Porsche History

We take a look at the important Porsche figures, historical moments and epic road automobiles and racecars.

Quick Links: The Key People / Porsche Glossary / Yesteryear Moments / The Crest & Brand / The People

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From its inception, the Porsche brand name was one associated with luxury and racecars, a tradition that has stood the test of time over the ages. The founder, Ferdinand Porsche, was once the chief engineer at Mercedes-Benz, and he even spent time working on Volkswagen vehicles. Porsche began his own company in 1931, naming the company after himself when it was incorporated. After that, Porsche began producing vehicles that would go on to become legendary for their performance and quality.

The very first Porsche nameplate was designed based on the same platform as the VW Beetle. Named the ‘Porsche 64’ and released in 1938, the model’s unique design and upscale vibe immediately caught on with buyers. Of course, the company’s growth was impeded when the war began, forcing Porsche to develop tanks instead of automobiles. However, the company bounced back as early as 1947, when the Grand Prix racing car made its debut. Shortly after, in ‘48, Ferdinand’s son Ferry Porsche created the company’s first-ever sports car – the 356.

By the 60s, the Porsche family was designing and producing popular sports cars that debuted with much anticipation at the Frankfurt International Auto Show every year. Then, in 1964, a legend was born when the first-ever Porsche 911 made its first splash in the industry. Over the next few decades, Porsche continued to expand and innovate in its lineup, until the Porsche 911 Turbo released in 1995 was the first vehicle to ever have onboard computer diagnosis, something that would revolutionize the auto service industry.

Still to this day, Porsche has maintained its status in the industry as a producer of unparalleled supercars and racing innovations. While it has many nameplates besides just the Porsche 911, the 911 is perhaps the most iconic and versatile model under the brand’s name, with over twenty-one different models and seven trim levels.

Porsche History - The Key People

The people who shaped Porsche

Ferdinand Karl “Burli” Piëch

Ferdinand Piëch (1937 – 2019) Named car executive of the century in 1999, Ferdinand Piëch transformed Volkswagen into the world’s largest carmaker by revenue. Piëch was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche. Piëch did everything from leading motor racing operations at Porsche during the 1960s, to turning Audi into a true luxury automotive leader, and then reviving VW in the 1990s and 2000s, turning it into...

Ferdinand Anton Ernst “Ferry” Porsche

Ferry Porsche 1909 – 1998 Born on September 19, 1909, of Austrian descent, Ferry Porsche kept the Porsche flame alive when his father was imprisoned in France. Ferry Porsche was one of the first employees to work in his father’s design engineering office, but it is his mark on the company while his father was away that made a huge difference. His realization of a...

F.A. Porsche with his iconic design work

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche

F.A. “Butzi” Porsche (1935 – 2012) Better known to Porsche enthusiasts as F.A. “Butzi” Porsche, he was the son of Dr.-Ing. Ferdinand “Ferry” and Dorothea Porsche, and grandson of Professor Ferdinand and Aloisia Porsche. While heading up the styling department at Porsche, he played a pivotal role in the design of the 904, the iconic 911, and the 914. He went on to establish Porsche...

Ferdinand Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche (1875 – 1951) Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche car company. He is best known for creating the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Auto Union racing car, the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK and several other important automobiles and technologies. Most importantly though, for fans of the best sports cars in the world, Ferdinand Porsche is the...

Glossary of Porsche Related Terms

Making sense of all the fun Porsche names, terms and abbreviations

Yesteryear & Historical Porsche Moments

The mythology of Porsche goes beyond just the people. Conversations, profiles, the cars and moments.

Motorsport & Racing PRR Yesteryear

Porsche racing in Southern Africa – Part II

Ian Fraser-Jones – ‘Out’ after a one mile push, the car having stopped due to a gearbox failure, the car’s only mechanical failure – Angola 1959 Porsche used its racing exploits around the globe not only to gain exposure and media coverage, but also to improve the performance and reliability of its road and race cars. Here we look into the second part of our...

Motorsport & Racing

Kremer Racing mixes with the big players

Le Mans 24 Hours, 9/10 June 1979: Its a tense time as the lead car, the #41 Numero Reserve Kremer Porsche 935 K3 driven by brothers Bill and Don Whittington, and Klaus Ludwig calls into the pits. Winning the Le Mans 24 Hour was without doubt the highlight of the team’s many achievements In motor racing, the performance margin that separates the winners from the...

