Porsche History

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

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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 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...

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...

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.

PRR

Hippie Porsche power launches a Le Mans legacy

Simeone Foundation Museum – 1970 Porsche 917-043 While diplomats and cartographers may technically show the roads around Le Mans as French soil, Porsche has laid claim to the winding bit of pavement that comprises the race track and especially victory lane. Since 1951, when a silver Porsche 356 clocked up its very first class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the German manufacturer...

Black and white photo of Ed Cole standing in front of Chevrolet Corvair

Porsche 356

Porsche and the Corvair Connection

People usually recall the Chevrolet Corvair as the car that was “unsafe at any speed” which is rather unfair because the Corvair itself occupied barely a chapter in Ralph Nader’s infamous book. Indeed, amongst others, the VW Beetle also received a pasting—and Mr. Nader thought the VW Microbus was too dangerous to be on the road. The real interest of the Corvair, though, is how...

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...

Porsche 934

The Story of 1976 Porsche 934, 930 670 0161

There are 934s, and there are 934s… The Porsche 934 has long lived in the shadow of its more powerful sibling, the Porsche 935. This is a shame. Not only was the 934 faster than the Carrera RSR that it supplanted (naturally!), but many 934s went on to have very interesting lives—being progressively updated to try and keep abreast, if not ahead of, their competitors....

Porsche Video

VIDEO: Ferry Porsche “Timelessness”

People & Profiles

George Follmer the Stand-in Champion

Follmer was born in Phoenix in 1934, though effectively he became a Californian as his family moved to Pasadena before he was two years old and it was in this northern suburb of Los Angeles that he grew up and raised his own family. He was, he says, a reasonable high school pupil “when I concentrated.” His studies were interrupted at 18 by the ‘draft,’...

Yesteryear PRR People & Profiles

It’s been a long journey – the Norbert Singer interview

Norbert Singer, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1996 Norbert Singer must rank as one of the most successful race engineers in Porsche’s long and glittering motorsport history. Porsche Road & Race spoke to him about his four-decade career with Porsche, the race cars he helped develop and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “It’s been a long journey,” Norbert Singer said with a smile, and...

PRR Yesteryear People & Profiles Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Arno Bohn – The Porsche Outsider

Arno Bohn at Weissach with the 968 Cabriolet (1991) Arno Bohn was managing director of Porsche from 1990-92. An outsider who came from the computer industry, he arrived at a company seared by falling sales and riven by internal division about future direction. He left a Porsche which though still weak, had a new 911, the 993, in the wings and had conceived the 986/996...

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....

PRR

The Remarkable Molly Porsche 356

Molly ready for the Peking to Paris rally in 2007 © David & Julie Harrison She was manufactured in 1958, and much of her early life is unrecorded. But in 2004, a customer of Gantspeed Engineering, Lincolnshire, England, asked the workshop’s owner, Robert Gant, to find him a right-hand drive Porsche 356A. This customer wanted to try his hand at a bit of classic rallying,...

Vintage Car Racing

Goodwood Members’ Meeting to celebrate 75 years of Porsche

Goodwood Members’ Meeting to celebrate 75 years of Porsche with spectacular on-track demonstrations Goodwood is delighted to announce that the 80th Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport will host a spectacular on-track demonstration celebrating 75 years of Porsche. Just as Stuttcars has covered previous Porsche outings at Goodwood, we’ll be sure to cover this one as well. Taking to the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit, which...

Motorsport & Racing PRR Yesteryear

12 Hours of Sebring 1986 – Things go better with Coke

Hans Stuck at the wheel on the way to winning Sebring in 1986. His co-drivers were Jo Gartner and Bob Akin. (Porsche 962 chassis #962-113) The 2.6-litre Porsche 956 which raced in the 1982/1983 seasons in Europe, was not accepted for racing in the USA, and so the 962 was developed by the factory. The sticking point was that the pedal box of the 956...

