1955 Porsche 550 RS Spyder Spyder

The first three Porsche 550's were hand-built prototypes and the first true sports racing Porsche. They were built as coupes with removable hardtops. Owners could drive it to the track, race, and drive home. Over the next several years, the Werks Porsche team evolved and raced the 550 with outstanding success and was recognized wherever it competed.

Inspired by the winning mid-engine race cars built by Frankfurt's Porsche distributor and race enthusiast Walter Glocker, Porsche began developing the 550 in 1952. Racing allowed engineers to evaluate performance and improve the breed.

The first two builds appeared as coupes at Le Mans in 1953, finishing 1-2 in the 1.5-liter class. The third car had a new engine and an open 'Spyder' body, setting a direction for the production model introduced in 1955.

The Werks cars were provided with differently painted tail fins to aid recognition from the pits. Porsche was the first car manufacturer to obtain race sponsorship, which was through Fletcher Aviation who Porsche was working with to design a light aircraft engine.

For such a limited number of 90 prototypes and customer builds, the 550 Spyder was always in a winning position. The beauty of the 550 is that it can be driven to the track, raced and then driven home. This shows the flexibility of Porsche cars for being both a road and track car.

When production 550s were first sold to the public in January 1955, the Type 547 flat-4 had been refined by several seasons of racing development.

The later 1956 evolution version of the model, the 550A features a lighter and more rigid space frame chassis. This gave Porsche its first overall win in a major sports car racing event in the 1956 Targa Florio.

Its successor from 1957 onwards, the Porsche 718, commonly known as the RSK, was even more successful. The Spyder variations continued through the early 1960's.

The 550 shown here is visually stunning in its overall design and quality of the build.

The Venezuelan Grand Prix was organized by a national car club so South American drivers could mix it up with international superstars. European manufacturers wanted South American publicity and Venezuela's president, General Perez Jimenez, wanted to encourage industry.

Although it lasted just three years - 1955 through 1957 - and only once counted toward the World Championship, the race drew the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio and Phil Hill. The 1955 field included 12 Ferraris, 8 Maseratis, two each for Osca and Gordini, and this Porsche 550 Spyder - number 48.

The project to fly this car overseas in a DC-6, internally dubbed 'Operation Caracas,' was a first for Porsche.

It was hot and dry in Caracas on November 6, 1955. The 2.5-mile street circuit ran along a promenade used for military parades. From above it resembled a barbell: two long, parallel straightaways with tight turns at each end, marked with sandbags.

During practice, Ferrari driver Phil Hill recalled, 'I found the circuit so poorly defined that I got off course and suddenly found myself entirely alone on a deserted roadway.'

Twenty-five cars started in two classes. Only ten were running after 85 laps; five Ferraris, two Maserati's, two Gordinis, and this Porsche, which finished 8th. Its driver, Huschke von Hanstein, had joined Porsche in 1951. He quickly became media director and race team manager - the perfect person to capitalize on Porsche's growing racing success.