Porsche: The People, the Cars and the People’s Car
by Paul A. Schons

Originally published by the Germanic American Institute in January, 2002

Ferdinand Porsche was born in Maffersdorf, Austria (now in the Czech Republic) on September 3, 1875. At age 18 he found a job in Vienna. While working in Vienna he audited a few courses at the technical university for the only engineering training he ever received. A few years later he took his first job in the automotive industry with Jacob Lohner. There he was involved in the design of an electric car, the Lohner-Porsche. That first car by Porsche set land speed records in Austria, speeding up to a remarkable 35 miles per hour. Later he participated in the development of a mixed car using an internal combustion engine combined with electrical power. In 1905 he won the Austrian Poetting Prize as Austria’s outstanding automotive designer.

On the strength of Porsche’s earlier work he was offered a position with the Austrian division of the Daimler automobile company (today Daimler/Chrysler) as its chief designer. After several successful designs of early Mercedes he also worked on airplane engines, fire trucks, buses, wind electric generators and even an agricultural tractor. By 1923 he moved to the company’s headquarters in Stuttgart as technical director. There he developed several more very successful Mercedes models. In 1924 the Technical College of Stuttgart awarded him an honorary doctoral degree in engineering on the basis of his achievements.

Since his days at Austro-Daimler he had a personal dream of a mass produced automobile which could be produced cheaply enough to be affordable for the average citizen. He made a proposal for such a car to his employers at Mercedes-Benz, but was disappointed that there was no interest at Mercedes for his plan. Irritated, he left the company.

In 1931 he founded his own company, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH, incorporating his cherished honorary doctoral degree in the name of his new company. His son, Ferdinand, nicknamed Ferry, had been born in 1909 and now joined him as a manager in the new company. Their first car was the Wanderer. During the early 30s the Porsches also produced several prototypes of a small inexpensive “people’s car” of which the elder Porsche had dreamed for years. In 1933 the opportunity to build the “people’s car” presented itself, albeit through the agency of a person who would lead Germany to disaster during the next twelve years. Adolf Hitler, inspired by the success of Henry Ford’s affordable car, was determined to have such a car for Germany. Of the three competitors to build the new “Volkswagen” Ferdinand Porsche was selected. Several prototypes were built in the garage adjacent to the Porsche home at Feuerbacher Weg in Stuttgart. On October 12, 1936 the car was submitted to the government for testing. It passed all tests with superb results.

On May 26, 1938 the cornerstone of the new Volkswagen factory was laid at Wolfsburg. The elder Ferdinand Porsche oversaw much of the construction of the factory and he was involved in its operation after it opened. Due to the war, the first products from the company were war materials (including the Tiger Tank). The mass production of the Volkswagen Beetle did not begin until after the war.

After the war the elder Ferdinand Porsche was imprisoned by the French as a war criminal because of his involvement with the war materials plant at Wofsburg. He remained in prison until 1947.

Ferry Porsche had taken essential responsibility for the family company during and after the war. Due to the bombing during the war, Ferry had fled Stuttgart and returned to Austria. He had to start again from essentially nothing in 1945. Production was limited to simple farm machinery in the first years after the war. Before long, however, he had designed a Formula I race car which was quite successful. He then determined to build his own car and rebuild the family company. On June 8, 1948 the first Porsche, the 356 was completed. It made use of VW components (essentially all that was available yet at that time). In 1950 the family moved the company back to Stuttgart and inaugurated the production of the Porsche sports car. Until that time he had used a Volkswagen engine. He now began to design his own Porsche engine.

The elder Ferdinand Porsche joined his son in Stuttgart. He took great pride in his son’s accomplishments and the founding of a new Porsche company. After his first inspection of his son’s sports car he remarked, “Keine Schraube hätte ich anders gemacht.” (I would not have made even one screw differently.” Ferdinand Porsche Sr. died in Stuttgart on January 30, 1951.

Ferry Porsche continued to build the company into one of the world’s premier producers of sports cars and racing cars. In 1959 the president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodore Heuss presented him with the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1965 he was presented with an honorary doctoral degree by the Vienna Technical College. In 1972 Porsche converted the company into a stock company with shares available to the public. The family, however, retained essential control with family stock holdings and seats on the board of directors. The name of the company was retained, “Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche” but now with the addition of the letters AG (Aktiengesellschaft: stock based company).

Ferry Porsche was given numerous awards for achievement. In 1984 he was presented with the title of “Professor” by the Minister-Präsident (Chief Minister) of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Lothar Spath. Porsche remained as the chairman of the board of Porsche until 1990 when he retired and became the honorary chairman. Ferdinand (Ferry) Porsche died at the age of 88 on March 27, 1998.