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| Our second Porsche Review: the 1955 550 Spyder |
The 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder was designed and built as a pure-bred racer in a time when the lines between road and race cars was very blurred.
Known as the 'Giant Killer' the 550 Spyder was one of, if not the, smallest car in all of Grand Prix racing. In fact, legend has it that during the 1954 Mille Migilia, Formula One driver Hans Herrmann drove his 550 UNDER a closed railroad crossing gate.
The 550's greatest racing success came in the 1956 Targa Florio when the little car won overall. This was the first overall win in any sportscar race for Porsche.
A particular 550, namely car number 130, is famous for being owned, raced, and fatally crashed by actor James Dean. (Who was an Indiana native, just like me!) Dean nicknamed his car 'Little Bastard' because the studio he was working with, Warner Brothers, would not allow Dean to race the car while he was making a film for them.
The 550 is perhaps the reason Porsche is still racing and winning today and is truly a proper classic.
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| 'Giant Killer' |
Price: 600,000 cr
Class: F/198
Engine Placement/Drivetrain: Mid-engined/RWD
Power: 109 HP
Weight: 1,510 lbs
Speed- 3.9
Handling- 4.1
Acceleration- 4.9
Launch- 5.4
Braking- 3.9
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| The very small 550 Spyder |
I knew going into this review that the 550 is much more closely related to a race car than a road car so it was no surprise to me that the 550 is simply fabulous to drive stock.
The tires (which are nearly 60 years old) provide proper levels of grip and you can just get the car into the corners and it will stick.
Still, like most old cars, the 550 Spyder demands smooth driving.
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| Targa Florio winning preformance |
There is only one real complaint I have about this car, and I think Jeremy Clarkson could say it best...
POWAH!
Yes sir, this car is not good at going straight. Poor power and long gear ratios kill any and all acceleration this car has.
So now that I have reviewed the stock car its time to take it to the upgrade shop and attack the leaderboards.
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| Paint by JBT manchzeck |
With the high F class PI rating of 198 I figured the best bet for this car was to see what I could do with it in E class.
I had two goals I wanted to work on with the 550, first was the POWAH and second was the tires. As I learned with the 914, good griping tires are essential when in the upgrades shop. Unfortunately I could only fit sport tires to the 550 and keep it in E. To make matters worse, any power upgrades I made raised the PI to D class.
Rather than ditch my tires I decided just to make the 550 a handling car. Race brakes, suspension, diff, and transmission went into the car and I took it to a track where handling is paramount, Fujimi Kaido, stage B.
With its new tires the 550 was now stuck like glue and taking corners like a champ. The new transmission did help with some of the acceleration issues but the car still really needs more power.
I finished the hillclimb with a top 20% lap and was 20 seconds off of the pace of the #1 Chevy Spark, BUT... I was 370 overall on the leaderboards so I could take away some gratification.
Unfortunately it seems that the 550 won't be the leaderboard car it was in Forza 3 but I still think it is worth a buy and worth a drive. With a little more power I think the 550 could be a very competitive car so maybe it will have more success in D or C class.
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| Paint by: JBT manschzeck |
Again, a good write up, and some nice pics. I think the 550 is best around D class, like you say, once you take care of handling, you hit the E class limit, but in D class it was a great car in Forza 3, i never tried E class.
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