1953 Porsche 550 Coupe #45
Pilots: R. von Frankenberg, P. Frère
Team: Porsche KG
Race: 15th overall (first in S 1.5 class) at Le Mans in 1953
Spark - S1950 (resin)
Published 02/28/25
The 1953 edition of the 24 Heures du Mans (the 21st edition of the race), had something different. In 1950 FIA introduced the World Championship of Drivers, in F1. It became an immense success, so they decided to expand. Therefore, in 1953 they introduced the World Championship for Sports Cars, and Le Mans was part of it. The Le Mans race would be the third round in the championship, after Sebring and the Mille Miglia. With that, the interest from the major sports car manufacturers has huge: 19 different brands came to La Sarthe! With the exception of Mercedes (focused on F1), all the major manufacturers were there. Even Alfa Romeo came back – their last participation was before WWII. Nonetheless, the expected main action should be between Ferrari and Jaguar (and perhaps, with co-participation of Aston and Lancia).
In the smaller classes, under 2 liters, the situation was no different. The biggest fleet of smaller cars came from Panhard (mostly), Renault and Osca. One of the smallest contingents came from Porsche. With only two factory cars and two (356) privateers, Stuttgart was a bit shy at La Sarthe. Well, in 1951 it was two cars and 1952 three, so four was an improvement for 1953. However, though the factory came with only two cars, these were special. The 550 Coupe was Porsche’s first bespoke racecar. For the first time, the Zuffenhausen manufacturer had a pure-blood race car. Designed by Ferry Porsche, the 550 was the first “street legal racecar”. Weighing just 550 kg, and powered by a 1498 cm³ flat-4 (Typ 547), the 550 was fast and nimble. Moreover, the owner could drive it to the racetrack, race it, and drive back home.
In early 1953 Porsche hand-built three prototypes, one specifically for the Paris Auto Show in October. Though the Paris car was a spyder, the racecars were actually coupes with a removable hard top. In June the Porsche team arrived with two cars at La Sarthe, chassis #550-01 and #550-02. The pilots were Richard von Frankenberg and Paul Frère for 550 #45 and Helmut Glöckler and Hans Herrmannfor for 550 #44. Though none of the 356 privateers finished, the race was smooth for the works team. The 550 #45 (#550-02) finished in 15th while #44 came in 16th (#550-01), and on the same lap! Most importantly, 550 #45 came in first in the S1.5 class. Which meant that in three races, Porsche won in their class three times. Wait, it gets better: a 550 would win its class in 1954 (in two different classes!), 1955, 1956 and 1957!
If the 356 Gmünd Coupe began Porsche’s history at Le Mans, the 550 cemented it. Though not very well known, without a doubt, it is historically very important. Well, apart from being James Dean’s car 🙄. I already had a few other versions, however this 550 #45 is special. After all, along with #44, it was the first 550 to race at La Sarthe. And it’s a coupe. Meant to be aerodynamically better, pilots hated it, because the cockpit was a furnace and noisy as hell. With that, Porsche switched to spyders the following year. In scale the 550 #45 is a beautiful model. Though quite old (and pretty rare nowadays), it has almost the same detail level of current models. I’m positive this is not a model for everybody, yet for the Le Mans nut or Porsche lover, a must.