autoevolution's porsche month

For some people, the name Porsche is synonymous with the original everyday sports car, the 911. For others, it’s the most successful carmaker in motorsport. For most, it purely represents German engineering at its very best, especially if we’re referring to the man, not the company that still proudly wears the Porsche name. 

That said, what is now one of the most profitable sports car companies in the world would have never existed without Dr. Ing. H.c. Ferdinand Porsche, who is a legend in his own right. 

Born 145 years ago, in a Bohemian town that is now part of the Czech Republic, Porsche was the third son in a five children home. He was an engineering prodigy even in his youth, when he provided his family home with electric lighting and an electric doorbell when nobody else in town had even heard of such a contraption apart from a carpet factory. 

A few years later, after having moved to Vienna, young Ferdinand created a number of electric cars, buses and even the world’s first hybrid vehicle while working with Jacob Lohner, a luxury coachbuilder. 

In the following decades he became known as the most proficient car engineer in Germany, where he worked for Daimler and eventually started his own consulting company, being in charge of various projects, including a 16-cylinder race car for Auto Union and the KdF-Wagen, which culminated in the Volkswagen Beetle. 

It was the Volkswagen Beetle’s underpinnings that eventually gave birth to the very first Porsche production car, the 356, and then to its more famous successor, the legendary 911. While Dr. Ing. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche passed away in 1951, his legacy and name continue with one of the most celebrated sports carmakers in history. 

Mostly because of that, but also because the company’s grandfather was born this month, we’ve decided to dedicate September to the world of Porsche. Stick around on autoevolution and you might even learn something new about the ups and downs of the second-most famous carmaker based in Stuttgart. 

Editor's note: This special feature by autoevolution was not sponsored or supported by a third-party.