A tradition begins.
In 1950, Porsche accepted an invitation from its Paris distributor and in June made its first Le Mans entry : an aluminium-bodied 356 Coupe. A car left over from the initial build of Type 356s at Gmund, Austria, it finished the race in 20th position overall, but won the 1.1-liter class.

The first Le Mans experience quickly paid dividends. As Ferry Porsche later recalled, "We found that through our  work in racing we could make improvements in our normal cars." Indeed, changes to the early production 356s came so rapidly it's impossible to speak of these cars in terms of model years. Each month, engineering improvements were introduced that made the Porsche sports car more refined, more reliable and yes, faster.

1952
Returning to Le Mans in June 1952, Porsche again took the 1.1-liter class championship. As it had the year before, Porsche's 1.1-liter car actually finished ahead of the best-placed car in the 1.5-liter class. (It was a hint of the "giant killer" legend to come. Still, it would be many more years before Porsche, with its smaller displacement engines, challenged for the overall victory at Le Mans.)

1953

After the 1952 Le Mans, Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein initiated a new project designed to give Porsche
something it didn't have: a purpose-built race car. Porsche craftsmen began building the first prototypes, named the Type
550, in the spring of 1953 with Le Mans as the goal. That June, the Porsche 550s finished 1-2 in the 1.5-liter Class in a
record-setting run.

With its deeply curved windshield, removable hardtop and mid-engine layout, the Type 550 has served as inspiration for a
Porsche of more recent vintage: the Boxster.

In 1954, type 550s encountered the sort of durability test that only Le Mans can dish out. Despite piston failure brought on by the sustained high speeds and temperatures, Porsche entries powered by the new Type 547 engine managed to hold on to win both the 1.1-liter class and the 1.5-liter class.

Porsche would eventually create a special dynamometer on which all new Porsche engines were tested. It exacted full loads at up to 8400 rpm at two-minute intervals for 18 uninterrupted hours. The engineers named it the Le Mans dynamometer.

1954

By late 1954, Porsche began to produce for sale to the public a limited number of street legal Type 550s patterned closely on the cars campaigned at Le Mans. Officially named the 550/1500RS, it was the nickname that stuck: The Spyder.

1955
June 1955 saw Porsche make another major works effort at Le Mans. The result: A 1-2-3 sweep of the 1.5-liter class and a 1-2 finish in the 1.1-liter class. Most astonishing, Porsche finished fourth overall and captured the Index of Performance, a prize given to the car with the best combined speed and economy.

Then as now, some of the Porsche entries at Le Mans were those of private teams. Then as now, the factory gladly filled orders for its racing-series models placed by sports car enthusiasts. In fact, one of the first tangible results of the early Le Mans efforts was the America Roadster. An alumunium-bodied, no-frills sports car, the America Roadster was a raceable Porsche that private customers could order straight from the factory.

1956
In 1956, the Le Mans 24 Hours was actually run in late July. But Porsche kept right on schedule, winning its class and placing fifth overall with an improved version of the Type 550, the 550A coupe.

1957
In 1957, Porsche entered a new car at Le Mans, the RSK. It was eliminated after ten hours when it was hit by an Aston Martin.

Controversy within the Porsche organization surrounded the RSK's use of fins at Le Mans in 1958. Despite a controversy, a finned version won the 1.5-liter class and finished fourth overall.

Two larger-displacement RSKs also ran, with one finishing third overall. Porsche engineers began to think seriously about the possibility of someday challenging the 3-liter cars of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Maserati for the overall Le Mans victory. But that day would not come for more than a decade.

The RSK quickly became a hot item from the Porsche catalog. The factory sold 37 RSKs to private owners in 1959.

Porsche's performance at the 1959 Le Mans, however, was anything but hot. Striving for overall victory, Porsche engineers opted to fit high-lift cams for extra power. But the engines failed. Not one of the six RSK's made it to the finish. A post-Le Mans autopsy revealed the weakness, and a new crankshaft assembly was designed that proved durable everafter.