The 550 Spyder, which took its name because it was the 550th design project undertaken by the Porsche company, made its international debut in October 1953 at the Paris Motor Show. The 550 Spyder was the first sports car specially designed by Porsche with racing in mind, and its successes through the years provided a foundation on which the frame of the Porsche marque spread around the world.
The frame of the 550 Spyder was assured in 1954 when, making its debut in the final year of the Carrera Panamericana, Hans Hermann drove the 550 Spyder to a class victory and a dramatic third-place overall finish directly behind Ferraris, cars with substantially larger and more powerful engines.
The car that Hans Hermann drove in the Mexican race was chassis 550-04 and was sold by the Porsche racing team to Robert H. Davis of Bloomington, Illinois for $6,000. Because racing team budgets were far from generous, it was common practice for them to sell their car after racing them. And just to get to the race, the Porsche Racing Department had enlisted the support of several sponsor companies, including Telefunken, a German electronics equipment maker, Castrol, the oil company, and Fletcher Aviation, a California company that acquired a license to develop the Porsche engines for use in aircraft and small, off-road vehicles. The car wore these corporate logos as it raced.
The 550-004 would go through several owners but eventually was re-acquired by Porsche and was completely restored for the Porsche Museum, which chose not only to show the car in its collection but wanted to register the car for participation in historical racing events so fans could see it again in action, not just as a static display.
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