Porsche unveiled a plethora of beforehand unseen ideas again in November 2020, however this little roadster wasn’t one among them. Conceived in 2008, the 550one was commissioned by former Volkswagen Group supremo Ferdinand Piëch as a modern-day tribute to James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder. Walter de Silva, the person behind the 550one’s design, took to Instagram to launch pictures of the retro-flavored sports activities automotive.
The 21st-century “Little Bastard” was saved a secret all these years and took the form of a mid-engined roadster with design cues just like the air intakes and central exhaust akin to these of the Fifties Porsche. On the again, there appears to be a spoiler that might electrically come out at sure speeds, however the 550one is probably going a fullsize static automotive mannequin for the reason that exhaust isn’t related to something.
It had a completely designed inside cabin, full with a beautiful Audi R8-esque six-speed gated guide gearbox and door pull straps. Eagle-eyed readers will discover the door-mounted aspect air vents with their three-slot design carry over the air consumption design and we’re seeing the identical look on the central tunnel. The minimalist inside has uncovered metallic surfaces and aluminum pedals, together with a flat-bottomed steering wheel and the tachometer mounted entrance and heart as with each different Porsche.
In accordance with the Italian journal Quattroruote, the 550one by no means made it to manufacturing as a result of the peeps from Zuffenhausen had larger fish to fry at the moment. Moderately than investing in a product that might have overlapped with the Boxster to an ideal extent, Porsche spent the cash elsewhere, particularly funding the event of the Macan to money in on the SUV craze.
Ferdinand Karl Piëch handed away in 2019, and in his honor, Lamborghini added the “FKP 37” suffix to the Sian’s identify after the previous chairman’s initials and 12 months of start. Whereas the 550one by no means made it to manufacturing, massively vital automobiles had been born in his period on the VW Group. The Audi Quattro and Bugatti Veyron are those lovers will bear in mind probably the most, however there have been additionally a number of vastly profitable mainstream automobiles, together with a number of flops just like the overly engineered Phaeton.
