Porsche 550 Spyder stuns at Gooding’s Amelia sale

Moments ago, a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder sold at the Gooding and Company auction in Amelia Island, Fla., for nearly $3.7 million including the buyer’s premium. It exceeded the pre-sale estimate by nearly $1 million. It’s an eye-popping result but not an unexpected one.

The 550 Spyder is one of the sports racers of the 1950s and perhaps one of the greatest small bore racers of all time. Its brilliant but diabolically complex four cam flat four made more than sufficient power to move the 1,200-pound aluminum-bodied car at frightening speeds. James Dean was famously killed in his 550 on the way to a race in Salinas, Calif.

While the 550 is among the more replicated cars on the planet, it still doesn’t detract from seeing the real thing (which, incidentally, doesn’t happen very often, the last one coming to market in 2008 for just over $1 million). This sale simply illustrates what we have been saying for quite some time: Blue chip collectible Porsches, particularly four-cam four-cylinder models (356 Carreras, 904s, 550 Spyders), are better than gold bricks at this point.