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...
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
Ultimate Porsche History Hub
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 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...
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. “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.
Before we submerse ourselves in a new year of challenges and innovations, we take a look back on out top picks of what Porsche’s 75th year brought us. Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 Just like in 2022 the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team achieved a brilliant one-two result in Mexico City and made a strong start to the Formula E season. The Porsche customer squad...
Spa 24-Hour, 2 August 2008: The #160 Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S was driven by David Loix (B)/David Dermont (B)/Franz Lamot (B)/Jan Heylen (B) Over the years, we have attended many motor races and seen first-hand how the performance of the evergreen Porsche 911 has improved. This feature, the first in our four-part mini-series, starts with the 2005 season where the iconic 996...
Inspiration for this feature came from the post published by Porsche in December 2020. It covers the seven generations of the legendary 911 Turbo from inception in the mid-1970s right up to the current 992 model. No apology is made for using some of the text from the original feature, as this includes the unparalleled comments from rally legend, Walter Röhrl, who assisted with the...
If you were lucky enough to visit Rennsport Reunion 7 in Monterey, California, then chances are you gazed at one of Mark Morgan’s illustrations without even realizing it. An illustrator based in the U.K., Mark has mixed his passion for Porsche and his artistic talents to yield some truly exciting pieces. Where it started A childhood spent playing with diecast cars, and dreaming about cars...
Icons of Porsche – Taken seriously! Icons of Porsche is not just the theme for Rennsport Reunion 7, but represents the talented people who have pushed the limits, taken risks and bravely driven Porsche to success over the past 75 years as a sports car marque. Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) is proud to announce that two icons whose passion and determination positively influenced the...
Jean Behra following his accident at Caracas 3 November 1957 Staring out of period black and white photographs, Jean Behra’s handsome, but battered face tells its own story: a combative soul who seemed to thrive only when living on the ragged edge and for whom an exploit was either going to work or it wasn’t: “Ou ca passe ou ça casse.” The British press used...
The #6 Barbour, Stommelen, Mears car, a 935-78 (935-77A), enters the Sebring front straight. While this was the fastest car there, it was delayed for some laps with a brake issue and finished fourth The IMSA season in the 1970s always started with the two toughest races on the calendar, the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours. Daytona was tough because back then,...
Four originals: Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, his son Ferdinand, and two Porsche 550 Spyders on the Großglockner High Alpine Road – a mountain that figures prominently in Porsche family lore. What a panorama: At an altitude of 2,571 meters, the Edelweißspitze offers a magnificent view of the Großglockner, Austria’s highest peak. A seemingly untouched high Alpine landscape stretches out below it—a landscape like a painting that...
Celebrating the birth of a legendary brand In 1948, Ferry Porsche realized his dream of a sports car: with his team, he produced the Porsche 356 ‘No. 1’ Roadster. It marked the birth of a legendary brand and laid the foundation for an exemplary success story for the Porsche legend. “75 years of Porsche stand for pioneering spirit, passion, and dreams. We are celebrating together...
The 1977 #40 Martini Porsche 935/2.0 Baby (chassis #935 2 001) photographed at the Porsche Museum, Stuttgart, Germany in May 2017 Ernst Fuhrmann’s requirement to develop a significantly updated GT race car in 1977, would present a number of challenges for the Porsche race department. Just to make things interesting, the new car was to race in a class in which they had not competed...
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...
Celebrating Porsche icons on their 75th anniversary The Petersen Automotive Museum has launched a new Porsche-focused video series celebrating the people and icons that made the Porsche brand in America. This dynamic story-telling series, sponsored by Mobil 1, focuses on the personal stories of some of the world’s most renowned Porsche enthusiasts. The video series coincides with the Petersen Automotive Museum’s special “We Are Porsche”...
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...
Daytona 24 Hours, 4-5 February 1989: The #86 Porsche 962 of Klaus Ludwig, James Weaver and Sarel van der Merwe, makes its way along the Daytona banking I was really looking forward to the 1989 Daytona 24 Hour race. I had been working as a weekend warrior for Bruce Leven’s Bayside team since early 1987. The team had enjoyed successful seasons in 1987 and 1988,...
Hans Herrmann at the Retro Classics in Stuttgart, Germany 2010 Hans Herrmann, one of the most successful and popular racing drivers to join the Porsche AG works team, celebrates his 90th birthday this year on February 23. The endurance and Monoposto specialist, born in Stuttgart in 1928, is regarded as one of the most reliable and consistent race drivers of all time. In the course...
The year 1974 will be remembered for many different reasons, depending on where you were living in the world at the time and what caught your eye. For instance, Richard Nixon became the first US president forced to resign, following the Watergate Scandal in August that year. George Foreman and Muhammad Ali faced each other for the highly anticipated ‘rumble in the jungle.’ Eric Clapton...
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...
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...
A Porsche 904 Carrera GTS Coupé in 1963 outside the factory in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The early version had a slatted air intake behind the doors, this being replaced by scoops which were more efficient The Porsche Carrera GTS represented a watershed in the company’s march towards motorsport fulfilment. Gone was the space frame and aluminium construction of the 550s, the Type 904 ushered in a completely...
