The Porsche 550 Spyder is not a well-known car, other than that James Dean died in one -which casts a shadow over all of its accomplishments. The 550 Spyder was the first purpose built race car by a car manufacturer and it earned the reputation of "Giant Killer" for the obvious reasons.
The story of the chassis numbered 550-0030 remained in the shadows of "Little Bastard's" for the longest. Starting life as one of the factory race cars, this particular car was assigned in 1955 to what was internally known as "Operation Caracas". With the inaugural Venezuelan Grand Prix fast approaching, there was not enough time to ship the car as was often the case back then. Instead, the 1.5 liter 4 cylinder boxer engined 550 was air-freighted to Caracas, the capital of the oil-rich nation. The pictures below illustrate this last minute effort to get the car to its destination.
The Porsche 550 Spyder was driven by Frits Huschke von Hanstein, the then manager and head of PR of the Porsche racing team. Though there is very little information about the actual race, records show that it was won by none other than Juan Manuel Fangio in a Maserati 300S. The 550 Spyder finished in eight place. The following year, in 1956, von Hanstein entered another 550 in the famed Targa Florio and won the endurance road race.
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| Hunschke von Hamstein at the wheel of the #48 Porsche 550 |
To avoid the shipping costs associated with the return of the car stateside, a common practice back then, the 550 Spyder was sold by the sparsely-funded Rennsport division of Porsche to a local privateer, after which it disappeared for some eight years.
In 1963 it resurfaced on a Florida forecourt having been taken as a part-exchange. Bill Bencker, the new owner, was associated with American racing team and Brumos Porsche dealership. What came to be known affectionately as the "Caracas 550" was raced for another 10 years before the little four-cam engine let go. The car was stored for years before being bought by Brumos Porsche and restored to the full glory of its time in Caracas. It was also given the "Huschke" license plate it still sports today, in his honor. Below a picture of the "Caracas 550" near the St. John's river.
The funny thing is, as a student living in Jacksonville, Florida, I would attend the 24 Hours of Daytona religiously, where Brumos Porsche's often dominated their category. As Brumos was based in Jacksonville, I would always try to take peek inside their garage when I was in the vicinity. Little did I know that one day I would own a replica of a Porsche 550 Spyder, and with it a little part of history.
Source: Wikipedia, Brumos Racing, Classic Driver, Joe Breeze
Photo credit: Classic Driver/Frazer Spowart, source of period images unknown
