1.1-liter flat-four engine in his home-built race cars. In an era where nearly every aspect of cars was getting larger, the 550 Spyder, remarkably light, at less than 1500 pounds, was the direct opposite. The 550 Spyder was Porsche’s first full-scale endeavour into sports car racing, and one of its most successful ever.
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