Biography of Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche

Although the company of Dr. Ing. h.c.F Porsche AG was formed on April 25,1931 as "designers and consultants for land, sea and air vehicles," it wasProfessor Dr. Ferry Porsche, son of the automotive genius Professor FerdinandPorsche, who steered the company into becoming one of the world's leadingautomotive engineering design companies and specialist manufacturer of sportscars. From the time he designed the first Porsche, the Type 356 in 1948, itwas his personal involvement that made Porsche the great marque it is today.

When Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, known as "Ferry," was born in WienerNeustadt, Austria, on September 19, 1909, his father was Technical Director ofthe Austro-Daimler Company.

Never far away from the automotive work of his father, Ferry Porsche wassoon behind the wheel of a car and, by the age of twelve, was even permittedto run in the class winning Targo Florio car, the lightweight Austro-DaimlerSascha.

When the Porsche family moved to Stuttgart in 1923 for Professor FerdinandPorsche to become the Technical Director of Daimler-Benz, the south Germanautomotive center became Ferry Porsche's second home. It is there that he waseducated and met his wife, Dorothea, she remained his staunch companion untilher death in 1985, and was the mother of his four sons.

Ferry Porsche started working with his father when the latter formed hisindependent design office. Their first contract, designated number 007 togive the impression it was not their first project, was a 2-liter car forWanderer. The success of this car was later to lead the newly founded AutoUnion Company, which had incorporated Wanderer, to appoint Professor Porscheas the designer of a new Grand Prix car to meet the new 750 kgs. maximumweight formula.

The Auto Union was the most advanced pre-war racing car design concept.It was of lightweight construction, featured a 16-cylinder super-chargedengine, with unique valve control mounted just behind the driver; an engineposition which is standard for all modern generation F1 cars. Ferry Porscheplayed no small part in its design and construction. Less well known is thefact Ferry Porsche conducted much of the initial test driving of the car untilhis father declared one day, "I have enough drivers, but only one son."

One other car which the Porsche firm designed before World War II was tohave an important influence on both Ferry Porsche and the rest of the world.It was, of course, the most produced car of all time: the Volkswagen Beetle.

The war itself cut deep into the life of the young automobile designer.Transferred from demolished Stuttgart to the Carinthian town of Gmund in 1943,Ferry Porsche and a few colleagues had to start again from scratch in 1945 bykeeping busy with repair jobs and the construction of simple farm machinery.

Meanwhile, the French held Ferry's father, Professor Ferdinand Porscheuntil 1947, when Ferry Porsche's family managed to raise sufficient money fromnew contracts in Italy to buy his freedom. One of these design projectsresulted in the Cisitalia Formula 1 race car, unveiled at the Turin Motor Showthat same year. It was the first race car with a midmounted engine andfour-wheel drive.

After that, Ferry Porsche decided to build his own sports car, effectivelythe first "Porsche." He took out plans he made back in 1939 for a light,compact car based on the Volkswagen, practically the only components availablein Germany at the time. Besides providing speedy acceleration, unmatchedbraking and good road holding, an essential criterion was the car had to bepractical for everyday use. Its "marketing concept" adopted by Ferry Porschewas, "If I build a car that gives me satisfaction, then there must be otherswith the same sort of dreams who would be prepared to buy such a car."

The first car to bear the Porsche name, the Type 356, was delivered onJune 8, 1948. It boasted a tubular space frame chassis, an aluminum body anda rear-mounted four-cylinder 1.131 cc VW engine. The following year, in orderto ensure continued production of the 356, Ferry Porsche negotiated a newcontract with the then head of Volkswagen, Heinz Nordoff, for the supply ofparts. Besides this, the contract appointed Dr. Ing h.c.F Porsche K.G. asconsultant engineer to VW, sole importer of VW's for Austria and recipient ofa royalty sum on every VW Beetle produced at Wolfsburg.

A total of fifty-two 356 cars were built at Gmund in Austria before thecompany returned to Stuttgart. Production recommenced there in March 1950.During the same year, Porsche began designing its own engine, the Carrera.The 356 model, which was initially forecast to have a world sales potential of500 units, was last produced in 1965 after over 78,000 cars had been built.The policy of model longevity is continued today with the Porsche 911, whichenters its 35th year of production.

