Porsche resurrects Carrera Panamericana icon into an electric, downscaled form
The 550 J by Hedley Studios is a running and driving electric collector’s item based on 1950s Porsche’s 550 Spyder
Hedley Studios is only producing 250 units of this 80 per cent scale 550 Spyder replica
The Porsche 550 Spyder needs no introduction as it is widely known for being the late American actor James Dean’s last driven car. The second famous linkage is from Porsche’s notable motorsport exploits from conquering one of the exceptionally challenging road races of the time – Carrera Panamericana. Two cars participated in the race with factory drivers Hans Herrmann and Jaroslav Juhan, after 3077km in five days the 550s secured third and fourth positions outperforming even some formidable rivals. To celebrate this achievement Porsche began giving its sportier models the ‘Carrera’ badging. The Headly Studios 550 J (for Junior) is limited to 250 units and is not road legal.
Hedley Studios 550 J styling
This collector’s item celebrates the same heritage of the 550 Spyder, but in a 20 per cent smaller size of the original. The car is 2900mm long and 1200mm wide, underpinned by a steel space-frame chassis. Its bodyshell is made of carbonfibre is capable of seating two people. These cars will be offered in a variety of paint finishes from Porsche’s colour palette – silver, blue, white, yellow and red. Customers can also let their imagination run wild with the Bespoke programme bringing historic and contemporary paint colours as well as motorsport-driven liveries.
Hedley Studios 550 J powertrain
This scaled-down 550 Spyder is powered by a 48V electric system with a 3.6kWh (with two 1.8kWh cells) battery pack with 48.2km claimed range. It produces 11bhp and can hit 65kmph for its top speed. There are even four drive modes – Novice, Comfort, Sport and Race. It weighs 330kg.
Hedley Studios also offers an RS pack which bumps up the power to 21.4bhp and 80kmph top speed, with a higher 80.4km range from its 7.2kWh battery pack (with four 1.8kWh cells). It weighs 350kg and gets a sportier race-tex upholstered interior.
Hedley Studios 550 J price and availability
The 550 J is a very exclusive piece of kit and is priced from ₹89.36 lakh ( in the UK before taxes and duties). It can be ordered from Hedley Studios’ official website.