A Porsche 550 Spyder built on an order from Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito will be in France come October to compete in the Tour de Corse Historique.
Designated chassis number 550A-0137, the Spyder was commissioned by Tito in 1957. The president-slash-marshal had been watching a news report on Filmske novosti (Yugoslav Newsreels) covering a rally where Yugoslav driver Milivoje Božić was struggling in his BMW 328; although the BMW had won him the Yugoslav national rally title in 1953, it was far too outdated to keep up with the field. Hoping to help, Tito placed an order to Porsche to buy a 550 Spyder for 25,000 Deutsche Marks, receiving a five thousand-mark discount via engineer Mihailo Borisavljević; since the government had bought it, the car was officially owned by the Automobile & Motorcycle Club of Yugoslavia.
550A-0137 was already behind the times when it arrived in Belgrade in February 1958 since Porsche had started producing the Porsche 718 RSK Spyder line. Although once again facing a performance disparity, Božić impressed by finishing third in class at the 1959 Supercortemaggiore Grand Prix in Monza with one set of tyres. The drive earned him factory support from Porsche, which he converted into another national title in 1959 followed by the 1960 European Hill Climb Championship.
Other victories for the car included the 1958 and 1960 Loibl Pass Yugoslavia, 1959 Opatija GP Abbazia, and 1960 GP Belgrade Yugoslavia. Božić’s achievements eventually qualified him for a Formula One Super Licence, though he never raced in the series.
He crashed the Spyder while practising for the 1961 European Hill Climb round in Geisberg, after which it received a spare chassis from Vienna and a new engine. Later that year, 550A-0137 was traded to an Italian collector working with the Prada fashion line in exchange for a Fiat 850. The car has remained in Prada’s inventory since, its value exceeding three million euros.
Only ninety of the Porsche 550 was built from 1953 to 1956, though the company continued to make select orders afterwards such as 550A-0137 on request. It features a centrally mounted, air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine capable of 135 horsepower. It weighs roughly 570 kilograms, quite light for its time due to the body being made of aluminum.
A 550 won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Carrera Panamericana in 1954 beore scoring Porsche’s first outright victory at the 1956 Targa Florio with Umberto Maglioli and Fritz Huschke von Hanstein. American actor James Dean owned one of the original ninety 550s, which he nicknamed “Little Bastard” and was driving when he died in an accident in 1955.
550s are not entirely uncommon today, albeit as replicas.
The Tour de Corse Historique, a historic rally for cars built between 1947 and 1990, will take place on 5–12 October.
