1956 Porsche 550A Le Mans Werks Coupe
Porsche has dominated endurance racing for over 70 years, racking up nearly 50 wins at the most prestigious events — Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring. The factory Werks vehicles largely responsible for those wins are owned by the Porsche and displayed at the factory museum — except for this 1956 550A prototype. One of the rare Werks vehicles still out in the wild, this was developed specifically for Le Mans and finished 5th overall and 1st in class at the 1956 event. The car would go on to a successful racing career in private hands for over a decade before retiring in 1968. The car had a new body twice over the years, one a low-slung alloy body after an accident in transit in the late '50s, and then a fiberglass one after a racing incident in 1965. Noted Porsche collector Julio Palmaz restored the car to its former glory via his in-house restoration team, and the car has been sparingly displayed since. The car goes to auction in Monterey, California, this August.
