History of Porsche AG

The development potential of Porsche does not start with the first Porsche sports car in 1948. It started back in the beginning of the 20th century when Professor Ferdinand Porsche senior presented his first designs and constructions.

Founder of the company, Ferdinand Porsche was born to German-speaking parents in Vratislavice nad Nisou which is now part of the city of Liberec in the Czech Republic.

The young Porsche demonstrated excellent mechanical aptitude and, at age 18, was recommended for a job in Vienna with Bela Egger (later Brown Boveri). In Vienna, he sneaked into night classes at the Technical University, the only "formal" engineering education he ever obtained.

Austro-Daimler (a licensee of the German Daimler firm) recruited Porsche in 1906 to be its general designer. One of his most famous A-D's appeared in 1910. Porsche designed an 85-horsepower, streamlined car for the Prince Henry Trial. Examples won the top three places in the 1910 trial, and Model 27/80 has ever since been known as the "Prince Henry."

In January 1931, he launched his consulting company, 'Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH Konstructionsburo Fur Motern, Fahrzeug, Luftfahrzeug, and Wasserfahrzeugbau' ('Motors, Vehicles, Airplanes, and Boats...').

Porsche is known for designing the original concept of Volkswagen Beetle and for his contributions to advanced German tank designs: Tiger I and Tiger II.Porsche was honoder by Adolf Hitler in 1937 by the German National Prize for Art and Science, one of the rarest decorations in the Third Reich.

Porsche's son, Ferry Porsche, is the eponym for Porsche automobiles, initially based to a large extent on the Volkswagen (Beetle) design.

The first Porsche, the Porsche 64 of 1938, used many components from the Volkswagen Beetle. The second Porsche model and first production automobile, the Porsche 356 sports car of 1948, was built initially in Gmünd, Austria, the location to which the company was evacuated during war times, but after building forty-nine cars the company relocated to Zuffenhausen, Germany. Many regard the 356 as the first Porsche simply because it was the first model sold by the company.

Porsche history milestones

1948, June 8: First Porsche car (#356-001) registered in Gmund Austria; it --> had a 1086cc 30kW VW engine.

1949: Production begins in Stuttgart, Germany; the car is called the 356 because it is the 356th project off the Porsche design desk.

1963: Porsche "901" (later renamed the "911" after a protest by Peugeot) is shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show, 2L flat-6, air-cooled engine, 97kW at 6200rpm. The engine is later enlarged to 2.2L and 2.4L.

1964: Porsche 911 production begins.

1973: Porsche 911 Turbo, 2.7L, 186kW, rear "whale-tail spoiler".

1981: 911 4WD concept car shown at Frankfurt Motor show.

1984: A 911 4WD wins the Paris-Dakar rally.

1995: 911 series 993, 300kW twin-turbo, 6-speed, electronic control of 4WD and limited slip diff' from the Carrera 4 and Porsche 959. This engine later developed up to 400kW in a car with a weight of 1280kg and 4WD.

1998: 50th anniversary, It is said that over 1,000,000 Porsches have been built and that 2/3 of them are still on the road.

2004: Porsche Cayenne production starts, firts SUV in brand history.