Professor Dr. Ferry Porsche was happy and grateful that his fatherwitnessed with approval, shortly before he died on January 30, 1951, the startof Porsche as a specialist sports car manufacturer. Since 1948, decades ofhard, dedicated work were put in by him to further enhance the Porscheproduct, which enjoyed a fine reputation from the beginning, by expandingcustomer service and marketing, not to mention accelerating productdevelopment through motor racing.

Since entering Le Mans in 1951 and achieving a class win, the name Porschehas been synonymous with success in motor sport. Amongst its numeroustriumphs, Porsche has been crowned World Endurance Champion in sports carracing 14 times and, since 1970, has won the Le Mans 24-hour race a record15 times. The world famous Monte Carlo rally was won four times by Porsche911s, and an experimental 4WD 911 Carrera won the 1984 Paris-Dakar desert racefirst time out, the very first sports car ever to achieve this honor.Subsequently in 1986, Porsche 959s finished first, second and sixth on theirdebut outing in the event as well as becoming the first all-wheel drive racingcar to enter and win its class at Le Mans.

In all, Professor Dr. Ferry Porsche demanded a great deal from hisengineers, mechanics and drivers. He made courageous investments in newdevelopments and thereby founded the worldwide reputation of his firm as aprivately controlled, independent producer of technologically advanced sportsand racing cars for worldwide use.

In 1972, the year the Porsche family withdrew from active management ofthe company, Weissach was opened. Today, Weissach is world famous as a sitefor research and development, where 30%, of all work is undertaken on behalfof other manufacturers, governments and NATO.

Back in 1965, Ferry Porsche was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by theTechnical University of Vienna in recognition of his achievements in so manybranches of the automobile world. In 1984 on his 75th birthday he was awardedthe honorary title of 'Professor.'

1909 Ferdinand Porsche was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria on September 19.

1931 Began his activities as a designer in the engineering consultancy of his father, Dr. Ing h.c.F Porsche KG.

1932 Ferdinand Porsche's duties expanded to include supervision and coordination of testing. Assisted with the design and development of the Auto Union race car.

1934 Head of VW Testing

1935 Ferdinand Porsche became the Manager of the Research Department in the newly established Porsche test plant, Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

1935 Married Dorothea Reitz from Stuttgart (died 1985). They had four sons.

1938 Head of Development Department. In same year the design studio moved to a newly built building in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

1940 Took over the post of deputy director for the entire operation.

1945 Ferdinand Porsche headed the firm, moved to Gmund in Carinthian during the war, and initiated development of the legendary Porsche 356, based on the Volkswagen and the first car to carry the Porsche name.

1948 The first 356 was completed in June.

1949 After completing the first 52 cars of this 356 range, Ferdinand Porsche with his company and most of his colleagues returned to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Rebuilding of the consultancy offices for outside contracts took place.

1950 Production of the Porsche 356 began in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

1959 Professor Theodor Heuss presented the Grosse Verdiensstkreuz (Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit) of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ferdinand Porsche in September.

1965 The Technical University of Vienna honored Ferdinand Porsche in November with the presentation of the title, Dr. techn. E.h.

1972 The Dr. Ing. h.c.F Porsche KG became a joint stock company (AG). Dr. Ferdinand Porsche assumed the post of Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

1975 Dr. Porsche received the Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeichen (Great Golden Cross Of The Order Of The Order Of The Order Of the Order of Merit) of the Republic of Austria in Vienna on January 31.

1979 On September 19, Lothar Spath, Prime Minister of Baden-Wurttemberg presented Dr. Porsche with the Grosse Verdienstkreuz mit Stern (Knight Commander's Cross) of the Bundesverdienstorden, on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

1984 A third of the entire Dr. Ing. h.c.F Porsche AG capital was offered to the public in the form of non-voting preference shares on April 25. On September 19, Dr. Ferry Porsche celebrated his 75th anniversary and was awarded the honorary title of 'Professor.'

1985 The Guild of Motoring Writers Vice Presidents trophy for outstanding achievements in the field of automobilism was won by Professor Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. Honor of "Senator E.h." by University of Stuttgart.

1990-1998 Honorary President of Supervisory Board, Porsche AG.