"I Couldn't Find the sports car I dreamed of, So I decided to build to Myself"
This are the words from the iconic German automaker, the Great-father of German automotive industry, the man who initiated the build of some of the most iconic and evergreen cars of all time, Dr Ferdinand Porsche, the founding father of Porsche Automobili, the guys from the garage at Stuttgart. Porsche cars are always well known for their classic, never changing signature look which is cute for a car, and the outright power and peak performance when you really want to give it full beans. Yeah Mild on the road and wild on the track. For many, many enthusiasts, Porsche is the perfect car for their daily drive and weekend track-days, the perfect mixture of beauty and the beast.
We'll have to travel back in time to the 1900s, to 1931 when the German guy Ferdinand Porsche with his two friends Adolf Rosberg and Antoine Piech founded a Motor vehicle development and consulting agency. The turning point came when the company received an order to develop a car, accessible and accountable for the common people of Germany. The order was given by Adolf Hitler, the then monarch of Germany. Ferdinand and his friends geared up to work and that gave birth to Hitlers dream,the peoples car or the Volkswagen, the model was named the Beetle. Almost 52 thousand of them were produced and were one of the hits of Germany. Later in the day, Beetle had some special editions or the military spec called the Kublewagen, which was produced during the time of the second world war. The beetle was loved for its design and practicality and it was Ferdinand, who designed the car, aka bug.
8 years later Ferdinand decided to make a car of his own instead of designing and building it for someone else, so he developed the first official Porsche car the Porsche 64 but it saw extensive use of Volkswagen parts especially from the beetle. But by 1945 he was arrested and took to jail by the government for committing war crimes and was put up in jail for almost two years. On the 20th month of imprisonment, Ferry Porsche, the son of Ferdinand decided to take over the captaincy of the ship and build a new car, this adventure was because he couldn't find a car that suited him. But he was welcomed by some of the toughest working conditions and challenges to the throne because he had to steer through some of the toughest days for the next two years until his father came out of the prison. Unofficially the first model of the company was the Porsche 365, whose wooden model were carved out inside a sawmill in Austria. The production was flagged off after they were hit with sufficient pre orders. As I said earlier, it can be said that this is unofficially the first Porsche because it was sold. The very next year the Porsche 365 became road legal and within the next two years, the production of the Porsche 365 was taken over by his fathers production team,Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH in Stuttgart. The Porsche 365 also used many parts such as the Engine case from the internal combustion, Transmission and several parts of suspension.
The Porsche 365 had evolutionary stages A B and C while in production and in each stages the number of parts sourced from Volkswagen went down the line and were replaced by original equipment manufactured from Porsche's own factories. The body was designed by Erwin Komenda who also took his part in designing the beetle. Thereafter, Porsche's signature builds began gaining popularity all over the world, and their signature builds included air cooled rear engined cars which were rare for the time being, Porsche, from their early stages are always known for the well balanced recipe they give to the car.
One of the interesting thing about Porsche is their logo, because during my younger ages, this logo always confused me with that of Ferrari's Prancing horse, I think many of you had the same thing with yourself. The Porsche logo is a bit different from that of the other and it stems from Coat Of Arms of the Free People's State of Württemberg Coat of arms of Württemberg of Wiemar Germany along with the coat of arms of Stuttgart, a prancing horse in the middle, Wiemar-era Württemberg Coat of arms. In 1972, the company changed from Limited Partnership legal form to Public Limited Company which was the aftermath of Ferry Porsche's "No Family Members in the company" idea which he took from the Japanese pioneer, Soichiro Honda. As a result Ferdinand Alexander Porsche and Ferdinand Piech left the company and continued independently. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche started Porsche Designs which started producing executive Porsche merchandises like watches, shades furniture and other fashion related items. Meanwhile Ferdinand Piech formed new engineering and luxury items beauro and built one five cylinder inline diesel engine for Mercedes Benz, the other German giant.
The First CEO of Porsche AG was Ernst Furhmann and he was so adventurous that he tried to knock off the 911, which had gained popularity by then, from production and replace it with front engined Grand Sportswagen, the Porsche 928. But 911 had such long and powerful lifeline that it undoubtedly outlived the 928. Also Furhmann was the creator of the Furhmann engine which was used in the 365 Carrera and 550 Spyder. The main character that made this engine distinctive from other Porsche engines was that this had four overhead cam shafts apart from the normal central camshaft with push-rod system from Volkswagen. After the adventurous Furhmann there were Peter W Schultz, Arno Bohn and Wendelin Wiedking as the CEOs. The current chief executive officer of the company is Oliver Blume who is in charge from 2015. Meanwhile on the other side, Ferdinand Piech took over the CEO position of Volkswagen group from 1993 and he continued until 2002, and after resigning in 2002 he became the chairman of VAG supervisory board and is continuing since then.
