The book of the professor. The Type 356 marked the beginning of the Porsche vehicle brand’s history, but the company’s foundation was actually formed at Professor Ferdinand Porsche’s design studio. The start-up phase of a tale in the making was documented in the first order book in 1930.
The first ledger of the Porsche design office, kept in a fireproof vault in the archive of the Porsche Museum, is unremarkably kept in a gray safe in a climate-controlled room. One may discover order number 1, which was placed on August 21, 1930, in the tattered ledger. Manufacturing separate parts for a “Hesselmann engine,” a hybrid of a gas and a diesel engine, was part of the task, demonstrating the company’s inventive spirit from the beginning. The seventh order was on a completely different level. In the ledger, the description is “Small-car project.” In order to motorize the masses, the Wanderer firm needed an idea that would allow it to economically and cheaply transform what was once thought of as a luxury item into a Volks-Wagen—a vehicle for the common man. A wise decision, as history would show. The order book offers an insightful glimpse into Ferdinand Porsche’s small company of just nineteen people and how they lived out the ideals of design inventiveness.
Professor Porsche officially registered his business in the commercial registry on April 25, 1931. From that moment on, the Stuttgart-based “Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionen und Beratung für Motoren and Fahrzeuge” was legally recognized. In 1930, the first five initiatives were launched in St. Ulrich, Austria. Ferry Porsche’s bedroom contained the drafting board. But at the start of 1931, the office relocated to Stuttgart, first renting space in the heart of the city. In the automotive industry, the concept of a neutral design office was still novel. At the time, Ferdinand Porsche had no plans to produce his own automobiles. His goal was to complete technical tasks for various clients, collect license fees, and collect royalties from patents. The initial order book provides a striking illustration of how the Porsche headquarters evolved into a hub of innovation for the German auto industry.
In This Article...
Origin
With Adolf Rosenberger and Anton Piech, Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951) created the Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH in 1931. The main offices were located at 24 Kronenstrasse in Stuttgart’s city center. The business did not initially produce any automobiles under its own name, but it did provide consulting and development work for motor vehicles. The German government gave the new business one of its first contracts: to create a Volkswagen, or a car for the people. The Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most popular car designs ever, was the end outcome of this. Many Beetle parts were used in the 1939 development of the Porsche 64.
The Porsche Tiger, a tank prototype, was defeated by Henschel & Son’s Tiger I.
After the Tiger I won the contract, Porsche repurposed his design into the Panzerjager Elefant, a tank destroyer.
The military versions of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Kubelwagen (52,000 produced) and Schwimmwagen (15,584 produced), became the focus of Volkswagen production during World War II. Porsche created a number of heavy tank concepts during the war but lost out to Henschel & Son in the two contracts that eventually gave rise to the Tiger I and Tiger II. The chassis Porsche created for the Tiger I was utilized as the foundation for the Elefanttank destroyer, therefore not all of this labor was in vain. In the latter stages of the war, Porsche also created two prototypes of the Maussuper-heavy tank. According to Fabian Muller, Ferdinand Porsche’s biographer, hundreds of people were forcibly transported to work at his factories during the war. The employees were always decked up in attire with the letter “P.” It represented Poland rather than Porsche.
The British seized control of the Volkswagen factory in KdF-Stadt in 1945, following the end of World War II. Ivan Hirst, a British Army major, was given control of the facility after Ferdinand lost his position as Volkswagen’s board of management chairman. (The Volkswagen business magazine in Wolfsburg referred to him as “The British Major who saved Volkswagen.”) Ferdinand was detained on December 15 of that year but never put on trial for war crimes. Ferry Porsche, the son of Ferdinand Porsche, opted to build his own car during his 20-month incarceration since he was unable to locate the pre-existing vehicle he intended to purchase. Before his father’s release in August 1947, he had to lead the business through some of its most trying times. In a small sawmill in Gmund, Austria, the initial prototypes of what would become the 356 were created. The Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH, which Ferry and Louise formed, started producing the prototype car (with an aluminum body) once pre-orders reached a predetermined level. Simply because it was the first model sold by the nascent business, many people consider the 356 to be the original Porsche. Porsche hired the Zuffenhausen-based Reutter Karosserie to build the 356’s steel body when the father’s Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH took over manufacturing of the model in Stuttgart in 1950. The two companies had previously worked together on Volkswagen Beetle prototypes. Porsche built Werk 2, an assembly facility, across the street from Reutter Karosserie in 1952. Porschestrasse, the main thoroughfare in front of Werk 1, the first Porsche building, is now in use. 1948 saw the road certification of the 356.
A Detailed Look At Porsche’s Evolution
Nearly everyone will be able to identify a Porsche 911 if you paint its silhouette on a wall. What generation matters not. A Mustang or a Mini Cooper are comparable in this regard. It identifies an iconic design.
However, the term “Porsche” conjures up much more than just attractive design. It is the pinnacle of sports cars, with a long history and a large following of aficionados. Porsche is a corporation that generally sticks to the same formula, only making minor adjustments every year to fine-tune excellence.
