Porsche Cars were the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche, a Stuttgart, Germany-based design consultant who enjoyed a very close and fruitful working relationship with Volkswagen.
Before he developed his first Porsche, Dr, Porsche had already guaranteed his place in the annals of motoring history, as the creator of the “ Beetle” for Volkswagen.
The Beetle, launched in 1938, was one of the best selling cars in history, with more than 21 million Beetles produced, remaining in production for more than forty years when the last Beetle rolled off the production line in Volkswagen’ plant in Mexico.
Although Porsche began to set up designs and mockups of what would be the first car to bear his name in the mid-Thirties did not make its maiden appearance till after World War Two.
Sadly Dr Porsche did not survive to see the vehicle that he designed go into production, as he passed away early in 1951, at the age of 76.
By that time, the running of the company had been handed over to Dr. Porsche’s his son Ferdinand Alexander (F. A.), known to all as” Ferry “, who supervised the construction of the first Porsche cars.
With no in-house production facilities yet available, Ferry had the chassis and bodies were built under license by a Stuttgart -based master coachbuilders, Reutter Karosserie in the pleasant urban district of Zuffenhausen.
The drivetrains were produced by Volkswagen, where Porsche still held a significant interest.
This situation continued till the company opened their first plant, also situated in Zuffenhausen in 1953.
Having the facilities to invest in research, Porsche began to develop their own engines in the mid-Fifties, allowing them to introduce more powerful versions of the 356, with a third and final version released in 1959.
When it appeared, the powerful resemblance that the Porsche 356 bore to the VW Beetle was a little too close for comfort, with an air-cooled flat-four pushrod engine, and similarly designed suspension.
With no in-house production facilities yet available, Ferry had the chassis and bodies were built under license by a Stuttgart -based master coachbuilders, Reutter Karosserie in the pleasant urban district of Zuffenhausen.
This situation continued till the company opened their first plant, also situated in Zuffenhausen in 1953.
Having the facilities to invest in research, Porsche began to develop their own engines in the mid-Fifties, allowing them to introduce more powerful versions of the 356, with a third and final version released in 1959.
When it appeared, the powerful resemblance that the Porsche 356 bore to the VW Beetle was a little too close for comfort, with an air-cooled flat-four pushrod engine, and similarly designed suspension.
Having successfully launched the 365 and nurtured its development through all of the Fifties, with only one significant upgrade.
Ferry Porsche, who had been joined by his son, Ferdinand (or “Butzi” as he was better known), stretched the wire just a little bit longer. That came when Porsche introduced a final version of the 356 series, the B launched in 1959.
Bearing a very marked resemblance to its predecessors, the Porsche 356B came in two new styles, an open-topped roadster, and a coupe; whose “notchback” rear spoiler was produced according to Porsche’s specification by Karman, one of West Germany’s leading coachbuilders.
Even though demand for the 356B remained at a steady level well into the Sixties, Ferry Porsche was an astute enough businessman, and it was time to freshen up his model range. In 1964, Porsche pulled another classic out of his hat, what was to go on to be known as the “ Nine” series, with the first model in the series being the 911.
Another rear-engined car, the 911 ran through the Sixties and for two decades more, making Porsche a formidable presence in the luxury sports automotive sector, continuously introducing more exotic and technologically advanced sports cars till this day.
