This 550 is the stuff of German legend.
Imagine yourself at the helm of a 1956 Porsche 550 Spyder, race-ready and poised for victory on a racing track of your choice. At the time, this car was brand new and the perfect beast for any racer looking to take home the first-place medal. Presumably, you'd be putting yourself in the shoes of Rita Rampinelli, Jo Siffert, Heinz Schiller, or Edouard Margairaz, all owners of this particular car. These drivers were able to push the vehicle through events like Le Mans, the Nürburgring Eiffel, and Targa Florio. All these races were intense and impressive by nature, but the most famous one was so crazy that it earned the car a record-breaker title.
That insane event was the 40th Targa Florio, regarded as one of the most complex and challenging races. Rough roads, long-distance, and some genuinely frightening competitors made the circuit an intimidating feat for any dedicated racing enthusiast. So clearly, even just competing would be a ridiculous feat for the car, but it did not just participate. Instead, this 1956 Porsche 550 won that goliath of an automotive marathon with Umberto Maglioli and Huschke von Hanstein behind the wheel. This is a ludicrous feat for any vehicle, but the four-cylinder 110-horsepower engine was particularly unexpected due to its seemingly low power figures.
After that, not much is known about the car as it sort of disappeared for a while, as Porsche 550 seem to do from time to time. Recently, this particular example was recovered from a barn where it had reportedly been sitting for over 35 years. Nowadays, the car is being prepped for something that will surely shock the automotive world in a display of ruthless bidding by wealthy car collectors. That's right, this Porsche 550 is going up for auction in September and will likely sell for an estimated +$2,000,000. While that may seem a bit outlandish for such an old race car, typical examples of the 550 usually go for around $5,000,000-$6,000,000. So we suppose you could call this a bargain if you've got that cash anyway. It seems likely that the car will far exceed this amount, but we'll have to see how things go from here.
