Wild Times – Porsche legends and the 550 Spyder
By Robert Weber
Thanks to AUTOMOBILSPORT, we enjoy a chat with three Porsche legends – Herbert Linge, Egon Alber and Hans Hermann – to uncover the groundbreaking development that was the Porsche 550 Spyder.
After a very short time, the Porsche 550 Spyder proved to be a groundbreaking development for the then fledgling sportscar company from Stuttgart. Back in the day, Herbert Linge was a real multitasker, acting as a racing driver, co-driver, mechanic and maintenance man all rolled in to one. Egon Alber was a mechanic and engine specialist who played a big part in developing and then racing the car. And driver Hans Hermann used his success in the Spyder to kick-start a career that took him into the cockpit of a Mercedes-Benz grand prix car. The three Porsche legends caught up for a chat with AUTOMOBILSPORT.
Light, durable, and reliable; those were the main strengths of the Porsche 550 Spyder. On twisty tracks and narrow streets, the car was in its element. As important as the car’s physical strengths was the team it had working on it in the background. “We were all roughly the same age,” recalls Egon Alber, now 85 years old. “We’re all within two or three years of each other. And still young.”
In the early 1950s there wasn’t much structure to start with, the three of them agree. “But this was definitely good for us,” says Alber. “A lot of it had to do with the fact that the war hadn’t been over for that long. We had to grow up incredibly fast because, in a lot of cases, fathers and brothers were gone. These were wild times, but they opened up new chances and opportunities for us to make a difference. And as a team that’s what we did.”
The show must go on
“Porsche was a family,” says Linge. “In the truest sense of the word. Everyone who worked there belonged there; and we could all rely on each other. After important races and events Ferry Porsche, and later Ferdinand Piëch, would often invite all of the mechanics to their houses. It was always a nice to way to show thanks and recognition.”
Opportunities to sit down together and relax were a rarity back then. “We didn’t often have the chance to sit around and do something relaxed together,” recalls Linge. “It just went on and on, from testing to racing, from developing one car to the next. There just was no standstill.”
Linge would even drive to, from and at Le Mans. “The race finished Sunday afternoon. But lunchtime Monday I was back at the factory. At Le Mans, I would take off before the last cars were loaded because the next day I would have meetings at work in Stuttgart. Back then, this was how we operated.”
“Ferry Porsche once said ‘Whenever I look into your department, not matter what time, no matter if it is a Saturday, a Sunday or a holiday, there is always someone around, working’! It had to be that way. At that time, as Porsche was growing – and celebrating the production of our 500th car, other manufacturers like Veritas and Borgward were closing down. When Ferry Porsche told us in a critical hour that he wasn’t sure if things would carry on, we just carried on. And we all made it carry on!”
And suddenly there was light
In a similar vein, Alber has his own particular memories of the Porsche 550 Spyder: “We once had a Spyder engine on the dyno, one with a loud exhaust. And the dyno didn’t have a cabin. It was one of those periods where we had heaps and heaps to do and not that many people. I sat down on my wooden chair right near the engine, with the control panel – and then I fell asleep, right next to the thundering engine. At 4am suddenly there was light! My colleague Eberhard Storz had arrived and shined a torch right into my eyes.”
Talking about this and other anecdotes from back in the day is amusing for Hermann, Alber, and Linge. They are all united in the firm belief that the hard work and self sacrifice is one of the reasons Porsche was so successful at the time.
Reliability doesn’t come easily
“For me as a racer, it was crucial to be sure that the guys had tightened up every bolt,” says Hermann with a grin. I spent three years with Abarth and it wasn’t the case. I always say that at Abarth I spent more time retiring than driving. I once stopped because there was no fuel in the car. In Italy there was a completely different mentality. Everything was a little chaotic and relaxed. Here in Stuttgart, I simply knew I could rely on the team around me.”
The 550 Spyder played a crucial role in Hermann’s driving career. In 1952, he started driving several Porsche 356s at reliability trails. “For races, you needed a different licence,” he recalls. “In the trials you had to finish in the top three to get points for a racing licence.”
After a driving observation session at the Nürburgring, and with the right licence, Hermann found himself part of the Porsche team. And in the same year, he started a race in a 550 Spyder as part of the German Grand Prix meeting at the ‘Ring. “It was a seven-lap race, and after seven laps, I was first across the line.”
It didn’t take long for Hermann to be taking part in big international events, he and the little 550 racing against strong opposition. “In 1954 I drove at the Mille Miglia with Herbert Linge. We were first in class and sixth overall – and you have to remember that more than 200 cars started.”
“The Mille Miglia was the first event where Mercedes started to take notice of him,” recalls Linge, pointing at Hermann. In the same year, the young driver drove a third Mercedes Grand rix car at Reims (Hans jumps in: “Fangio, Kling and me… with the fastest lap) and he took Linge with him. “Hans wanted me to come and talk with the guys from Mercedes, who I knew from Mexico in 1952 when they won first time out with the ‘Gullwing’,” adds Linge.
In 1954 Hermann was a works driver for both Porsche and Mercedes, with great success. A year later he made the full switch to Mercedes, “and then Stirling Moss came into the team and shortly after it was all over. However, it was already decided before the terrible accident at Le Mans in 1955 that Mercedes would stop at the end of the season, so the good engineering staff could work on the road cars.”
“And do you remember when we were stuck on the Futa Pass,” asks Linge with a cheeky grin. “One year it snowed during the Mille Miglia and the distributor got wet inside. We had to stop on top of the pass. Hankie out, opened the distributor, dried everything and off we went. Nothing could ever stop the little Spyder!
Originally Published in issue 6 of AUTOMOBILSPORT
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