The 718 RSK was a direct evolution of the Porsche 550A, retaining the same basic layout while improving bodywork and suspension. Its compact dimensions and lightweight construction made it highly competitive not only in sportscar racing but also adaptable for single-seat Formula racing. The 1957 season saw Porsche enter modified 550/1500RS Spyders in the German Grand Prix Formula Two event by removing passenger seats; for 1958 the purpose-built RSK Mittellenker (centre-steer) variant was developed, relocating the single seat to the cockpit centre to comply with Formula Two requirements.
The 718 made its racing debut at the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans driven by Umberto Maglioli and Edgar Barth, though it failed to finish due to an accident. The car found its feet in 1958: at Le Mans, the RSK Spyder finished third overall with Jean Behra and Hans Herrmann, followed by Edgar Barth and Paul Frere in fourth overall. In Formula Two, Jean Behra won the Reims F2 event in the RSK Mittellenker that year, and Masten Gregory took victory at the Berlin Grand Prix at AVUS.
The 1959 season delivered the car's first major overall victory when Edgar Barth and Wolfgang Seidel won the Targa Florio outright. The 718 also secured the European Hill Climb Championship in both 1958 and 1959. For the 1960 season, the evolving RS 60 variant brought Porsche a landmark win at the 12 Hours of Sebring with Hans Herrmann and Olivier Gendebien, and also captured the Targa Florio with Herrmann, Jo Bonnier, and Graham Hill sharing the honours, while defending the European Hill Climb Championship for a third consecutive year.
In Formula Two, the 718 proved devastating in 1960: at the Aintree XV B.A.R.C. '200', Porsche scored a 1-2-3 finish with Stirling Moss, Jo Bonnier, and Graham Hill all driving 718s, a feat repeated at the Zeltweg race in Austria later that year.
When Formula One adopted a 1.5-litre engine formula for 1961, Porsche entered three 718/2 single-seaters for Dan Gurney, Hans Herrmann, and Jo Bonnier. Dan Gurney scored three second-place finishes — at the French, Italian, and United States Grands Prix — to finish fourth in the Drivers' Championship. Privateer Carel Godin de Beaufort also raced a 718 in Formula One between 1961 and 1964; he was fatally injured in practice for the 1964 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring while driving the car.
The RS 60 was updated to RS 61 specification for 1961, remaining virtually identical but winning the European Hill Climb Championship that year. The W-RS variant followed, initially with a four-cylinder engine and later fitted with Porsche's air-cooled Type 771 2.0-litre flat-eight producing 240 horsepower. A W-RS finished eighth at Le Mans in 1963 and Edgar Barth claimed the European Hill Climb Championship with the car that same year. A coupe derivative, the 718 GTR, was also developed from the RS 61 and fitted with the eight-cylinder engine producing 210 horsepower; Jo Bonnier and Carlo Maria Abate drove a GTR Coupe to victory at the 1963 Targa Florio.
The W-RS raced until 1964, when it was replaced by the Porsche 904. Porsche went on to win the European Hill Climb Championship every year until 1982, accumulating 42 titles — a legacy traceable directly back to the 718's hillclimb dominance.
The 718 RSK's combination of lightweight construction, a technically sophisticated quad-cam engine, and adaptability across multiple racing disciplines gave Porsche a competitive platform for nearly a decade. Its ability to contest sportscar endurance races, Formula Two, Formula One, and hillclimbs simultaneously was unusual for the era and underscored the versatility of Porsche's engineering approach. The principle of mid-engine layouts for sports prototypes, which Porsche pioneered through cars like the 718, was eventually adopted broadly across the sport, with Ferrari and others following suit in the early 1960s.