Porsche 550 Durlite Spyder

The Nose makes the Difference

After writing off his Porsche 550 in 1958, the American race driver Bob Webb contacted the aerodynamics expert Durlite, who operated in the aerospace industry. The broken Porsche should be reconstructed.

The chassis remained, as far as it was feasible, in its original condition and Durlite created a body for the car that no Porsche has worn before. The aluminum skin, or more precisely, the minimalist design of the fairing, led to an extremely advantageous streamline shape. The most distinctive component of the car was its short, deep and precipitous front nose, which merged almost seamlessly into the fenders. This special car front was quite unusual at that time. How much Durlite minded a good aerodynamics in his day was also reflected at the rear of the car. The aluminum body with its “cut off” rear design based on the so-called “Kamm-rear” concept. It just recently turned out how effective Durlite´s streamlined body design actually was, as for the car a theoretical top speed of 308 km/h was calculated. Primarily this top speed was enabled through the special car front. The “nose” of the Porsche was so effective that uplift only beyond the 300-km/h mark accrued.

Therefor the Durlite-Porsche deserves its place in automotive history even today, especially considering that the Porsche conversion already happened in 1959.