"Perfect historical replica" of 550A #0140

[admin]

Replica chassis......



and an early render of one of the body scan files.

[admin]

A replica steering wheel geared up for a 356 steering boss.....
There is a some debate as to where exactly the two inlaid dark strips should be......but this one was copied from a (supposedly) original wheel. ( and it matched the one on 141 dimensionally)

Bodywork or details on 550s and 550As seem to vary widely ...... no two cars seem the same.



And some pedals,
The only problem with these is they are too good being CNC machined out of billet in stead of cast.
I think maybe Ill acid dip them to 'round em off a bit'

[JTR70]

Dom, Thanks for joining us here and Welcome! You have some very nice wares to offer,I Love that tube Chassis!!! Are you in process of building a spec 550A on that frame now? Very nice parts, Welcome once again!
Justin

BTW: Be sure to hit the "insert" button on all your pics so they will display large. Place the curser back in the text box where you would like that particular photo to be shown and hit "insert" on it. It can even be placed between existing texted just as I did in your previous posts.

[admin]

Yes I'm building a 550A replica.

But its a long term project. I have three kids and various other cars and projects.

A tricked up 1970 911E. RS carrera cylinders, squirter case, close ratio box, S brakes and wheels, roll bars etc. (in other words 'matching numbers my arse! its a f**king sports car lets make it go fast and handle well and not worry about polishing it!)
The Americans would call it an 'Outlaw' car.

Among other things I have two 1920's GNs (the predecessor to the Frazer Nash - FNPorsche?) Ever seen the book from chain drive to turbo charger? Look it up and you'll get the idea.

I flew to Bill Doyles workshop in Jackson Wyoming a few years back to survey 550 141. A very nice guy with a lovely workshop. If you want a four Cam re-build he's the guy.

I'm an architect and a fairly good engineer. I did a good set of drawings of the Chassis. Those drawings were used to build a 3D model of the chassis to check it all. More recently a friend of mine went over and scanned the body. That scan was very comprehensively processed to remove all the errors in the bodywork. It was then mated to the chassis model. All good.

We are building two cars, both replicas of the hard top Le mans cars. My friend has managed to find the correct windscreens.

We could build a third as we go along. But it is not a cheap game.

I am also making a vintage racing car and it sooooooo much less work. Apart from anything else (and there are lots of little bits and pieces to fabricate) the aluminium work is incredibly complex and expensive. I have toyed with idea of producing a Glockler type car - the aluminium work under the skin could be very much simpler and less expensive.

Difficult to give you prices until we have done it.

I've sourced a complete set of the best 356 running gear so we can get the first car going a bit quicker. You could do that and I could supply you a chassis.

We could then feed you the bits as we do them ...... or as you wanted to pay for them.

If you want.

[admin]

And thank you for the 'Welcome'.

[admin]

Just about to do another steering wheel for my friend if you want one.

[Type550]

550A-0140 does exist...

[smokejumper]

Hi Type550. As far as I know the original #0140 lies buried in Johannesburg, South Africa since 1967... I am busy with a documentary project and exhibition regarding this, check out www.giantkiller.co.za

The blog will tell you all about it. Basically the Spyder was imported by Ian Fraser-Jones to South Africa in 1958 where it raced until 1966. 21 year old Paul Chester died in his first race in this Spyder on 2 July 1966 and the wreck was secretly buried by his parents. I would love to hear more details of the 550A you referring to above.

[smokejumper]

Hi Dom, this is beautiful! Can I get your email so we can chat?

[admin]

dominic.marc.taylor@gmail.com

[Type550]

I thought the same until the owner contacted me. There are still a few things that don't add up, but there are some interesting facts like the original engine, even though it was removed during its racing life...

[smokejumper]

The above photo was taken after the fatal accident in 1966, keep in mind the 1963 crash and burn at the 9hour on Kyalami caused serious reparation to be done to #0140's front end. This explains the weird front end - rebuilt with fiberglass ...

[smokejumper]

This is both exciting and interesting. The numbers add up (engine and chassis), BUT I know the last owner personally ... and according to him the chassis is still buried...

The engine was secretly salvaged by Paul's brother just before the car was buried by their parents. Paul's brother put this four-cam engine in a 356 which he owned for a few years after the accident. Apparently the 356 is still in SA...

Below a photo of the original manual. Confirming the numbers...