8 Slides For a Crash Course in Porsche History
Porsche was a brand that was bore out of the determination, tireless innovation, and the chase of automotive nirvana.
1. The Founder
The company was founded by Ferdinand Porsche who was the chief engineer at Mercedes-Benz before his departure. Ferdinand is famously quoted as saying: "I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself" and thus was born the company you see now. The man was amazing, and not only built Porsche but the brand of Volkswagen as well. Creating the car for VW that would be known as the automobile for the masses. Later, he used the plant that made the "People's Car" and started manufacturing the first Porsche using the same machinery of the VW Beetle. In 1938, the Porsche known as the 64 was released upon the world and changed things all over again for automotive enthusiasts.
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2. The Beginning
In the 1940s automotive endeavors had to take a back seat due to World War II and the production of military vehicles. The duty that fell upon Porsche was to take care of several designs for the heavy tanks known as The Elefant for Germany. An unfortunate casualty of the war was the Beetle, as the factory was destroyed at this time from bombing. However, Ferdinand wouldn't be denied his life's work and like a phoenix the company rose from the ashes in 1947 right back to producing vehicles. In 1948, Ferry Porsche built the company's very first sports car and called it the 356.
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3. The 356
This Porsche was the first car to bear the name of Porsche and is a lightweight two-door sports car that was available in either hardtop or convertible flavors. Production began in 1948 in Austria, but then two years later relocating to Zuffenhausen. The 356 lasted until 1965 well after the debut of the replacement model 911 in 1963. For those eagled eyed enthusiasts, the car was split into three tiers ranging from A to B to C denoting the production period of the car. Of all the 76,000 models that were produced during the time only around half survived the period.
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4. Passing of the Torch
Continuing on with VW and Porsche sharing DNA, the racing car that was the 356 was created from VW parts and was the very first roadster to bear the Porsche moniker. The 356 won its first international win in the 1100 CC class. At around this same time, the Porsche shield logo was designed which was based on the "Coat of Arms of the Free People State". Sadly, in 1951 Ferdinand Porsche passed away from a heart stroke leaving behind a company he had built from the ground up. Following the passing of his father, Ferry steps up to the plate and assumes control of the company.
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5. The 911
At the beginning of the sixties, Porsche was hard at work on a new vehicle that was designed by Ferry's son Alexander and would use a 6-cylinder engine. In 1963 the infamous 911 stepped onto the world's stage and made its debut at the Frankfurt Internation Automobile Show. Production started on the 911 a year later with the coupe model being first off the line and was immensely popular. Porsche wanted to diversify the lineup and in 1969 introduced the 914-4 and 914-6 mid engine mounted sports cars.
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6. The Seventies
Porsche's involvement in racing had come to a fever pitch with the new 917 that carried a 4.5-liter 12 cylinder boxer engine that just walked over competitors. During this decade Porsche went public and started an R&D department called the Weissach Research and Development Center. The middle of the decade brought with it the debut of the 911 Turbo, which ushered in a new age of street legal sports cars. To close out the decade Porsche brought forth the 924, which was the firs transaxle sports car on the market and production on the 928 commenced in Germany.
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7. 80's and 90's
Porsche was experiencing a massive success with the 956 and had all it could ask for in the world of racing. For things more mundane on the street Porsche had the 930 and later the 964 to keep customers more than happy. In 1993 Porsche produced a car that would slot under the Carrera and be the first model to use the Tiptronic transmission in both the manual and slushbox transmissions. Another notable point in the 90's was the new 911 in 1995 that featured a bi-turbo to help smooth the power curve that had plagued previous single turbo 911s. A huge change over for the Carrera happened near the end of the decade with some enthusiasts at the time calling it sacrilege; the introduction of water-cooled engines.
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8. The Present
In a move that no one expected at all Porsche delivers an SUV to the market and it is a massive success with those who can't justify a coupe finding relief. In 2003 Porsche followed up the performance benchmark that was the 959 with a car called the Carrera GT that sported a V10 putting out 605 horsepower. 2006 brought an expansion to production facilities in Leipzig with Porsche becoming a brand with multiple flavors of vehicles coming for various market segments. Three years later at the Leipzig assembly of the four-door Panamera begins at the factory. Due to global emission restrictions and fuel conservation Porsche utilized plug-in hybrid technology by way of electric motors to birth the mid-engine powerhouse known as the 918 Spyder. The 918 is a limited-edition hypercar that hit the scene in 2014 packing a 7-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission, a 6.8 kW h liquid cooled lithium-ion battery and a top speed of 210 mph. By 2014, Porsche had sold 42,323 vehicles across the world and had cemented itself in the minds of serious drivers young and old.
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