Ferdinand Porsche Passes
04-05-2012, 02:48 PM
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04-05-2012, 02:49 PM
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Sad Day For Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche, 911 sports car designer, dies
Below:
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche died Thursday in Salzburg, Austria at age 76, Porsche AG said. No cause was provided.
Porsche, known as F.A. to his colleagues, was head of the Porsche design studio in the early 1960s when the company developed the 911 model that remains its brand-defining product. The car, now in its seventh version, remains recognizably the same vehicle, with its sloping roofline, long, low hood and prominent headlights.
"The creator of the Porsche 911 has founded a culture of design in our company that distinguishes our sports cars even today," Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller said.
Porsche was the son of former Porsche Chairman Ferry Porsche, who died in 1998, and the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who started the company as a design and engineering firm in the 1930s.
Born in Stuttgart on Dec. 11, 1935, F.A. Porsche was initiated into the family business while still a boy, spending time in his grandfather's workshops and design facilities. He studied at the Hochschule fuer Gestaltung in Ulm and joined the company in 1958, taking over the design studio in 1962.
In the 911, he created a larger, less cramped replacement for the company's first model, the four-cylinder Porsche 356. The new car, with a rear-mounted, six-cylinder engine, was originally designated the 901, but the number was changed because French competitor Peugeot claimed a patent on car names formed with a zero in the middle.
Porsche left the operational part of the company with other family members in the early 1970s and in 1972 founded a design business, Porsche Design Studio, where he created eyeglasses, watches and pens.
As a designer, he had a reputation as a functionalist.
"A formally harmonious product needs no decoration, it should be elevated through pure form," he once said — a motto reflected in the lean lines of the 911.
He served as chairman of Porsche AG from 1990 to 1993 and helped steer the family firm through a crisis as sales plunged in the late 1980s under pressure from global competition and a strong German mark that hindered exports.
Under his chairmanship, the company brought in a new CEO, Wendelin Wiedeking, who is credited with turning the company around.
Porsche was to be buried in a private ceremony in the chapel at Schuettgut, the Porsche family's estate in Zell am See, Austria.
Below:
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche died Thursday in Salzburg, Austria at age 76, Porsche AG said. No cause was provided.
Porsche, known as F.A. to his colleagues, was head of the Porsche design studio in the early 1960s when the company developed the 911 model that remains its brand-defining product. The car, now in its seventh version, remains recognizably the same vehicle, with its sloping roofline, long, low hood and prominent headlights.
"The creator of the Porsche 911 has founded a culture of design in our company that distinguishes our sports cars even today," Porsche CEO Matthias Mueller said.
Porsche was the son of former Porsche Chairman Ferry Porsche, who died in 1998, and the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who started the company as a design and engineering firm in the 1930s.
Born in Stuttgart on Dec. 11, 1935, F.A. Porsche was initiated into the family business while still a boy, spending time in his grandfather's workshops and design facilities. He studied at the Hochschule fuer Gestaltung in Ulm and joined the company in 1958, taking over the design studio in 1962.
In the 911, he created a larger, less cramped replacement for the company's first model, the four-cylinder Porsche 356. The new car, with a rear-mounted, six-cylinder engine, was originally designated the 901, but the number was changed because French competitor Peugeot claimed a patent on car names formed with a zero in the middle.
Porsche left the operational part of the company with other family members in the early 1970s and in 1972 founded a design business, Porsche Design Studio, where he created eyeglasses, watches and pens.
As a designer, he had a reputation as a functionalist.
"A formally harmonious product needs no decoration, it should be elevated through pure form," he once said — a motto reflected in the lean lines of the 911.
He served as chairman of Porsche AG from 1990 to 1993 and helped steer the family firm through a crisis as sales plunged in the late 1980s under pressure from global competition and a strong German mark that hindered exports.
Under his chairmanship, the company brought in a new CEO, Wendelin Wiedeking, who is credited with turning the company around.
Porsche was to be buried in a private ceremony in the chapel at Schuettgut, the Porsche family's estate in Zell am See, Austria.
Would ours still be a 928
04-05-2012, 06:38 PM
#7
Drifting
This is a sad day for us Porsche owners
I also have been a porsche fan since childhood.
I never thought I would own one because I though they would be to expencive.
RIP Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Hacker, can we think of a way to lower the flag
I also have been a porsche fan since childhood.
I never thought I would own one because I though they would be to expencive.
RIP Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Hacker, can we think of a way to lower the flag
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04-05-2012, 06:46 PM
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f'n brilliant dude. . . . a tremendous source of integrity in the brand . . . . hopefully his successors will continue such dedication to design and engineering performance.
RIP F.A. Porsche.
RIP F.A. Porsche.
04-05-2012, 10:23 PM
#11
Drifting
Alex, can I borrow your flag for over at the OC
I don't know why but the loss of FA really bothers me.
He was chairman when the new CEO was appointed which without that decision our 928s may not have been designed.
I kind of feel that I now really have to do my best to keep my car in the best shape.
I don't know why but the loss of FA really bothers me.
He was chairman when the new CEO was appointed which without that decision our 928s may not have been designed.
I kind of feel that I now really have to do my best to keep my car in the best shape.
04-06-2012, 11:02 AM
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Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was apparently referred to commonly as "F. A." However he was also commonly known as "Butzi." His father was Ferry Porsche, and that is him pictured above in both of the pictures. He too contributed much to the Porsche Legacy.
Jerry Feather
Jerry Feather