Porsche 550 Spyder: when Porsche builds a car to go racing, you better pay attention
Overuse of the word 'icon' can lead to a desensitisation of its meaning, but here's a car that lived up to the way it looked. Created by Porsche to go racing in 1953, the 550 RS Spyder won its class at Le Mans in '54 using just an air-cooled 1.5-litre flat four with 110bhp (the famous 'Type 547' engine).
Better than that, James Dean was so impressed with the way the aluminium body draped itself over the tubular chassis that he bought one from a certain Johnny Von Neumann, called it 'Little Bastard' and was promptly killed in it. Film stars, racing and early death. Can you think of a better recipe for
legendary or iconic status?