One of Porsche's most legendary models has tackled extreme conditions equipped with Pirelli tyres. It was the Porsche 550 Spyder introduced at the F.A.T. Ice Race 2024, the legendary showcase on the racetrack at Zell am See, in Austria, for which Pirelli is an official partner. For these “beautiful and damned” Porsches (just as for one of their most illustrious owners, the Hollywood actor James Dean), Pirelli has created a one-off studded version of the Stella Bianca tyres, guaranteeing an outstanding performance even on icy surfaces.
THE RETURN OF THE STELLA BIANCA
With its longest-lasting tread design from Pirelli, the Stella Bianca is back in production with the dimensions 5.00/5.25-16 for the Porsche 356 Pre-A and 550 Spyder, which were respectively the first production series model built in Stuttgart and the first mid-engine racing car from Porsche. The new tyre, recreated for the Pirelli Collezione range dedicated to the most iconic cars built between 1930 and 2000, is identical to the original to look at but with a more modern technology to ensure it guarantees efficiency and safety even on wet surfaces. There are many facets which recall the past: their cross-ply structure, their tread redesigned with the help of the company's historical documents contained in the archive of the Pirelli Foundation, the Pirelli logo with its badge characterising the products of those past years. Not to mention the lettering on the flanks, which is the same as that unmistakable script of the era, thanks to microfilms conserved by the Foundation, whilst the inscription “Corsa” (race) indicates the sporting character of the tyre.
This new edition completes the Collezione catalogue for the classic Porsches, extending the range for the entire road-going production: from the 356 Pre-A from the beginning of the Fifties, which in successive series saw the Stella Bianca evolve in the form of radial Cinturato CA67 and Cinturato CN36 tyres, through to the various Porsche 911 models, fitted with Cinturato CN36, Cinturato P7 and P Zero tyres. A relationship which began over seventy years ago, and which continues today with the co-development of tailor-made Pirelli tyres for the most recent supercars from this German maker.
A HISTORIC BRAND, ON ROAD AND RACETRACK
It was in 1927 that the Pirelli technicians created a new tread: the Stella Bianca, a cross-ply tyre, which was so innovative in its characteristics and performance that it could fit out cars from their teenage years, with the machines of the Twenties, through to the beginnings of their maturity, with the sports cars of the middle of the Century. Remaining in production for decades, it became Pirelli's longest-lasting tread design. Not just that, but the name “Stella Bianca” is also synonymous with the golden years of car racing competitions: the very same tyres were actually used in the highest-level competitions where, exactly as happens today, important information was collected in order to make the best possible improvements also to normal road-going tyres. It is no coincidence that in 1950, when the world Formula 1 Championship first took place at Silverstone, racing driver Giuseppe Farina won the first race with an Alfa Romeo fitted precisely with Pirelli Stella Bianca tyres.
