A class victory in the 1952 Mille Miglia with Lurani-Berckheim convinced Ferry Porsche to create a racing division where he could set up more and more competitive engines and cars. The first of them was the 550. A light body - called "spyder" by Porsche himself - was fitted on to the classic air-cooled Volkswagen-derived engine. Since then the term "spyder" has been given to racing cars, while current models were given the name "cabriolet". The 4-cylinder boxer engine of this beautiful German sports car had a long tuning period before being truly competitive. The timing system, in particular, (overhead twin shaft with four axles) was quite a problem. The engine power of the first series was 78bhp. In the following series - 550 RS (1955, 1956), 550 A/100 RS (1957), 550/1500 RSK (from 1958) - power was at first 110bhp, then 135bhp, till it finally reached 148bhp at 8,000rpm in the 1959 version, with 250kph of maximum speed. Its début in the 1953 Mille Miglia was extraordinary, as it won the 1,500 Sports Class. The following year, with Hermann, it won its class again and, moreover, it came 6th overall. In 1957, Umberto Maglioli, with the new 145bhp model came 5th overall and won its Class at the amazing average speed (for a 1500cc engine) of 142.12kph. It seems quite a peculiar thing that the English-born term "spider", which is never used for a car in Britain, is instead used in Italian and afterwards became spyder in German.

Engine: 4-cylinder boxer. Cubic capacity: 1,498cc. Power: 110bhp. Maximum speed: 210kph. Feed: induction, 2 Solex twin carburetors. Chassis/bodywork: steel tubes flat frame / roadster.