A 1957 Porsche 550A Spyder With 25 Race Wins Is Heading to Auction in Monaco

The Porsche 550A Spyder is the car that established Porsche as a force in international motorsport before the 911 existed. Forty were built between 1956 and 1957, each featuring a mid-mounted 1.5-liter four-cam flat-four engine producing 135 horsepower in a body that weighed roughly 1,200 pounds. The power-to-weight ratio was competitive with cars displacing twice the engine capacity, and the 550A’s handling, derived from Porsche’s engineering philosophy of lightweight precision over brute force, made it dominant on the tight, technical circuits where bigger cars couldn’t exploit their power advantage.

Chassis number 550A-0116 is one of those 40. It is heading to auction at RM Sotheby’s in Monaco on April 25, 2026, with an estimate between EUR 3.5 and 3.8 million (approximately $4 to $4.4 million). The estimate is conservative given the car’s provenance, and the auction house likely set it there to encourage competitive bidding.

The Racing Record

Chassis 0116 was delivered in March 1957 to Jack McAfee’s Porsche dealership in Burbank, California. McAfee was both a dealer and a racer, and the car entered competition almost immediately. Between June 1957 and 1959, it accumulated 25 documented race victories across some of the most active circuits on the West Coast: Palm Springs, Riverside, Laguna Seca, Phoenix, and Santa Barbara.

Twenty-five wins in roughly two and a half years of racing is an extraordinary strike rate, particularly for a privateered car competing against factory-supported entries from larger manufacturers. The 550A’s advantage on these circuits was the same advantage that defined Porsche’s early racing philosophy: the car was lighter, handled better in technical sections, and could sustain competitive lap times over longer distances while heavier, more powerful cars degraded their tires and brakes.

Early in its racing career, the car sustained bodywork damage to the rear section. The repair involved replacing the original rear bodywork with a hinged, tilting section sourced from an earlier Porsche RS 550 model. This modification makes chassis 0116 unique among surviving 550As. The tilting rear section provides easier access to the engine and suspension for maintenance, a practical advantage that the original body design didn’t offer.

After Racing

The car’s post-racing life took it across four countries. After its competitive career ended in 1959, chassis 0116 passed through ownership in the United States, South Africa, Japan, and Germany. Each transfer added to the provenance file and maintained the car’s documented history, which is crucial for establishing authenticity at this level of the collector car market.

In 2014, the car took Best in Class at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, one of the most prestigious judged automotive events in the world. The win confirmed the car’s originality, condition, and historical significance in the eyes of the concours community’s most demanding judges.

The current owner acquired chassis 0116 at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction in 2018 for $4.9 million, a price that reflected the car’s racing history but also its condition at the time. After acquisition, the owner committed to a comprehensive restoration.

The Six-Year Restoration

Andy Prill, a recognized specialist in vintage Porsche racing cars based in Essex, England, performed the restoration over six years at a cost of GBP 307,000 (approximately $404,000). The scope was comprehensive: the body was stripped and repainted, the matching-numbers engine was rebuilt, and the gearbox was fully reassembled.

The engine case is original and matching-numbers, with a factory exchange crankcase sourced from Italy. “Matching numbers” in the context of a 1957 Porsche means that the engine case stampings correspond to the factory records for this specific chassis, confirming that the engine has been with the car since it left the factory. For collectors, matching-numbers status is the single most important factor in determining a car’s value and authenticity.

Prill described the finished car as “box fresh.” Only an initial test drive has been completed since the restoration wrapped. The car is essentially a freshly rebuilt racing Porsche from 1957 that has never been driven in anger since its rebirth. For the next owner, the restoration represents a clean slate: all the history is intact, all the mechanical work is fresh, and the car is ready for either concours exhibition or vintage racing.

The Documentation

The paperwork that accompanies chassis 0116 to the auction block includes the factory Type 550A Driver’s Manual, period race photographs showing the car in competition on California circuits, original event programs from races it entered, and newspaper clippings documenting its victories. This level of documentation is rare for any car from the 1950s and provides the kind of provenance trail that auction houses and collectors consider essential for cars at this value level.

The Auction

RM Sotheby’s will offer the car as Lot 165 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The timing is deliberate: the auction coincides with the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique weekend, when Monaco fills with collectors, racers, and enthusiasts who specialize in exactly this category of historically significant racing cars.

The EUR 3.5 to 3.8 million estimate sits below the $4.9 million the car brought at Monterey in 2018, before the $404,000 restoration. That gap could reflect a softening market for certain categories of collector cars, or it could reflect a conservative estimate designed to generate competitive bidding and push the hammer price above the high estimate. RM Sotheby’s frequently sets estimates below expected results for cars with this level of provenance.

One of 40 built. Twenty-five victories. Four countries. One concours Best in Class. A six-year restoration by a recognized specialist. Matching-numbers engine. Factory documentation. If you’ve been waiting for the right 550A, this is the one.