PRR

The ANDIAL 935-L ‘Moby Dick’

Side view of the ANDIAL 935-L ‘Moby Dick’ in the Riverside pit lane 1982 The ANDIAL 935-L ‘Moby Dick’ race car was a one-off creation that raced between 1982-1985. Without any help from the factory, the small team of dedicated professionals at ANDIAL with significant help from Glen Blakely, this 935-L won the Daytona 24 Hours in 1983 and finished second in 1984, with numerous...

Motorsport & Racing PRR Yesteryear

50th Anniversary of Porsche’s first victory at Le Mans

Dust jacket of Porsche 75th Anniversary book

Book Reviews

“Porsche 75th Anniversary: Expect the Unexpected” Book Review

Although a relatively late starter compared to others in the 20th century, what Porsche has accomplished over its 75-year history is quite remarkable. Few other manufacturers can match Porsche’s success in the showroom or on the racetrack over the past 75 years. Author Randy Leffingwell has written a new book documenting the history called “Porsche 75TH Anniversary: Expect the Unexpected”. Although the book covers some...

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...

People & Profiles

Porsche Veteran Roland Kussmaul

Except perhaps at one or two retirement parties or other formal occasions, no one ever saw Roland Kussmaul wearing a suit and tie. Racing or workshop overalls, Porsche’s pit lane uniform perhaps, even a mere pair of grubby shorts in those shots of the sweltering Dakar where he raced during the day and serviced the cars in the evening, but never a shirt and tie:...

Porsche History PRR

Porsche’s 70th anniversary – we look back 30 years to 1988

Type 964 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 retained much of its original 1963 styling (1989MY) Last month we looked at some of Porsche’s milestones around the time of the company’s 50th anniversary in 1998. This month we track back a further ten years to 1988, and we look back 30 years at what was happening in the world of Porsche around the year. Porsche Type 2708...

Porsche History

46: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport

Proven through competition Engineering, design, innovation; while the list is long for what describes the Porsche name, it can be distilled into one word; racing. Even before the days of cars that would bare his name, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche believed competition was the ultimate test for proving excellence in design and functionality. This belief was passed down to his son Ferry who would oversee the...

Porsche

1956 Porsche 356A Super Speedster

While the staff here at Stuttcars can never get enough of Porsche’s latest GT3s and 963 prototypes, there’s true reverence for the sports car that founded the company, the 356. It’s true beauty in its simplicity, the 356 has earned a spot in collections the world over with a reputation of being one of the most respected sports cars of the 1950s. And among all...

Porsche Race Cars Porsche 911 (997)PRR Yesteryear

New 3.8-litre 911 GT3 RSR triumphs at Le Mans 2007

Le Mans 24 Hours, 16-17 June 2007: Busy grid just before the start of the race Porsche introduced their new 3.8-litre 911 GT3 RSR (Type 997) for the 2007 season, replacing the 3.6-litre 996 GT3 RSR. In many ways, this new model was a better all-round race car, being more predictable and stable thanks to an increase in body stiffness of ten percent and an...

Porsche 917 LH-69

1969 Porsche 917 longtail

Background The Porsche 917, unveiled in 1969, stands as a testament to Porsche’s commitment to innovation and their quest to conquer the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Its debut at Le Mans in 1969 revealed its formidable speed and reliability, yet aerodynamic issues resulted in high-speed instability. After major changes, mostly in its tail design, the 917 would deliver Porsche their first overall victory in...

Goodwood

Goodwood Members’ Meeting – Celebrating 60 years of the 911

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Crowd of people bidding on Porsches at auction

Auctions

The Most Expensive Porsches Sold At Auction

While the cars with the record for most expensive auction values ever generally come from Italy, the little German company from Stuttgart also has enthusiastic and wealthy collectors who are willing to open the bank account to get a piece of history. While it is pretty rare for one of Porsche’s road cars to end up with an auction record, due mostly to production volume,...

Yesteryear PRR People & Profiles

Richard Attwood – eight decades young and still going strong

Richard Attwood relaxing between stints in the Drivers’ Paddock during the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed On 4 April this year, Richard Attwood will celebrate his 80th birthday, but speaking to him just a few months back about his win at Kyalami in ’69, you would not have thought as much. Attwood still oozes with enthusiasm and he will tell you just what happened and...

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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