Taking the story back to 1964, the year saw the introduction of one of the most to be iconic model, the Porsche 911. 911 had the pedigree of the combination of Porsche masterpiece, the air cooled rear engined sports car design. This was given something really punchy under the hood too, the iconic Porsche six cylinder boxer engine and this little but big beast was born from the hand of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. 911 was chronological name given to the model but it later became so popular to the public that it turned to a brand of itself. The number was initially supposed to be 901 but Peugeot, the French automakers, already had that, which made the Porsche one to be 911. Along with 911 there where two other models Cayenne and boxter which were introduced later in the timeline and they had their own period on the story.
By 2002 Porsche had grown comparatively bigger and their new contestant, the Porsche Cayenne Marked the launch of their Leipzig production facility in Saxony state. Within two years of introduction of the new factory, it turned to be the hub of Porsche production as it accounted for more than half of the output from them, also the Leipzig facility produced the un-tamable beast, the Porsche Carrera GT. At its time the Porsche Carrera GT was one of the most expensive builds with a whupping 450,000 pounds price tag, and it turned out to be the most expensive production model they have ever built.
Within the next four years the Boxter and Cayenne supremacy came to an end and the 911 regained the throne of best seller. But the Cayenne still made a challenge for the 911 and since then both the models have been cycling the bestseller throne simultaneously. Porsche's north American wing, Porsche Cars North America announce the new scheme of subscribing to cars and SUVs, recently made into effect by one of the other German Automaker BMW. But this is different from that of BMW. The Porsche scheme allows the costumer to experience Porsche vehicles through subscription rather than owning or leasing the car. Yeah they have taken the literal meaning of it.
By the introduction of a new and unwelcomed player called the covid 19 Porsche took hit right at the head. They had to seize their production operations of Europe of almost two weeks, and by this deed they meant response to the significant growth in the rate of infection and death due to the COVID 19 and the resultant responsive measures by related authorities. Since their fallback they are slowly getting up back to the game with some significant announcements and refreshments in the model ranges.
Ferdinand Porsche on his initial stages, worked for Volkswagen and then turned out with his independent firm called the Porsche Automobiles. As said earlier it was Ferdinand Porsche who designed the Volkswagen Beetle or the peoples car. From the early stages, Porsche had kept a close relationship with Volkswagen as a company and later as a group. They had lended many parts to each other for both of their models. The first collaboration between them happened in 1969 resulting in the making of the VW-Porsche 914 and 914-6. Where 914 used the VW package under the hood and 914-6 used Porsche package under the hood. 7 years after the first one they came together again, in 1976, to make another model, the 912-E. For the states, that is the United States Of America they made a special model called the 924 which saw extensive use of parts from Audi, another German manufacturer, and to add to that fact, the car was rolled out to production from the Audi factory at Neckarslum. There was another model built in the same factory but used less VW components, the Porsche 944S. After getting under the same umbrella of collaboration many of the Porsche models began sharing platforms with other VW and Audi models. One of the most iconic model of Porsche, the cayenne SUV, built in the VW groups factory at Bratislava Slovakia, shares the underpinnings with VW Tuareg and Audi Q7.
By the year 2007 Porsche created a wing with the name Porsche SE by renaming the old Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, and became a holding company for the families' stake in Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, which is about 50.1% which in turn held 100% of the old Porsche AG and Volkswagen AG 50.7% At the same time, the new Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG was created for the car manufacturing business. After two years, Porsche SE and VW AG decided to merge under the VAG group by 2011. This resulted in the formation of the Integrated Automobile group, also 50.76% shares of Volkswagen went to the hands of Porsche SE. Meanwhile Volkswagen AG acquired Porsche AG along with the management positions in Porsche SE. The highest stake of a company owned by Porsche is 81.8% that of Mieschke Hofmann und Partner a global information and technology and process consultancy on automotive and manufacturing sectors based from Ludwigsburg Germany. Also it has a 10% minority share on Bugatti Rimac, the Croatian automaker.
Porsche, in the long years of making cars has rolled out some of the most iconic models of all time. It is a tough job to select some of the iconic models from this vast range which shrank over time. But as Tony Stark said even dead I am the hero, some of these cars, which are already gone off from production, still lives down in the heart of enthusiasts, the real evergreen makes.
First is the Porsche 918 Spyder is a limited-production mid-engine plug-in hybrid Hyper-car manufactured by Porsche. The 918 Spyder is packed in the powerhouse of naturally aspirated 4.6 L, 4,593 cc V8 engine churning out 599 hp at 8,700 RPM, with two electric motors delivering an extra juice of 282 hp for a combined output of 875 horses and 1,280 N⋅m of torque. This 918 spyder is one of the rarest Porsche like that of the Carrera GT. The epic version of this car is when it comes in that Liquid Silver Finish with the acid green accents on both the inside and the outside. This is a one of a kind build, and that makes it an icon.
