Here I’ll show you a building report of the Hans Herrmann’s Porsche 550 from Le Mans 1956. His co-pilot was
Umberto Maglioli who already won the Targa Florio in this year. The 550 was conceived as a Spyder and also as a Coupé
version. The aerodynamics of the Coupé was better than in the Spyder, so they decided to race in the Coupé.
After one year were Hans Herrmann drove for Mercedes, he returned to Porsche in 1956. One week before the 24 houres of Le
Mans, he won the Solitude race in Germany. He wanted to go to Le Mans quickly so he had more time for practise. But sadly,
they couldn’t finish the 24 houres in their 550 because the engine broke after 136 laps. But in this time, they were
leading their class clearly. The second Porsche 550 with the number 25 was driven by Wolfgang von Trips and Richard von
Frankenberg who finished the race on place five and won their class.
Fascinating is also the aerodynamics of the Porsche 550 Coupé. You can see many elements of the Coupé in the
Porsche Cayman.
Some information of the 550: It had a 4 cylinder engine, which was constructed by Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann in 1952. The engine had
110HP and a capacity of 1498cm³. In later versions, the engine had 135HP. The weight was very low, so the 550 had
betweeen 550kg ans 590kg which allowed a topspeed of 240km/h and a acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in 10sec. So the most
important fact is he weight. Porsche always tried to build very light cars until today. The body was made from aluminium
which was also used fort he engines. In the first years, Porsche used a four gear transmission and later a five gear
transmission.
The slot Kit is made from TKP, is already painted and comes with a chassis from Classic Slot, decals, lights and a interior.
It’s very simple to build and everything fits good. You can adapt the length of the chassis and the rims are made of
aluminium. The kit has no magnet. The car is so heavy-weight that you don’t need it. But you won’t break your lap
records with the car because the tires are that slender.
You don't have to work much, so I was used to from my other kits. You only have to add some color, also in the interior
and some details.
A short tracktest shows us that I was right: Enough weight to drive without a magnet. It was a nice feeling
