1954 Porsche 550 Spyder with a glove compartment... What?

It also at one point in time had a framed windshield with wipers.
http://type550.com/history/chassis-number/550-08/

And those last two pics are the big replica "tell".

See the FLAT bottom of the windshield? ALL replicas have a curved cowl as opposed to the original Spyders with a FLAT cowl.

Also, you can see the upright headlights, this is one of the 8 or so prototype Spyders that were originally made by Porsche.

wow!..what great photos of a true unicorn car...since only 94 were made.....my chances of seeing one in person is rare as hens teeth...i'd sure love to though

550-05 was the first 'customer' spyder which was displayed at the 1953 Paris car show. As they wanted it to be seen as both a road and race car, they added some regular car features like the glove box. It only appeared in a few of the prototypes but then discarded as it really served no purpose and they focussed more on the race aspect of the car

@type550 posted:

550-05 was the first 'customer' spyder which was displayed at the 1953 Paris car show. As they wanted it to be seen as both a road and race car, they added some regular car features like the glove box. It only appeared in a few of the prototypes but then discarded as it really served no purpose and they focussed more on the race aspect of the car

Great to see you posting. Your website has been an inspiration to us all. I’ve spent countless hours pouring over the 550 histories.

@dlearl476 posted:

Great to see you posting. Your website has been an inspiration to us all. I’ve spent countless hours pouring over the 550 histories.

glad to see you get as much enjoyment from the history of these cars like I do!

@type550 posted:

glad to see you get as much enjoyment from the history of these cars like I do!

My early Beck Spyder is silver but when I restored its license plate frame from the original VW-Porsche dealer in my home town, I chose French Racing Blue instead of the original navy blue as a tribute to Annie Bousquet after reading about her on your site.

@type550 i have a neighbor who is a older gentleman and retired fire fighter who actually owned one of 94 made REAL DEAL  550 spyders....bought it in 1955 for $5K  and sold it for $5K before joining the armed forces....now a true UNICORN car & one of my favorite PORSCHE models... worth $3million dollars....i have only seen one in person...and it is a special 1 of only 2 made 550 spyder coupes owned by jerry seinfeld.....some say estimated worth $14 million....pretty kewl stuff!

@jncspyder can your neighbour remember any info on the spyder - who he bought it off/sold it to, colour scheme, any distinguishing features, photos??

@type550 i can ask...i see him regularly...he's gettin' old, so we'll see

@type550 if you do instagram   check out @vintage_porsche_racecars his page has some very excellent old 550 among other classic B/W photos