Ferdinand Porsche, International Motorsports Hall of Fame member and Car Engineer of the 20th Century, was born on this day in 1875 in current day Czech Republic. Aside from founding Porsche, this is the man responsible for some of the world’s most beloved and distinguished automobiles. His first automotive creation, an electric-gas hybrid vehicle known as the Lohner-Porsche Mixte, debuted in 1898. It was the first mass produced hybrid vehicle to combine these two power sources and it was manufactured from 1900 to 1905. A 1902 draft saw Porsche enter military service where he served as chauffeur to Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the crown prince of Austria. His assassination would ignite WWI a decade later.
After his service he spent 25 years working in the automobile industry, including as the chief designer at Austro-Daimler. He designed his last car for Mercedes in 1927, resulting in the 1928 Mercedes-Benz SSK. He would go on to found Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH (Porsche) in 1931 to provide automobile consulting services for design and engineering of bodies, chassis and engines. The company did not build any vehicles under the name of Porsche. The first project the company completed was designing an engine for a new Wanderer automobile.
Building the Type 1
At the Berlin Auto Show of 1933, the relatively new Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, announced plans to put Germany on wheels. He detailed two ideas, the first would be to build a people’s car. The second was to develop a state sponsored racing program. Porsche would have a massive role in both of these projects. In June of 1934 Porsche received the contract to build the people’s car, which of course led to the production of the Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle. Porsche participated in the second plan by consulting Mercedes and Auto Union to develop race cars. Both of these companies were to receive 250,000 Reichsmark per year from the German government to assist with their racing development efforts and help bill Germany as an automotive powerhouse.
In 1939 Porsche built the Type 64, which many credit as the precursor to the first badged Porsche, the 356, which came nearly a decade later. Many consider it the first car of the Porsche company as it is known today. The Type 64 used many of the same parts as the Beetle.
During World War II Porsche designed tanks and tank destroyers for the German military. Following Germany’s surrender, Ferdinand was arrested for war crimes and held in prison for 22 months. He was released after being found not guilty of charges brought by the French government. While imprisoned, his son Ferry initiated work on the 356/1, the first car to carry the Porsche name.
That prototype vehicle would become the 356, which was road certified for production in 1948. While only 50 cars left the factory in its first year, more than 7,000 would leave the factory by 1956. By the time the 911 replaced the 356 in 1965, production hit approximately 76,000 units, of which about half survive to this date.
Ferdinand Porsche died at the age of 75 in 1951 in Stuttgart, Germany. Today, fittingly, Volkswagen owns Porsche.
