Porsche. The dream car
Ferdinand Porsche said: " I couldn’t find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself.’ That’s how the legendary Porsche racing cars with no less legendary quality were born. More than 2/3 of all ever manufactured Porsche cars are still in operation. Is there anything else to say? :) Yes, there is! Porsche cars have been recognized not only as one of the most reliable ones in the world but also as the most profitable ones. According to the experts, the profit from each sold car makes Porsche the most profitable car company in the world. The absolute record was achieved in 2010 when the company’s earned 7.79 billion! Porsche cars won more than 28,000 world races in various categories! No other car company in the world can boast such a success. Most of the victories in racing are brought by the Porsche models that are as close to the mass-production models as possible. Yes, almost all racing models, for example, 911 GT3 and Carrera GT, are made in the production version. When you buy a Porsche, you buy a real racing legend.
The German car brand Porsche is produced by the company ‘Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft’. Founded by Ferdinand Porsche in 1931, it is still controlled by his family! The main production is concentrated in Stuttgart, Germany. The company produces luxury sports cars and SUVs. And much more! Sunglasses, clothes, pens, and watches from the Porsche Design are not already a surprise. Do you want to be surprised? Porsche also produces hookahs which cost 2000 US dollars each! :)
Porsche cars won more than 28,000 world races in various categories! Most of them are as close to the mass-production models as possible.
Some background
The largest shareholder of the company, after the Porsche family, is the German VAG concern, which owns such brands as Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Scania, Škoda, Ducati, MAN AG, and 49.9% of Porsche shares. Therefore, the production of Porsche is largely in cooperation with Volkswagen. This historical cooperation began with the fact that Ferdinand Porsche, one of the most famous car designers, a brilliant engineer and founder of Porsche, created the most popular car of the 20th century – Volkswagen Beetle. In 1934, Porsche received an order from the German government to develop a ‘folk car’. The famous ‘Beetles’, created by Ferdinand Porsche, were originally called KdF (‘Kraft durch Freude’) – German for ‘Power through joy’. Each of these cost only 990 marks. It was assumed that every German worker, putting 5 marks aside monthly, after 3 years and 8 months will be able to drive his own Volkswagen. But the Porsche’s hear was only in sports cars…
Back in 1900, Porsche created the world’s first 4WD racing electric car, where the electric engine was installed along with the gasoline one. It was a hybrid – also the first one in the world! If hybrids seem to be guests from the future even now, you can realize how far ingenious Porsche was in advance of his time. Already in the Prince Henry Tour of 1910, racing cars of Porsche left no chance to rivals! All the top three places were owned by Porsche cars only. And one of them was driven by Ferdinand Porsche himself. He loved racing!
Why are the ignition keys always on the left of the steering wheel in Porshe? Because in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race, drivers had to run to their cars first, jump into them and start driving. And the time for which the driver ran to the car and took off was also counted. Porsche placed the ignition key on the left to provide a faster start and win the races.
Why are the ignition keys always on the left of the steering wheel in Porshe? Because in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race, drivers had to run to their cars first, jump into them and start driving.
In 1948 at the Porsche factory, model 356 was born, the first one that was officially named Porsche. And just a month later, it took first place in a race. This legendary car with stunning aerodynamics was made based on… old good Volkswagen Beetle! This Beetle had a 4-cylinder air-cooled engine, suspension, and gearbox. Now many replicas of the legendary 356 are made but the original models are a real catch for collectors. The rarest, modifications, such as the Carrera Speedster, cost a few hundred thousand dollars now.
The origin of the logo
In 1952, Porsche entered the US market. And here, quite unexpectedly, the first Porsche logo appeared. Ferry Porsche, the son of the company’s founder, came to New York. And at lunch with Max Hoffmann, the first importer of Porsche in the US, he just drew the famous coat of arms on a napkin :). Max Hoffmann asked why all famous brands in the world have a logo, emblem, or coat of arms and Porsche does not? Ferry Porsche took a napkin and drew something on it for a few minutes. And then he asked: “Does it look like a logo?” There was a rampant stallion on the napkin, which every automobile fan knows now because it’s painted on every Porsche.