The Second one is the 911, the most popular model from the company. The Porsche 911 is a two-door 2 2 high performance rear-engined sports car, with all due Porsche traits introduced in September 1964. It packs the punch of signature Porsche flat-six engine which was air cooled until the 996 series made in 1998, and originally a torsion bar suspension. The car has been continuously undergone performance and visual enhancements through the years but the basic concept has remained unchanged. The 911 is in a way the gem of racing teams and drivers. As I said earlier 911 is well experienced in many motor-sport events and even small races and it has ran through almost every track around the world which makes It one among the most successful competition cars. In the mid-1970s, the naturally aspirated 911 Carrera RSR won world championship races including Targa Florio and the 24 Hours of Daytona. The 911-derived 935 turbo also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979. Porsche won the World Championship for Makes in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979 with 911-derived models.
Now coming to the big muscly guys, the Porsche Cayenne marked the entry of Porsche to the big boys stuff or the SUV market. The Porsche Cayenne is a series of mid-size luxury crossover sport utility vehicles and it is on the field since 2002, with North American chapter of the model beginning in 2003. It is the first V8-engined vehicle built by Porsche since 1995, when the Porsche 928 was discontinued. It is also Porsche's first off-road variant vehicle since its Super and Junior tractors of the 1950s, and the first Porsche with four doors.The Cayenne is the first Porsche assembled outside of Europe, in Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia. Only the base model 3 liter V6 is assembled in Malaysia, while other models are imported from Slovakia. Andd the other brother, the Porsche Macan, The Porsche Macan code-named, the Type 95B is a high-performance five-door luxury crossover SUV rolled out from the production line in Porsche's Leipzig facility, Germany. The Macan range includes numerous variants and limited editions, including the Macan, Macan S, Macan S Diesel, Macan GTS and the Macan Turbo. The Macan shares a platform with the Audi Q5, also, is the least expensive vehicle currently sold by Porsche, so if you re looking for a Porsche, this could be a better choice without breaking the bank.
Porsche also has a junior car in their line up but do not underestimate that junior guy, he is a powerhouse. This car is known in two iterations, the Boxter and Cayman. These two are mid-engine two-seater sports cars from Porsche running across four generations and still going, as a two-door, two-seater roadster in the name Boxster and a three-door, two-seater fastback coupe called Cayman. The first generation Boxster was introduced in 1996; the second generation Boxster and the Cayman arrived in late 2005; and the third generation launched in 2012. Since the introduction of the fourth generation in 2016, the two models have been marketed as the Porsche 718 Boxster and Porsche 718 Cayman.
One of the most wild Porsche boy they have ever built is the Porsche Carrera GT, yeah the car mostly infamous for causing the death of the Hollywood legend, the king of Fast Saga, Paul Walker. Carrera GT with the project Code 980 is a mid-engine sports car who is an active player from 2004 to 2006. This car turned out to be an award magnet as it took a tonne of awards of its time. Sports Car International named the Carrera GT number one on its list of Top Sports Cars of the 2000s, and number eight on its Top Sports Cars of All Time list. For its advanced technology and development of its chassis, Popular Science magazine awarded it the "Best of What's New" award in 2003.
Yes and now talking about their legacy in motor-sports one of the biggest thing they can bluff about is their 19 outright wins at the 24 hours of Le Mans and is currently the worlds largest sports car manufacturer. In 2006 they built 195 race cars in various international motor-sports events. The next year Porsche was expected to construct no fewer than 275 dedicated race cars. Some of their prominent models they made during the year are 7 RS Spyder LMP2 prototypes, 37 GT2 spec 911 GT3-RSRs, and 231 911 GT3 Cup vehicles etc. Now there are roumers around the paddock that Porsche and Red-Bull Racing officials are talking about bringing the guys from Stuttgart to the F1 paddock but there is no official conformation or announcement related to the deal.
Now that you have read all these stuff let me sum up a little bit about the company. Headquarters and main factory in Zuffenhasen Stuttgart Germany, the place home to the iconic Porsche engines Flat Six and V8s. Meanwhile Cayenne and Panamera are produced in Leipzig Germany. By the 11th may of 2017 they produced one millionth Porsche 911, and for the celebrations they made a special edition candy, an Irish Green Carrera S. Four years later in the 21st of August 2021, they confirmed new plant in Malaysia, the very first one outside Europe. As the report goes the factory will be controlled by their Malaysian partner Sime Darby who has been the official distributor of the company from Stuttgart for almost the last 12 years. Even now Porsche is just improving themselves to be the best sports car maker in the world.