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...
Vic Elford, Porsche motorsport legend, passed away at his home in Plantation Florida on March 13. In the last few years, the 86-year-old battled cancer with the same courage, will, and determination that he had on track. These same values made him one of only four drivers to have six major victories at the Nürburgring. His ability to get the fastest speed from cars from...
A Brief History In mid-1967 the International Automobile Federation (FIA) announced that it had decided to modify the regulations pertaining to the Sport Prototype, Sport and Gran Turismo categories. As a result, the World Brands Championship was on the brink of the greatest crisis in its history. Many were the voices of protest that were raised then against the decision. The FIA banned large-displacement vehicles,...
2000MY Porsche 996 GT3 R (chassis #692090) © Coys This Porsche 996 GT3 R is being offered for sale by Coys of London. When it was launched in 1998, the Porsche Type 996 represented one of the most significant changes to the 911 model range in its (then) 35-year history. While all previous road-going 911 models had been powered by Porsche’s air-cooled six-cylinder engine, the...
The adventure begins Organized by the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Rennsport Reunion 7 Rally began September 27th at an amazing private collection in Southern California. Porsche enthusiasts ventured through some of the most exciting canyons, and gorgeous vineyard roads, and cruised along California’s most famous highways. Day 1 ended in gorgeous Cambria CA on historic Hwy 1. Seafood anyone? Cambria to Monterey Day 2 started...
Daytona 24 Hours, 31 January/1 February 1981: Bob Garretson, Bobby Rahal and Brian Redman driving the #9 Porsche 935 (chassis #009 00030) would go on to win the race by 13 laps, having started from 16th on the grid The Flying Tigers strike again! Being the best on the planet in something, even for just a short while, has got to be a great feeling. The...
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.
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...
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...
British GP meeting which Nick Faure led outright, starting from the second row, against the Falcons and BGG Escorts. But the fan belt came off due to a rag left...
Obviously these two attractive models from the lingerie manufacturer Triumph (München) like this Porsche 914/6 – Rutesheim Athletics Club, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (1969) Very different from previous production Porsches, the 914...
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...
Sir Stirling sits back and relaxes at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed after being interviewed by the author It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing...
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...
A huge banner adorns the side of this high bay warehouse in Werk 2, announcing the 25th anniversary exhibition of Exclusive from 1st March to 1st May 2011 Rolf Sprenger...
Toine Hezemans in his Brussels home, 2015 One of the Netherlands’ most successful racers, Toine Hezemans is part of a motorsport dynasty that began with his father who raced Porsches...
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 &...
Ernst Fuhrmann at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 June 1977 Porsche’s first CEO is frequently maligned as the man who tried to kill off the 911. There is...
Anatole Lapine, 1973 Anatole Lapine who was in charge of styling at Porsche under two disparate CEOs, Fuhrmann and Schutz, looks back on quite a CV: Chevrolet Corvette, Opel GT,...
Rallye Paris-Dakar 1984: Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 4×4 (Type 953) – driven by (from L-R) #175 Jacky Ickx, #176 René Metge, #177 Roland Kussmaul For many years, the éminence grise...
Hans Herrmann at the Retro Classics in Stuttgart, Germany 2010 Hans Herrmann, one of the most successful and popular racing drivers to join the Porsche AG works team, celebrates his...
Tilman Brodbeck poses with a 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Coupé (left) and a 911 Sport Classic (right) – 21 September 2009 To be able to write on your résumé...
Mark Webber being interviewed at the Geneva Motor Show 2014, on the occasion of the world debut of the Porsche 919 Hybrid Porsche’s return to the top category of the...
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...
Jean Behra following his accident at Caracas 3 November 1957 Staring out of period black and white photographs, Jean Behra’s handsome, but battered face tells its own story: a combative...
Dr. Ulrich Bez (1988) Hailing from the Bad Cannstatt district of Stuttgart, Ulrich Bez, who as Porsche Technical supremo hatched the 993, had two significant stints at Porsche. During the...
Peter Falk sits on the sill of the famous #23 Porsche 917 KH Coupé, winner of the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours. On this occasion it is located in the...
The inspired engineer behind so much of Porsche’s success, Helmuth Bott has long remained the company’s eminence grise, but little has been written about him. Now, Porsche Road & Race,...
Mont Ventoux, 18 June 1967 – Rolf Stommelen won this hillclimb driving a Porsche 910/8 Bergspyder Rolf Stommelen was one of Germany’s leading racing drivers for over a decade and...
Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood won the 24 Hours of Daytona on 3/4 February 1973 driving this 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 Peter Gregg was the IMSA driver every one strived...
Autograph card signed by Jürgen Barth (ca. 1980) More books have been written about Porsche than any other car company so the publication in English of another tome is hardly...
The Seikel Motorsport team last raced in the 2007 Le Mans, having participated on no less than eleven occasions in the 24-hour race. The team’s highlight in la Sarthe was...
Valentin Schäffer (1978) Another keen young recruitee to Zuffenhausen in the early 1950s, Valentin Schäffer, would become Porsche’s racing turbo specialist and engineer the induction systems that endowed Porsche sports...
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