Black and red stripes and deer antlers are elements of the coat of arms of the German state of Wurttemberg. Its capital Stuttgart was the birthplace of Porsche. And the rampant stallion is taken from the coat of arms of the city itself where it symbolizes that Stuttgart was founded as a horse farm in 950. Ferry believed that these untamed, powerful, freedom-loving cars must have such a stallion on the hood. That’s the origin of the well-known horse logo :) Porsche nailed down its success in the US when Dan Gurney became the first American to win the Formula-1 in 1961, driving a Porsche car!
In 1953, there was another legend… the first Porsche 550 Spyder was shown at the Paris Motor Show. Lightweight, small, maneuverable, equipped with a camshaft 4-stroke engine became a celebrity in no time!
Legendary 911
In 1963 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the legendary Porsche 911 car was shown to the public. Only it wasn’t the 911 that made history but the 901… The fact is that the combination of three numbers with zero in the middle was already reserved for Peugeot. Therefore, they had to rename it… And the whole world recognized Porsche 911. The company released 19 versions of this legendary car. Today we consider Porsche 911 a classic car. And then… Super modern sports design blew up the car world! The author of design was also Porsche :)
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche nicknames as ‘Butzi’ was the eldest son of Ferry Porsche and grandson of the great Porsche founder. Guess why the Porsche family liked the name Ferdinand so much… :) The son of the brilliant engineer Ferdinand Porsche was also Ferdinand. Ferry is just a short form of it. Ferry’s son not only inherited his name but also took after his father in talent: the whole world knows Ferry as a fine designer. Talent has been inherited in the male line in the family, and the first outstanding success all Porsche had at a young age.
Ferry Porsche’s son, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, created the unique silhouette of the 911 model at the age of 24.
The top 911 species was the ‘combat’ modifications of Carrera RS 2.7 and Carrera RSR of the early 1970s. By the way, the word ‘Carrera’ appeared in the name of sports versions 356 in the mid-1950s to memorize the victory in the race ‘Carrera Panamericana’ in 1954, after which the brand became widely known in North America.
Another legend was born in 1974 at the Paris Auto Show where the first Porsche 911 Turbo with the code name 930 was released. The powerful 260-hp engine made this 911 one of the fastest cars of that time.
Porsche 928 with a front-mounted engine, the 4.5-L 240-hp engine was the first (and the only!) sports car entitled the ‘Car of the Year’.
The first and the only
By the way, the Porsche company is traditionally first almost everywhere:). Even in environmental protection and recycling of materials. Back in 1973, the company released the first car with a galvanized metal body, clearly proving that the life of the car can be significantly extended. Since 1975, this technology has been used in all Porsche vehicles. The automotive industry of the planet only went the same way a decade later.
Porsche 986 Boxster, a compact sports roadster, became a new face of Porsche brand in the 2000-s. When creating its look, designer Harm Lagaay took the same legendary 550 Spyder and 356 Speedster as a basis. The name of the model was formed of two words: ‘boxer’, also known as a horizontally opposed engine, and ‘roadster’.
Well, perhaps the most unusual car in the history of the brand was presented in 2002. It is Porsche Cayenne SUV, developed together with Volkswagen and in many ways similar to Volkswagen Touareg. Despite this fact, Cayenne immediately became the most popular product of the Porsche brand. In 2019, Porsche introduced such new models as Cayenne Coupe with a 340-hp engine and Cayenne Turbo Coupe with an output of 550 hp. And there are also mass-production Panamera S and Panamera Turbo with 400 and 500 hp, respectively, first presented in Shanghai in 2009…
Porsche Cayenne SUV, developed together with Volkswagen and in many ways similar to Volkswagen Touareg has been the best-selling Porsche product.
Yes, there are no little things to ignore or compromises in creating a masterpiece. The unique tone of the Porsche engine, which compresses in tune with the heart of any car fan, is created in the research laboratory, which employs a special group engaged in perfect Porsche sound only. What we hear is composed of the sounds of individual components, each of these is carefully tuned. To achieve this perfect sound, Porsche uses the latest technology including acoustic cameras to visualize the engine sound and decompose it into components.
That’s how the engineering genius and courage of the company’s founder, his innovations, extraordinary approach, original technical discoveries, and a true love for racing made Porsche cars more famous than ever.
