Collectors\' Motor Cars and Automobilia

From the Sebalds the car passed subsequently to Richard A. Barbour
for the price of 4,500 as confirmed by the April 13, 1971 copy bill
of sale preserved within the extensive documentation files which
accompany the car today. It passed subsequently into the possession
of respected <S classic car collector George Reilly, who found that ¶
exactly as described in the ‘Road & Track’ article ¶ the car remained
“totally original, complete with all the original equipment supplied
with the car when new¹, in the words of the current vendor ¶ another
enthusiastic car connoisseur of international renown.

While Porsche’s early reputation was founded upon small-capacity
aerodyne production coupe designs based upon Volkswagen
technology ¶ as originated in the 1930s for ºthe people’s car’ under
Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Porsche’s consultancy direction, it took virtually
a special builder to point the way towards what the factory would
introduce as the 550 Rennsport Spyder. It was in 1950 that Frankfurt
Volkswagen dealer Walter Glockler worked with local engineer Hermann
Ramelow to assemble a Porsche-based special purely for sports car
competition. He used a welded tubular chassis frame into which
he fitted a 10cc air-cooled Porsche 4-cylinder engine, mounting
just ahead of the rear axle. This ‘Glockler Spyder’ turned the scales
at barely 450kg ¶ 992lbs ¶ which endowed it with vividly promising
power-to-weight ratio. Glockler improved upon the basic idea with a
second special, this time powered by a 1500cc Porsche engine and he
promptly broke the class lap record at the major Freiburg-Schauinsland
mountain climb.

Late in 1951, Glockler sold the car to the contemporary Porsche and

BMW importer for the <nited States, Max Hoffman, in whose hands it

became a very familiar contender in early SCCA events there.

Encouraged to build more dedicated competition cars than their core

production series, the Porsche factory launched its definitive model

550 Rennsport design in 1953. Basis of the new model was a ladder

frame composed of welded steel tubes which was stiffened materially

by the sleekly-aerodynamic lightweight aluminium body panelling, which

was rigidly-attached to create a kind of semi-monocoque structure.

Even the dash panel was welded to the sub-structure to form a further

transverse stiffening member. The 550 Spyder version’s weather-

protection top could be folded or completely removed to choice.

All-round independent suspension was adopted, by twin trailing arms

and transverse torsion-bar springs at the front and - after the first two

550 prototypes had tried leading-arm rear suspension - trailing arms

were used at the rear to control the customary Porsche swing-axle

system. Hydraulic drum brakes featured. Early cars scaled around

550kg ¶ 1,213lbs ¶ later increasing to 590kg ¶ 1,301lbs.

These little aerodyne Porsches were extremely quick in a straight

line ¶ having a claimed top speed of some 220kmh ¶ 137mph ¶ and

accelerating from 0-100kmh ¶ 2mph ¶ in less than 10 seconds -

spectacular indeed with such a small capacity engine in the early 1950s.

140 | THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL SALE