VIN: the Walter Ringgenberg / Michael May Porsche 550 chassis 0031
History of chassis 0031
Chassis 0031 was completed on March 12th 1955. It was painted silver with red accents.
The buyer was Walter Ringgenberg, a hotelier and restaurateur from Bern.
Ringgenberg was a personal friend of Ferry Porsche. He had raced a 356 Super during 1953 and 1954 and added the 550 to his stable for the 1955 season.
As part of the deal, Ringgenberg agreed that 0031 would be used for a series of speed record attempts at Montlhery. For these, he would be joined by Porsche works driver and factory PR man, Richard von Frankenberg.
In preparation for the record attempt, 0031’s engine was run on the dyno for six hours prior to installation. It then underwent an extended Autobahn test.
On March 18th, Ringgenberg and von Frankenberg set six international 1500cc class records for time and distance over 200 miles, three hours, 500km, 500 miles, 1000km and six hours.
Two weeks later, Ringgenberg was joined by von Frankenberg for an attack on the Soleil-Cannes Rallye. The five day event comprised 1200km of road sections and included several notoriously difficult Alpine passes. 0031 was one of the favourites for victory along with another 550 and works cars from Maserati and Siata.
Unfortunately, Ringgenberg had not had time to fit 0031 with additional wide-angle lamps and his long-range pencil-beam headlights did not give enough coverage for the mountain stages that took place at night. The inevitable result was that 0031 slid off the road during the opening evening.
Richard von Frankenberg subsequently did one more event in 0031. On May 8th, he won the opening round of the 1955 German Sportscar Championship at Hockenheim. He also qualified on pole and set fastest lap.
Ringgenberg then entered his 550 for the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours where he was co-driven by Hans-Jorg Gilomen. The fateful race was marred by the death of 83 spectators after Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes 300 SLR hit a bank and flew into the crowd.
0031 dropped a valve and retired soon after midnight having completed 65 laps.
Ringgenberg subsequently drove 0031 single-handedly at the Nurburgring 500km German Sportscar Championship race in late August. He retired with gearbox trouble after four of the allotted 22 laps.
Ringgenberg’s final outing in the 550 came at the Berlin GP which took place at Avus. It was the penultimate German Sportscar Championship of the year but 0031 was not classified in the final results.
For the 1956 season, Ringgenberg bought an Alfa Romeo Giuliette Sprint Veloce.
0031 was purchased by Swiss banker, Pierre May, who had been convinced to make the acquisition by his cousin, Michael.
Michael May was an engineering student. He had given up racing motorcylces to concentrate on the safer discipline of four-wheeled competition. Having initially competed with a Nardi Danese, he moved up the more potent 550 in which he would be co-driven by Pierre.
Famously, Michael May devised a mid-mounted cockpit-adjustable spoiler for 0031 to increase downforce in corners. Large endplates doubled the innovative spoiler’s effectiveness.
The Mays debuted their modified 550 at the 1956 Nurburgring 1000km. In practice, they posted fourth fastest time which inevitably raised eyebrows from their competitors.
Having seen his brace of works 550s eclipsed, Porsche motor sport boss, Huschke von Hanstein, lobbied the organisers to ban 0031’s spoiler on the grounds it obscured other driver’s vision.
With the threat of Porsche pulling out of the race, the organisers gave in. Disappointed, the Mays completed a couple of laps of the race to ensure they got their starting money but then packed up and went home in protest.
It was a similar experience at Monza for the 1000km Supercortemaggiore four weeks later. On this occasion, the organisers asked the Mays to remove 0031’s spoiler before it even ran. Michael and Pierre May went on to finish the event in 18th overall and placed sixth in the 1.5-litre class.
Michael May decided it was futile to continue with his spoiler concept. He did one more race in 0031; the German Sportscar Championship race at Solitude, where he placed tenth overall and third in class. Afterwards, the 550 was sold to a dealer in Dusseldorf.
0031 subsequently went through the hands of several European owners but was not raced again in period.
Notable History
Sold to Walter Ringgenberg, Bern
18/04/1955 IND Montlhery Speed Records (R. von Frankenberg / W. Ringgenberg) 6 new records
04-08/04/1955 IND Rallye Soleil-Cannes (R. von Frankenberg / W. Ringgenberg) DNF (#??)
08/05/1955 GSC Hockenheim Rheinpokal-Rennen (R. von Frankenberg) 1st oa, 1st S1.5 class (#7)
11-12/06/1955 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (W. Ringgenberg / H.G. Gilomen) DNF (#38)
28/08/1955 GSC Nurburgring 500km (W. Ringgenberg) DNF gearbox (#9)
25/09/1955 GSC Berlin GP, Avus (W. Ringgenberg) ran (#5)
Sold to Pierre May, Bern
27/05/1956 WSC Nurburgring 1000km (M. May / P. May) DNF (#34)
24/06/1956 IND Monza Supercortemaggiore (M. May / P. May) 18th oa, 6th S1.5 class (#37)
22/07/1956 GSC Solitude (M. May) 10th oa, 3rd in class (#26)
Sold to a car dealer in Dusseldorf
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
