Porsche Spyders - Stasher.us

The W-RS was developed in 1961. It finished 8th at Le
Mans in 1963 but more importantly, the W-RS excelled in
the European Hill Climb Championship in which Porsche
won in 1963. The W-RS continued racing until replaced by
the Porsche 904.
Below: Spyders were not often seen with their top up.
The top was not available to keep the driver dry but
rather to meet an FIA regulation that open sports car be
equipped with a top. The FIA also dictated the car be
able to carry a regulation size suit case.
Bottom: The 718 GTR was a coupe version developed
from the RS 61. Initially fitted with a variety of Type 547
(1.5, 1.6 and 1.7-liter) engines, it was eventually upgraded
to a 1.8-liter Type 587/3 and then a 2-liter Type
719 engine. A GTR coupe driven Jo Bonnier and Carlo
Mario Abate won the 1963 Targa Florio making it three
wins at the event for a 718 car.
24 Volume 35, Number 4 • Porsche 356 Registry
Engine and Gearboxes
Because the Spyder cars were ready for the
track before the four-cam design had been
sorted out, a Type 528 (1500 Super) engine was
originally installed in chassis 550-01 and -02
(and for a time in 550-03 and 550-04). Indeed,
it was with this engine that the cars won at Le
Mans and Mexico in 1953. Other than those first
two cars, development of the 550/550A was synonymous
with development of the Type 547 engine.
Over the years, the Type 547 would go
through a number of revisions including one interesting
anomaly which was the creation of a
1098-cc four-cam made by reducing the bore to
73 mm. This allowed Porsche to race Spyders
with a Type 547 engine in the 1.1 liter class. A
car so equipped took first in class at Le Mans in
1954, driven by Zora Arkus Duntov.
The first 718 RSK was fitted with the original
1.5 liter version of the four-cam but begin-
Porsche archives (3)
ning in early 1958 there was a new version
called the Type 547/3 which used Weber 46
IDM-1 carburetors. These were well suited to
the larger 1.6-liter (Type 547/4) and 1.7-liter
(Type 547/5) four-cams on which work started
in 1957 and would be fitted in Spyders beginning
in late 1959. There was also an unusual
1,606 cc four-cam used in the 1960 Le Mans
race (which meant the cars were assigned to the
Sport 2.0 class). Finally, a two-liter eight-cylinder
boxer engine designated the Type 771 was
fitted in some cars for formula racing.
The 550 Spyders, both factory and customer
racers, used the Type 519 transaxle which
originated back in 1951 for the 356 sports cars.
The first four factory 550As got an upgrade in
the form of the Type 669 transaxle which was a
five-speed gearbox. For the customer cars beginning
with 550A-0111, the transmissions were
Porsche Type 690 five speeds. When the 718 RSK
appeared on the scene, transmissions bore a
718 part number. One needs a bit of care in
transmission identification. Type 718 transmissions
contained Type 690 parts and the same
was true of earlier transmissions.
Personalization
Although a consistent thread of development
is present throughout the Spyder bloodline,
the reader should not underestimate the
amount of variations that existed in the series,
with individual factory cars and with individual
customer cars. For example, there were constant
efforts by the factory to strengthen and
stiffen the chassis while simultaneously making
the cars as light as possible. Front and rear suspension
alterations were continuous. Aerodynamics
was constantly being investigated,
looking at everything from tail fins to a huge rear
airfoil tried by one customer. For some hill
climb cars, wheel arches were slightly raised
and the suspension had a greater travel range.
As time went on, engine upgrades became more
extensive in everything from displacement to
cam profile, to carburetor selection, to oil cooling
techniques. Optimization of hardware was
continuous with Werks cars being refined from
one race to the next. The FIA was also constantly
changing rules necessitating modifications to
things like windshield size and luggage space.
Changes are so numerous that every car would
have to be described on a one-for-one basis to
appreciate the full evolutionary progression.
Today
Of the first 14 two-digit 550s, half are
known to still exist, many in the USA. Three cars
were destroyed and the fate of the remainder is
uncertain. Of the 76 Type 550/1500RS production
cars, the existence of all but about 20 cars
is known. How many of the Type 550A and Type