There’s a reason Porsche fanatics lose their minds over the 550 Spyder. Born from the company’s earliest racing days, these cars were downright predatory. The factory in Stuttgart had figured out something that Ferrari and the British constructors hadn’t quite grasped yet: that outright power is secondary to balance, rigidity, and weight. The 550A, which superseded the original RS 550, doubled down on that philosophy by swapping the ladder chassis for a lighter, stiffer spaceframe. Only 40 were ever built. Up for auction next month via RM Sotheby’s, Chassis 550A-0116 is one of them, and it might be the finest surviving example.
The “Giant Killer” With a Name to Match
Delivered in March 1957 to California sports car ace Jack McAfee’s Porsche dealership in Burbank, this particular 550A wasted no time making its presence known. Its debut race came that June at Paramount Ranch, where McAfee scored two outright wins on day two alone. What followed was a remarkable two-plus years of SCCA dominance across some of the West Coast’s most storied venues: Palm Springs, Riverside, Laguna Seca, Phoenix, Santa Barbara. The final tally sits north of 25 race wins in period, which is a number that’s almost absurd when you consider the 550A weighed just 1,200lbs and was routinely outgunned on paper.
The engine behind all of that is a 1.5-liter four-cam flat-four that produces 135hp and propels the car to nearly 150 mph. Raw numbers aside, what the spec sheet doesn’t capture is how surgically this chassis deploys that power. The hand-formed aerodynamic bodywork, produced by Porsche coachbuilder Karosserie Wendler, is function-first. And for a detail that makes this specific car even more singular: after McAfee reportedly damaged the rear bodywork early in its racing career, it was replaced with a hinged, tilting rear section borrowed from the original RS 550. That quirk was preserved through the latest restoration.
Six Years, One Obsessive Restorer
Following a well-traveled ownership history spanning the U.S., South Africa, Japan, and Germany (and a Best in Class win at the 2014 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance), the car was acquired by its current vendor in 2018. It was then sent to Andy Prill, one of the most respected Porsche restoration specialists in the world, operating out of Essex, England. What followed was a six-year, nut-and-bolt overhaul totaling over £307,000 (~$404,000). The bodywork was stripped bare and repainted, the engine was rebuilt around a factory exchange crankcase sourced from Italy, and the matching-numbers gearbox was fully reassembled. Prill describes the finished car as “box fresh.” Beyond an initial test drive, it hasn’t turned a wheel since.
The car also retains its original matching-numbers engine case and ships with the factory Type 550A Driver’s Manual, period race photographs, event programs, and original report clippings. The provenance here is airtight.
Spec Sheet
Model: 1957 Porsche 550A Spyder by Wendler
Chassis No.: 550A-0116
Engine: 1.5L four-cam flat-four (“boxer”)
Power: 135 hp
Top Speed: ~150 mph
Weight: ~1,200 lbs
Production Run: 40 units total
Estimate: €3,500,000 – €3,800,000 (~$4M–$4.4M)
Pricing & Availability
Chassis 550A-0116 crosses the block as Lot 165 at the RM Sotheby’s Monaco sale on Saturday, April 25 at the Grimaldi Forum — timed, fittingly, with the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique weekend. The estimate sits between €3.5M and €3.8M (~$4M to $4.4M), though when this same car last sold at RM Sotheby’s Monterey in 2018, it fetched $4.9M, and that was pre-restoration.
Recap
1957 Porsche 550A Spyder by Wendler Auction
One of the rarest and most race-proven Porsches ever built — a 1957 550A Spyder with over 25 documented wins and a six-year, $400K restoration — is heading to auction in Monaco this April, with bids expected to start north of $4 million.
