Ferdinand Porsche, born in 1875 is without doubt one of the greatest engineers in the
developments of the motorcar. He was the lead engineer in many famous projects, the
best known are the Austro-Daimler Prinz Heinrich, the Mercedes-Benz 38/250, The
Auto Union Grand Prix with 16 cylinders and of course the legendary Volkswagen.
During the war years he was involved in the construction of military vehicles, which
caused him to be jailed in France for two years. During this period he assisted Renault
with the development of the 4CV with the rear motor.
On his release he moved to the Austrian town of Gmünd, where he with the help of
his son Ferry and one Karl Rabe developed the first car named after him, the Porsche
356, which was initially equipped with a 1086cc four cylinder boxer motor. Due to a
shortage of skilled workmen and materials he only built 50 cars there, before moving
to a new factory in Suttgart-Zuffenhausen. There the size of the engine was also
gradually increased to 1966cc. In 1965 the new model 912 was released with a
1582cc motor.
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