Mr. Porsche, the first
The Porsche story begins with Ferdinand Porsche, an Austrian engineer born in 1875. Before forming his own car company in conjunction with his son (also Ferdinand, but referred to as “Ferry”) in 1948, Ferdinand Porsche worked for a number of firms including Austro-Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, where he designed the legendary S, SS, SSK, and SSKL line in the mid 1920’s. Good examples of this car are now worth well over $10 million.


A 1928 Mercedes SS, seen here in racing trim

He also worked for Auto Union (one of the companies that is now represented by one of the four rings of the Audi symbol) designing their legendary 12 and 16-cylinder silber pfeil or “silver arrow” race cars that dominated the Grand Prix circuit in the early and mid 1930’s. With the rise of the Nazi party and the Third Reich, Porsche found himself designing tanks, in addition to a small, robust, and practical car that was inexpensive enough for the average German citizen. This car was called the Volkswagen (“people’s car”) and is more familiarly known as the Beetle today. In recognition for his work, Porsche was awarded the German National Prize for Art and Science by Adolf Hitler in 1937.

After the war:
After languishing in a French prison for nearly two years, Mr. Porsche was liberated, and together with his son, went on to form Porsche automobiles, based first in Gmünd, Austria, and later, Stuttgart, Germany. Their first model, the 356, was based heavily on the Volkswagen Beetle, and the money to build these cars was initially provided by the royalties from the Beetle, of which over 20 million would eventually be built. The 356 underwent continuous development until production ceased in 1965, developing from a handmade car of approximately forty horsepower to a world-class sports car that made 145 horsepower in its most potent iteration, the 356 2000GS Carrera.

Ferry Porsche’s basic philosophy was to build sports cars that were reliable, of high quality, and of high utilitarian value. These dogmas, in addition to the 356’s excellent performance and unique character resulted in the sale of over twenty thousand 356’s, and the money from the sales of these cars was used to further Porsche’s racing efforts. In turn, the technology and engineering experience gained by taxing cars to the utmost was subsequently applied to the street cars, producing a superior product in terms of performance and durability. This “race on Sunday, sell on Monday” approach was commonplace among European manufacturers at the time and resulted in the introduction of many technologies that are now considered de rigeur on automobiles.

An extremely early 356 (circa 1949), one of the so-called Gmünd cars built before the factory was moved to Stuttgart, Germany from Gmünd, Austria.


A 1959 356A Carrera coupe, one of just 43 built with this engine.

911 Genesis and Early Cars, 1963-1973
The 1970’s and 1980’s: The 911 Grows Up
1990’s and Beyond: The 911 Gets Modern

Return to The Porsche 911