Porsche Race Cars Porsche 961 PRR Yesteryear

961 – Porsche’s forgotten jewel

Group shot of (from L-R): Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar rally car; 959 road car; 961 race car (1986) The Porsche 961 was a special racing car. Based on the roadgoing technical showcase, the Porsche 959, the Type 961 showed that it had the stamina to go the distance in endurance racing on both sides of the Atlantic. Sadly though, its competition life was restricted to just...

Motorsport & Racing PRR Yesteryear

1981 Daytona 24 Hours – Preparation and Planning

Porsche’s 1981 Daytona 24-Hour winning poster A lot of people have asked me over the years, what is it like to plan, prepare for and run a 24-hour sports car race. It has changed somewhat over the years from the days of the Porsche 935 at the 1981 Daytona 24 Hours. Many of today’s cars are way over-engineered for what is required, reference IMSA DP...

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Hairy monsters – the Porsche 917/10 Can-Am Spyder

1973 Vasek Polak Porsche 917/10-018 Cam-Am Spyder driven by Jody Scheckter Jody Scheckter was born in East London on the east coast of South Africa, a sleepy seaside town that actually carried the honour of being the country’s motorsport centre up until the early 1960s. In 1973, Scheckter, by then a 23-year old fast-climbing motorsport star, had moved ‘overseas’ and had been criss-crossing the Atlantic...

Porsche Video

VIDEO: The Porsche Museum – Tradition Obliges

We never forget where we come from. Our tradition and our history are part of our DNA. And we are aware that our heritage is both – an honor and an obligation. This is why we have built the new Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen – a place designed to inspire visitors from all over the world and to display the diversity of the Porsche brand....

Porsche 908/02 K Spyder

1969 Porsche 908/02 “Flunder”

This Porsche 908/02 Flunder Spyder is one of the most extensively raced examples of one of Porsche’s most successful sports racing cars ever. In its inaugural season, chassis 908/02-018 was victorious with works pairing Jo Siffert and Brian Redman at the 1969 Watkins Glen 6 Hours – competing prolifically in successive decades right into modern times. Air-cooled prototypes The 908 and the 917 alike were...

Porsche Cayenne

The Porsche Cayenne Celebrates Twenty Years Of Success

Fourteen years before the Cayenne was introduced, Ferry Porsche made a statement that seemed to have foretold of the Cayenne, saying, “If we build an off-road model according to our standards of quality, and it has a Porsche crest on the front, people will buy it.” The Cayenne, since its introduction in 2002, has been one of the major pulls to Porsche’s consistent global success....

Porsche

Dubai’s Icons of Porsche festival

A 911 Turbo Sonderwunsch and the new Panamera were among the highlights of Dubai’s annual Icons of Porsche festival. Fans of classic cars, arts, and culture were on hand to commemorate 75 years of Porsche sports cars, as well as 60 years of the 911. The gathering at the Dubai Design District was treated to the first public display of the new Panamera, as well...

Porsche History PRR Porsche 356

Celebrating the Porsche Carrera heritage

Celebrations for the #55 Porsche 550 Spyder after finishing third in the 1954 La Carrera Panamericana. Sitting on the #55 car is Herbert Linge (left and Hans Herrmann (right). Sitting on the #56 car is driver Jaroslav Juhan with Porsche PR supremo Baron Huschke von Hanstein standing between the drivers with white cap and tie The origin of the model name, Porsche Carrera, is not...

Motorsport & Racing

Porsche 956/962 at Le Mans – Logistics Part II

Le Mans 24 Hours, 18-19 June 1983: By midnight, the #3 Rothmans 956 of Vern Schuppan/Al Holbert/Hurley Haywood was leading the field by a lap after a seventh place start on the grid. With just an hour to go and with Holbert behind the wheel, the lead looked secure until a door flew off down the Mulsanne Straight necessitating a replacement. The airflow over the...

Porsche Museum

Porsche Anchors Century of Le Mans Exhibit at New Germany’s Newest Automuseum

Many marques have sought glory at Le Mans but none have stood atop the podium as often as Porsche. Porsche has claimed 19 overall victories and 110 class wins over a century of racing around the clock in France. Success at Le Mans made Porsche a powerhouse and Porsche made Le Mans a legendary event. Already a Member? Sign in to your account here....

Motorsport & Racing PRR Yesteryear

Taking the Porsche 919 Hybrid around the world – Logistics Part III

WEC Silverstone 6 Hour, 18 April 2014: Maiden outing for the #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Mark Webber/Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley. This is the car during the FP1 session Following a fifteen-year absence from the top tier of prototype racing on the world stage, Porsche officially returned to the LMP1 class in 2014 with the 919 Hybrid race car. Preparing a race car like the...

