Porsche and Hedley Studios have unveiled the 550 J, an officially licensed reinterpretation of the 550 Spyder built at roughly 80 percent of the original car's size. Created as part of Porsche Motorsport's 75th anniversary celebrations, it will be handcrafted in Britain and limited to 250 examples.
The 550 J is approximately 2.9 metres long and 1.2 metres wide, with room for two occupants. Its construction combines a steel space-frame chassis with a carbon-fibre body. Power comes from a fully electric 48-volt drivetrain producing about 8 kW in standard form and up to 16 kW with the RS Package. Top speed is approximately 80 km/h.
This is not a road-legal sports car. Hedley Studios is positioning it as a collector vehicle for private use, with each example built in Bicester. Buyers can choose from historic Porsche colours, motorsport-inspired liveries and a wider Bespoke programme.
The reference point is one of Porsche's most important early competition cars. The 550 Spyder was the first Porsche developed specifically for motorsport. At the 1954 Carrera Panamericana, Hans Herrmann and Jaroslav Juhan finished third and fourth overall while winning their class, an achievement Porsche links directly to the later use of the Carrera name on road cars.
The 550 J therefore does not attempt to reproduce the original's performance. Instead, Hedley Studios has translated the proportions and open, lightweight character of the 550 into a small electric collector machine. Porsche gave the team access to its corporate archives and supported the development process, making the project an official collaboration rather than an unauthorised replica of the historic racer.