Porsche 550-1956

Following the success of the 356 in the early 1950s, Porsche decided to enhance its success and reputation by developing a model designed specifically for road and circuit racing.

This model an extremely fast two-seater powered by a new 1.5-litre engine with 2 ACT per bank, very quickly became the queen of its class, racing and winning in all kinds of competitions, from endurance events to hill climbs. Although the 550 was already highly competitive in its first version, it became even more so with the 1956 evolution, the 550A, that immediately won the Targa Florio.

The long sports career of the 550, referring to the project number of the Porsche design office, commenced before its official presentation, when the first prototypes with simplified bodywork entered the competition and achieving good results. The first victory in May 1953, which coincided with its racing debut, was achieved at the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring by a 550 Spyder driven by Helmut Glöckler. This was followed by a second place at the AVUS (this time the car was fitted with a hard-top, making it a coupé) and a class win at the 24 hours of Le Mans, this was repeated the following year and completed by a third place overall in the Carrera Panamericana with Hans Herrmann, all of this accompanied by a myriad of victories in other races and hill climbs. In 1955, the 550 again took first place in the 1.5-litre class at Le Mans.

For 1956, Porsche developed the ‘A’ version, a lighter, more powerful car with a revised chassis. The development work paid off with victory in the Targa Florio won by Umberto Maglioli, who took advantage of the problems experienced by Eugenio Castellotti and Piero Taruffi ( finishing third), driving a Ferrari 860 Monza and a Maserati 300S respectively, to win ahead of Luigi Villoresi's Osca MT4. This was the first of eleven victories (an all-time record) for Porsche on the winding roads of the Madonie.

[THE 550 RACED FOR MORE THAN 15 YEARS]

By the end of the season, with a number of victories in endurance racing (including Le Mans in the 1.5-litre class), in the German sports car championship and in the American SCCA series, this 550 served as the basis for an even more advanced car, the 718, replacing the 550 in the official team. Both the 550 and 550A did not disappear, as numerous examples continued to race into the second half of the 1960s, though their last victories were achieved in 1963.

A native of the city of Biella, Umberto Maglioli, then aged 28, was considered almost a veteran when in 1956 he led the 550A to victory in the Targa Florio, which he had already won in 1953 and would win a third time in 1958. 1953 was the year of his first success at the wheel of an Italian car. His biggest success came in the Targa, which he won in a Lancia D20, and in the 12 Hours of Pescara, where he drove a Ferrari 375. The following year, with that same model, he won the spectacular Carrera Panamericana and the 1000 km of Buenos Aires. After his victory in Sicily in 1956 and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1964, his third Targa Florio was won with Vic Elford in a Porsche 907, just two years before a serious accident forced Maglioli to withdraw from racing. During the 1956 edition of the Targa, he was officially registered with his team-mate, the German Huschke von Hanstein, whose role was limited to driving the car to Sicily, where he entrusted it to the Italian driver for the race.