A Porsche has undoubtedly been the “Gold Standard of Sports Cars” for the past 50 years, according to a group of auto aficionados.
The Common Car
In 1931, Ferdinand Porsche founded his business as a consulting firm, but the German government tasked him with creating a vehicle for the common man. The business was going to be known as “Volkswagen” or “The People’s Car.” Ferdinand Porsche created the Volkswagen Type 1, sometimes known as the first “Beetle,” under tight guidelines that included keeping the vehicle air-cooled to make maintenance easier.
the initial Porsche model
On June 8, 1948, an aluminum hand-built prototype bearing the designation “No. 1” becomes the first car to wear the name of one of the top luxury car manufacturers in the world: Porsche.
At the 1900 Paris World’s Fair, Austrian automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche unveiled his first creation. The electric car achieved over 35 mph, broke several Austrian land-speed marks, and brought the young engineer international recognition. In 1916, he was appointed general director of the Austro-Daimler Company, a subsidiary of the German manufacturer. Later, he relocated to Daimler’s Stuttgart headquarters. In the 1920s, Daimler and Benz combined, and Porsche was primarily in charge of creating some of the outstanding Mercedes racing vehicles of that era.
In 1931, Porsche resigned from Daimler and founded his own business. A few years later, Adolf Hitler contacted the engineer and asked for his assistance in creating a modest “people’s automobile” for the common German people. Porsche created the original Volkswagen prototype (known as the KdF: “Kraft durch Freude,” or “strength through joy”) in 1936 alongside his son Ferdinand (commonly known as Ferry). The Porsche family also created military vehicles during World War II, most notably the devastating Tiger tank.
When the war was over, the French accused the senior Porsche of war crimes and put him in prison for over a year. Ferry battled to maintain the family business. He created the Type 360 Cisitalia Grand Prix race car for a powerful Italian industrialist and used the proceeds to cover his father’s bail. Porsche gave his blessing to Ferry’s second endeavor after his release from prison: the creation of a new sports car that would be the first to bear the name Porsche. The new vehicle, Type 356, carried on the legacy of older Porsche-designed race vehicles like the Cisitalia. With modified Volkswagen drive train components, the engine was mounted in the middle of the chassis, in front of the transaxle.
The aluminum prototype, which was totally constructed by hand and put into production throughout the winter of 1947–1948, was finished on June 8th, 1948. Later, the Germans recruited Porsche to advise them on how to improve the Volkswagen. With the money, Porsche set up new facilities in Stuttgart where he intended to produce up to 500 of his own cars annually. The business would produce more than 78,000 vehicles over the following two decades.
What was Porsche’s debut automobile?
On Monday, the first Porsche vehicle was unveiled in Stuttgart. Since 1902, the 1898 “Egger-Lohner electric automobile model C.2 Phaeton,” or simply P1, has been stored in an outbuilding in Austria. (Jan 27)
On Monday, the first automobile created by Porsche was unveiled in Stuttgart, Germany. Since 1902, it has been parked in an aged shed in Austria.
Officially, the vehicle is a C.2 Phaeton, an electric Egger-Lohner automobile from 1898. It is referred to as P1, standing for Ferdinand Porsche’s initial creation.
It is an electric vehicle that Ferdinand Porsche, who established the Porsche sports car company in 1948, invented. Prior to that, as a young man without any engineering training but with engineering potential, he was employed by vehicle manufacturer Jacob Lohner, who asked Porsche to develop an electric drivetrain.
Ferdinand Porsche, then 22 years old, claims it first appeared on the streets of Vienna, Austria, on June 26, 1898. On all the important parts, he inscribed the code “P1,” which stands for Porsche, number one.
According to the automobile firm, P1 was found in a warehouse where it had lain dormant since 1902—the classic example of an auto-desire collector’s coming true.
Ferdinand Porsche’s powerplant, according to the automaker, was a rear-mounted electric drive that only weighed 287 lbs. and produced 3 horsepower. Overdrive mode allows for a short-term output of up to 5 horsepower and a top speed of 21 mph.
In September 1899, a race for electric cars served as the first significant test. Three passengers were required for the 24 miles that the competitors had to go.
According to the history of the automotive firm, Ferdinand Porsche drove the P1 across the finish line 18 minutes ahead of the runner-up. More significantly, P1 was among the racers who finished—less than half of the competitors. The others withdrew due to technical difficulties.
The term “Phaeton” refers to an open car with front and rear seats that was modeled after horse-drawn carriages with a comparable interior. In mythology, the term relates to the son of the god Eos.
The vehicle shows that Porsche’s move toward electrification is not a particularly novel development.
Today’s $100,000 Panamera gas-electric hybrid sedan is one of its faster variants. It drives quicker than electric wires can carry information about its performance in a TV commercial.
Porsche also fields the gas-electric hybrid 918 Spyder race vehicle. The 918 racer can reach speeds of 211 mph, which is ten times faster than P1, and has a combined gas-electric power rating of 887 hp (127 hp maximum from the electric motor) (though only 93 mph on electric power only).