Porsche does not build many cars like the Porsche 550: a 2-door coupé / 2-door spyder with 1.5L (1,498 cc) DOHC flat four engine, built from 1953 to 1956 at the height of the post-war boom. Its designer of record is Erwin Komenda. Production ran to 90 cars.
Where it came from
The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with an air-cooled four-cylinder engine, following the precedent of the 1948 Porsche 356/1 prototype designed by Ferry Porsche. The mid-engine racing design was further developed with Porsche's 718 model; Its advantages led to it becoming the dominant design for top-level racing cars by the mid-1960s.
The Porsche 550 has a solid racing history; it won the Nürburgring Eifel Race in May 1953, the first race it entered. The 550 Spyder usually finished in the top three in its class. Each Spyder was designed and customized to be raced. A 1958 Porsche 550A Spyder sold at auction in 2018 by Bonhams for $5,170,000 (£4,115,763); it was the highest price for a 550 at auction.
Under the skin
Under the skin sits 1.5L (1,498 cc) DOHC flat four engine. Kerb weight is approximately 550 kg. The gearbox is a 4-speed manual / 5-speed manual. The layout matters: the engine sits behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, which puts the mass in the middle of the car and is why mid-engined cars change direction the way they do. The wheelbase is 2100 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Where it sits in Porsche's history is not in doubt: the Porsche 718 followed it; it was built at Stuttgart, Germany. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Chevrolet Corvette, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, the Cadillac Eldorado. Nearby in the Porsche catalogue sit the Porsche P1 and the Porsche Type 12.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Porsche 550 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.