Three-quarters front view of a 1955, Porsche 550, on display at the 2019 London Classic Car Show
The Porsche 550 was a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953-1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550's were produced an impressive fact considering its dominance in the racing world at that time. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engined car, it was inspired by the Porsche 365 created by Ferry Porsche it was also inspired by the spyder prototype. The Porsche 550 has a solid racing history the first race it entered, the Nurburgring Eifel Race in May 1953, it won. The 550 Spyder would usually finish top 3 in its class. Each Spyder was designed and customised to be raced. he Type 550/550 A is powered by an all aluminium 1,498 cc ( L; cu in) naturally aspirated air-cooled 4 cylinder boxer engine known as the "Fuhrmann Engine" (Type 547). Its valvetrain uses double overhead camshafts on each cylinder bank, driven by vertical shafts, actuating 2 valves per cylinder. The engine is equipped with twin 2-barrel Solex PJJ Carburetors and dual ignition with two separate ignition manifolds and two ignition coils as well as two double fall gasifiers. In its first version produced 110 PS (108 hp; 81 kW) at 6200 rpm and a maximum torque of 121 N⋅m (89 lb⋅ft) at 5000 rpm. The engine of the 550 is mounted in front of the rear axle making it mid-engined. This gives it a more balanced weight distribution, and allows for largely neutral handling. On the other hand, the low mass moment of inertia about the vehicle's vertical axis can lead to a sudden, difficult to control rotation of the car. Porsche used this design principle already in the Grand Prix car of the Auto Union in the late 1930s. The first 550 had a fully synchronized 4-speed gearbox. Starting in 1956, a five-speed gearbox was used, but its first gear only had to start and (like the reverse gear) had to be placed over a barrier and not synchronized. Excessive slip on the drive wheels in corners prevented a limited slip differential. Inspired by the Porsche 356 which was created by Ferry Porsch
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: ExCel London, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock,
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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