# Porsche 718 RSK

- Source: https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/porsche-718-rsk/
- Publisher: Racing Car Network (racingcarnetwork.com), the race car marketplace
- Type: car · Brand: Porsche
- Discipline: historic-collection
- Series: historic-sportscar
- Era: 1950s
- Last updated: 2026-07-06

The 718 RSK is the 550's sharpened heir: the late-fifties spyder that took Le Mans class wins, Targa Florio outright glory and even Formula 2 honours — the four-cam lineage's competition summit before the sixties changed everything.

## Specifications

| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Engine | 1.5-1.6 L four-cam flat-4 |
| Power | ~142-160 hp by evolution |
| Weight | ~530 kg |
| Family | RSK → RS60 → RS61 |
| Summit | Le Mans 1958 P3, Targa outright wins |
| Population | Dozens (chassis scholarship) |
| Years | 1957–1962 (family) |
| Class | Four-cam spyder summit (collection) |

## History

Porsche's 718 RSK (1957, the K-designation from the front suspension's revised geometry) evolved the 550A's giant-killing into systematic conquest: the four-cam spyder's late-fifties campaigns — Le Mans class wins and podium overall results (1958's third overall the marque's statement), the Targa Florio's outright victories (the 718 lineage's Sicilian dominance era), Sebring's class honours — running parallel to the type's single-seater adventure: RSK-based Formula 2 entries (centre-seat conversions) scoring against the purpose-built field, the marque's open-wheel apprenticeship before the 804's F1 chapter.

The RS60-and-RS61 successors extended the family as the sixties opened, keeping the four-cam spyder line front-line until the 904's arrival reset the architecture.

The market is the 550's aristocracy continued: the 718 family's originals (production in the dozens, chassis scholarship through the same registry depth) trade at collection stakes with the racing-history premium the type's results ledger multiplies — Targa-winning provenance being the summit — and the four-cam priesthood's economics governing the runners.

## Palmarès

Le Mans 1958 third overall and class wins across the era, Targa Florio outright victories in the lineage's Sicilian dominance, Sebring class honours and the F2 adventure's points — the sharpened heir's conquest ledger.

## What to check before you buy

The 550's law continued: chassis scholarship at dozens-production depth (the 718 family's identities documented car-by-car — racing history's premium multiplying where Targa-and-Le-Mans provenance attaches), four-cam engine economics budgeted (the Fuhrmann priesthood's rebuild reality), and the RS60/61 family-identity precision (the successors' details pricing distinctly). Historic eligibility at the blue-riband tier (the type headlines where it appears) structures the runners' use; the collection-versus-competition tension resolves per chassis biography. Museum-tier diligence as the family demands.

## Did you know

- K meant suspension: the RSK's designation coming from the revised front geometry's K-shaped arrangement — engineering nomenclature as model name.
- The F2 adventure ran centre-seat spyders against purpose-built single-seaters — and scored, the marque's open-wheel apprenticeship in sports-car clothes.
- The Targa's Sicilian dominance made the 718 the Madonie's own — the lineage's outright wins on the roads displacement never ruled.

## Related entries

- Porsche 550 Spyder — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/porsche-550-spyder/
- Porsche 804 — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/porsche-804/
- Porsche 904 Carrera GTS — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/porsche-904-carrera-gts/
- Porsche 906 (Carrera 6) — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/porsche-906/