Porsche

Porsche 907 – Building a Racing Empire Part III

The Porsche 907 has probably received the least amount of coverage of all Porsche’s 1960s ‘plastic prototypes’. But this lack of attention is unjustified, as the 907 played just as important a role in Porsche’s rise to motorsport stardom as any of the other successful Porsche racers of the time. Powered by an assortment of different engines, as most racing Porsches were, the 907 nevertheless...

Porsche History

VIDEO: Ferry Porsche “Independence”

Film “Independence” (ca 1991). Listen to the words of Ferry Porsche. These principles are exactly why people started to love Porsche cars and Porsche company....

PRR

Jägermeister 934 – the Professional Hunter

Jägermeister Porsche 934 chassis #930 670 0167 The Jägermeister 934 is one of the most recognisable liveries in the world of motor racing. It adorned the bodies of some of the great race cars in the 1970s and 1980s, and irrespective of whether the car won a race or not, it was usually the crowd’s favourite. The 1970s was a period of great experimentation and...

PRR

Porsche’s fabulous 904/8 – chassis #008

Porsche 904/8 (chassis #008) photographed in the Porsche Museum, September 2020 F.A. ‘Butzi’ Porsche, the eldest son of Ferry and Dorothea Porsche, joined the family business in 1958 having shown great interest in the field of industrial design. Working under the direction of Erwin Komenda, F.A. Porsche set about learning the business from the inside, and was soon given the task of ‘working’ on the...

Motorsport & Racing PRR Yesteryear

My first race as a crewman – Sebring 1978

12 Hours of Sebring, 18 March 1978: The #9 Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 935 driven by Brian Redman, Charles Mendez and Bob Garretson In the early to mid-1970’s I had been working part time (race weekends) as an IMSA tech inspector at some of the races, mainly the ones that I could fit into my work schedule of my day job as an engineer. At...

PRR

Mike de ‘Udy and the Carrera Six

The formidable Carrera 6 outside the Porsche headquarters, Stuttgart Zuffenhausen, 1966 The Carrera Six, as Porsche officially called the 906, was a radically different car from its predecessor, the 904 GTS. The 904 was a sleek glass fibre bodied racer penned by Butzi Porsche, and it took over as Porsche’s competition model following such illustrious forebears as the RS 718 and RS 61 which brought...

Porsche at Le Mans Part II: 1964 to 1969

Le Mans 24 Hours, 20/21 June 1964: Porsche 904/8 of Edgar Barth/Herbert Linge before the start of the race The introduction of the Type 904 heralded a new direction for Porsche’s race cars. Gone were the aluminium-bodied racers, as the 904 spearheaded a generation of GRP-bodied Porsches that culminated in the World Manufacturers’ Championship title, and that all-important Le Mans 24 Hour crown. This is...

Herbert Linge on ONS duty again with a 911 at Hockenheim in 1973.

People & Profiles

Herbert Linge: A Porsche Legend

Porsche’s Forrest Gump—the irrepressible Herbert Linge—pops up everywhere in Porsche history even after his retirement almost thirty years ago. The amazingly varied Porsche career of Herbert Linge would be unimaginable today—from wartime apprentice to manager of Weissach via workshop, development testing, race track, Porsche in the US, and Formula 1. Already a Member? Sign in to your account here....

Porsche 911

What’s your 911 story?

To date, 27 different variants make up the current generation of the 911 model line-up. Chatting to its developers at a ‘speed dating’ event made one thing clear above all: each Porsche 911 has its own story. Chaos is the enemy of the engineer. Perhaps that would explain why there are usually empty seats in lecture theatres during talks on fluid mechanics. This topic is...

Porsche Design

Shaping the future of Porsche

Tools of the trade Metal blades and scrapers, delicate wire loops, wooden sculpting tools, and brushes – this suitcase contains over a hundred instruments. But what they’re used for is not immediately clear. They’re the tools of a modeler, at the exterior studio of Style Porsche, who is responsible for producing clay models of future sports cars– one of the first steps on the path...

Porsche 959

Retrospect: The Porsche 959

When discussing breakthroughs in sportscar technology, the Porsche 959 merits its own chapter, if not a book. Introduced in the mid-1980s, this genuine supercar emerged as a spearhead of innovation, vastly surpassing the technology Porsche had developed to date. While the standard 911 was not short on performance or prestige, the 959 took its legacy further, introducing features that were well ahead of the entire...

Porsche Video

VIDEO: Ferry Porsche “Timelessness”

Porsche Logo & Crest – Guide

Gmünd, Carinthia, Austria

Porsche People Profiles

Porsche has a rich history of amazing personalities, whether it be designers, managers, engineers or race car drivers.

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Porsche History

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