You don’t often see color photography from the Carrera. I’d love to know more about this shot of Hans Hermann’s car for the 1954 Carrera Panamericana. Usually the car is seen with its iconic aluminum tonneau cover occupying the passenger seat. Was this part of a scouting run? A press event? I haven’t been able to find information on it—let me know if you do.
The Porsche 550 of Herbert Linge at the 1954 Carrera Panamericana
This remarkable set of shots below highlights the sheer variety of machines that competed in ’54 (and every year). It’s one of the things I most love about the Carrera.. Jaguars and Lincolns mixing it up? Sure. Ford and Ferrari going head-to-head a decade before that meant something? Why not.
This set is collected from a series shot by Ina Mae Overman and Stanley Dean Miller. See more of Ina Mae and Stanley’s photos at The Gentleman Racer.
Can you imagine a contemporary engine rebuilder breaking down their much-coveted and high-dollar Porsche Type 547 Carrera 4-cam “Furhmann” engine with it sitting on her side on the ground in the pits? These guys even have grease stains on their coveralls!
Perhaps more than anything, this tight little engine package earned Porsche her “Giant Killer” nickname. The high-revving little perfection box was complicated and notoriously finicky to tune. But when it was just right, it was just right—and has the very long list of victories to prove it.
Despite the difficulties of maintaining it, the cammer engine was reliable enough for an entire season of street driving to the track, capturing a trophy, and making the trip back home.
Besides, don’t these mechanics just look happy to be working on it?
Great shots from the pits of “the Tampa Hotshoe”, Joe Sheppard at the 1958 Dunnellon, Florida race. Wonderful sequence of the LeMans start with a leap into a Porsche 550 and a later (or perhaps an earlier practice session?) stop in the pits. Sheppard was a well known racer in the Southeast and podiumed many late 50’s/early 60’s races in Florida as well as on jaunts into the Caribbean for Nassau Speed Weeks and the Cuban GP.
Many thanks to John Shea for sending these.
Got some old slides or prints gathering dust in your closet? Send ’em in!
Previously: Joe with team Camoradi at the 1960 Sebring in photos and video.
A few weeks ago we posted about a Richie Ginther trophy that was being sold on eBay. The auction identified the trophy as the 1956 Santa Maria Road Races trophy pitcher that Ginther was awarded for his first place finish in a Porsche 550. I got an email that evening from Andrew that runs the magnificent type550.com, saying he reached out to Porsche 550-09’s current owner. The trophy was quickly purchased and is now reunited with the very car that helped Richie Ginther claim that victory 59 years ago. Andrew sent along these photos and I couldn’t be more pleased to share them here.
Porsche 550-09
It’s things like this that keep me excited about The Chicane after doing it all these years. I love that this can be a place where these kinds of connections are made and re-made. Fantastic… And thanks Andrew!
You never know what you’ll run across when you start digging in eBay’s basement. This trophy from the 1957 running of the Mille Miglia was presented to Georg Bialas for his co-drive with Harald von Saucken to a third place finish in the under 1500cc class. Bialas and von Saucken were scheduled to compete in a 356A but must have been pleased to instead run the event with a 550RS Spyder; examples of which took the top three spots in the under 1500cc class.
The eBay listing page shows a “Buy it Now” price of $11,000. I don’t know enough about silversmithing to understand whether the repairs made to the trophy are well done or if simply doing the repairs at all hurt its value as a collectible. What I do know is that it looks stunningly beautiful and would be an arresting addition to any garage. My hope, however, is that whoever owns the particular Porsche 550 driven by Bialas and von Saucken ends up with it. They really should be together, don’t you think?
I can’t get over the details in this marvelous shot of a Porsche 550 grabbing some new rubber. The stenciled racing number. The chain-link barn doors on the Dunlop Racing Service truck. The tire tech pressing a tire onto the rim with a piece of plywood serving as a shop floor. The simplicity. Gorgeous.
The Porsche ain’t bad either.
I can’t find a source for this photo. If you know anything more about it, leave a comment.
Update: Over on Facebook, Joe Camilleri suggests that this was in Australia. In the comments below, Andrew goes one further. Confirming Australia (Phillip Island race track in Victoria Australia in 1957) and even identifies the specific Porsche Spyder as chassis 550-0056. He should know, his Type550.com is an authoritative source on all things Spyders. Thanks guys!
The narration isn’t so hot, but I’m not one to turn down footage of my beloved 550. Update: Watching this again this morning, I particularly find hilarious the narrator’s insistance in saying “Five Hundred Fifty” and “Three Hundred Fifty-Six”. Does she refer to the 911 as the “Nine Hundred Eleven”?
And this is mine. The Porsche 550 Spyder is the slipperiest little roadster I could ever want. One has recently come available – now i only need $1.6million. donations?
This particular example was piloted by American Zora Arkus-Duntov and Frenchman Auguste Veuillet to a class win in the infamous ’55 24 Hours of LeMans. For that race, this Spyder chassis #550-0048 averaged over 137kph fitted with a 1100cc motor. Smaller than the typical 1500cc 4-cam. This particular year’s 1100cc class was fairly heavily contested, with Coventry-Climax entries from Kieft, Lotus, and Cooper. 550-0048 also went on to take an overall win at the Swedish Grand Prix with Richard von Frankenberg at the wheel. An astonishing win, besting much more powerful cars including a Mercedes 300SL, Jags, and Maseratis. You can see why these early racing models earned Porsche the “Giant Killer” moniker.
Later, the car was campaigned in the ’56 Mille Miglia and was road tested by Road & Track. For these, it’s engine was upgraded to the 4-cam 1500cc. The car then fell out of the public eye, reappearing now on Kidston’s site. The Kidston listing for this car says she is supplied with 2 engines – is it both the LeMans class winning 1100 and the magnificent 4-cam?
This photo shows 550-0048 bearing racing number 49 in the wet conditions of the ’55 Le Mans. Could you ever want anything more beautiful for your garage? Be sure to check out the informational pdf at Kidston for complete details on this example, including many more period photos of 550-0048 in action here.
Thanks to Octane for posting about this marvelous car. Update: 550-0048 sold at Coys’ Légende et Passion auction in Monté Carlo on the 10th of May for an astounding £708,338. Congratulations to her new caretaker and I hope you get her on the track some time.
