Vintech P550 Tribute

French firm creates a Porsche 550-inspired carbon fibre masterpiece

By Kyleecob / Thursday, 16 August 2012 / Loading comments

Pebble Beach is kicking off and among the many fabulous cars attending is this interesting homage to the Porsche 550 Spyder from French outfit Vintech. The P550 Tribute, as it's known, will make it's official debut tomorrow at Quail Lodge golf resort at

The Quail: A Motorsports Gathering

The Tribute wears gullwing doors

The P550 Tribute isn't merely a cut and shut GRP replica of the diminutive 1950s Porsche, but a carbon fibre-bodied, gullwing-adorned modern interpretation. Nestled in the middle of the carbon fibre chassis is a 3.0-litre four-cylinder boxer engine, rumoured to boast around 274hp.

Drive is sent through a five-speed manual 'box to the rear wheels, while double wishbone suspension and a reputed kerb weight of less than 1,000kg promise back up the evocative looks with a suitably involving drive. Fit, finish and detailing seems to be beautifully realised, as befitting any serious Pebble Beach contender.

There are worse looking cars...

Vintech specialises in lightweight materials, 3D modelling, engineering and design in the automotive industry. Shareholders in Vintech's parent company - Group D3 - shared collective admiration for the very first 1953 Porsche 550 Spyder and felt compelled to pay tribute "through a coherent stylistic reinterpretation, realised with the best materials and the best technology of the 21st Century.

"What we wanted to do was to keep as much of the character of the original vehicle while accepting to make the indispensable compromises in order to fabricate a completely functional vehicle that could be used according to more modern standards," they say.

Carbon fibre the material of choice

Replicas and retro tributes are not every petrolhead's cuppa, but done right, and without the sacrifice of something rare and irreplaceable, can create a uniquely sought-after model in its own right. Singer is gaining an enthusiastic following with its

re-envisaged 911s

, while demand is high for a production run of the Ferrari 430 Scuderia-based

Lancia Stratos

. This

Ferrari 250 GTO replica

is further proof that copycat machinery can be awfully desirable.

We don't know if many P550 Tributes will be built and, if sold, at what price, but given the green light expect very few, costing a hefty amount. An original 1955 550 Spyder sold for $3.685 million at auction earlier this year, making a P550 Tribute a steal if sold at even a tenth of that figure.

Alternatively just £16,495 will get you into this Porsche 718 RSK Replica advertised in the PistonHeads classifieds. Its humble VW Beetle origins are certainly less exotic than the P550's, but it arguably does the same job. You'd only be a pair of Raybans away from James Dean levels of timeless cool.