Spyder 550 550A

[Porschinelle]

[Type550]

Olivier and Veuillet drove 550-0032 (#3 and finished 1st
Jeser and Bousquet drove 550-0016 (#51) and finished 2nd
Balsa and Mougin drove 550-0027 (#39) and DNF

[Type550]

[Henk Vasmel]

Olivier and Veuillet drove 550-0032 (#3 and finished 1st
Jeser and Bousquet drove 550-0016 (#51) and finished 2nd
Balsa and Mougin drove 550-0027 (#39) and DNF

[356]

[Porschinelle]

Found that interesting photo of Rolf Wutherich (ex James dean mecanic) sitting on 550-012 after the arrival of the 1954 Le Mans 24 hours race
Rolf is the young guy sitting left

Rolf Wutherich born in 1927 in Heilbronn a small city close to Stuttgart join Porsche as mechanic in 1950
He was the 42 nd mecanics to join Porsche
He attended as mechanic several races in Europe in 1953 and 1954 before to be sent to the US by Porsche early 1955 to help John Neumann at Competitors Motors California
He met James Dean there and became friend (and may be more as rumours says that both James and Rolf were gay)
As you certainly know, Rolf survive from James Dean crash
Although John Neumann insure that he got the best hospital treatment he never recover completely and suffering from severe psylogolical problems he was sack by John Neumannby end 1956
He establish himself as a freelance Porsche mecanic but never got success and by end 1956 he came back to Germany where Porsche accept him back in the in their testing department
He only came back twice to the US in 1957 and 1958 as a mecanic in the Porsche team at the Sebring 12 hours race
Some years later he reveal him to be a good co-pilot and was entered by Porsche in several races including the 1965 and 1966 Monte Carlo Rallye
More and more affected by depression and suicidal tendencies he was sack definitely by Porsche in 1968
From his departure from Porsche in 1968 to his death in a car crash in 1981 he never really recover a serious job as in addition to his psycological problems he started to drink too much he defect he was suffering from long as seen on this pic showing him drinking strong alcohol at the the 1966 Monte Carlo arrival

[Porschinelle]

For the small history 550-012 driven by the Belgian team Pierre Stasse/Johnny Claes finish 12th overall (strange similitude) first in class and first Porsche at the 1954 Le Mans

[356]

Love that painting.

An early one at the paddock.
~Vance

[Type550]

I bought a roll of 36 shots at auction of the 1956 Solitude race. Lots of great photos of both the cars and the winners. Still trying to identify the winners on the podium..?

[JOP]

[Type550]

Thanks JOP - it was doing my head in to work out who they were and I thought the leathers they were wearing was advanced for the time! Did they run bike events at the same time as the car events?

Here is von Frankenberg in the first race of the Porsche 645 'Mickey Mouse' which finished 4th. So much potential in this car to be the new design, but after the crash at AVUS, it was decided the RSK design was a better option

[JOP]

They run bikes from 125 cc, 250, 350, 500 plus the cars on the same day!
Hans Herrmann in # 10

[Tunisian 550]

Hi Everyone,

I looked in the forum but i didn't find anyone speaking about a 550 which began its life in Tunisia. Someone brought it during the GP de Tunis 1955 for the Bey's son ( Prince of Tunis) and it stayed with him 2 years until the creation of the tunisian republic in 1957. The car was then confiscated, and sold to a
french doctor who sold it again to a car dealer named Sorlin. Since that moment, we don't know what happened to the car. Maybe it was sold to an american who exported it??

[JTR70]

Welcome along here Mohsen and thanks for joining us here. Andrew Hosking is going to be the one to answer that question. Hopefully he'll see this.

Justin

[Type550]

Zein and I have discussed this car a while ago, but the ownership history hasn't really matched up with the possible spyders. I will have another look to see if I can find something new