Dr. Ing h.c. F. Porsche: Ferdinand Porsche
Dr. Ing Ferdinand Porsche was born in September 3, 1875 and was attributed with some of the most progressive works in automobile history before his passing on January 30, 1951. His parents were both German, and lived in Maffersdorf close to Reichenberg, the once northern Bohemia. He attended classes at the Imperial Technical School in Reichenberg during the evenings, and supported his father in his mechanical shop during the days. After moving to Vienna when he was 18, he joined the Béla Egger Electrical company and did what he could to further his education at a local university. At Béla Egger, he developed the first Electric Hub Motor.
By 1898, Porsche was working at a Vienna-based factory called Jakob Lohner & Co. Jakob Lohner produced coaches for Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, and kings of Norway, Sweden, and Romania. In 1896 Jakob Lohner began developing automobiles under Ludwig Lohner.
In 1898 they unveiled the “System Lohner-Porsche”, a somewhat carriage-like car powered by two electric motors, powering the front wheel hubs by battery. Later the drive train was expanded to four-wheel drive, after mounting two additional electric motors to the rear wheels. At that point, the notable E. W. Hart in 1900 chose to purchase one. In December at the Paris World Exhibition it was introduced as the Toujours-Contente. At this point, his creativity and intense electrical engineering background helped him reach the great conclusion that he would match a Daimler combustible engine to his automobile platform to create the first hybrid combustible and electric vehicle in history. This vehicle was known as the ‘Mixte’. Many of the nearly 300 early Lohner-Porsche chassis vehicles were in a two wheel drive format, being fitted to trucks, buses and other functional vehicles up until 1906.
The up to35 mph (56 km/h) vehicles broke many Austrian speed records, and additionally took first in the Exelberg Rally in 1901 as Porsche himself drove the front wheel drive hybrid. Further tuning and development with large engines from Daimler and Panhard, allowed for the acquisition of many more land speed records. By 1902, he was drafted in the military and served as chauffeur to Archduke and crown prince Franz Ferdinand. In 1905, Porsche was recognized as Austria’s most outstanding automotive engineer and received the with the Poetting Prize.
But in 1906, he joined Austro-Daimler as Chief Designer and After WWI, Porsche embraced his fortuitous life passion- the Sascha marked the beginning of his enthusiasm for sports cars. His career led him to Daimler in the 1920s. There Porsche developed the powerful 6.0- and 7.0-litre race engines for extragavant Mercedes-Benz vintage classics, namely the notorious SSK.
In Stuttgart, April 1931, Porsche founded his consulting firm, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionen und Beratungen für Motoren und Fahrzeugbau. Porsche took on several old co-workers such as Karl Rabe, Erwin Komenda, Franz Xaver Reimspiess, and his son, Ferry Porsche. The first project of the original team was commissioned by Wanderer for a small car. Many others followed after that. Fortunately with success and growth, Porsche began work on his own designs, often inspired by earlier small car concepts from his Daimler-Benz days. What was remarkable was that he financed the project with a loan on his life insurance. Zündapp stepped in to sponsor the newfound projects, yet became successful with motorcycles and lost interest. Then NSU took over the sponsorship, but also had to back out because of the expensive operational tooling costs.
By June 1934, Porsche was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to build three prototypes from designs Porsche already had, such as Porsche’s earl Type 12 car from 1931. After nearly two years, the three cars were completed at the end of 1936. Then, Daimler-Benz had been contracted to build an additional 30 prototypes. The new city, “Stadt des KdF-Wagens”, close to Fallersleben became the home of the factory.Today it is the well known home of Volkswagen, currently known as Wolfsburg.
At the same time, Porsche designed a racing car, the innovative V-16 P-Wagen, for Auto Union to compete with Daimler-Benz in Grand Prix motor racing. The Silver Arrows by both brands was halted due to WWII in 1939.
By the necessity of becoming instrumental in the creation of the Wolfsburg factory, he bestowed the racing projects to Ferry, his son.
Porsche also accepted further projects from Germany such as the popular Panzers, Tiger Tank and the Elefant tank destroyer.
As he maintained an interest for smaller, efficient cars, he became a key player in the commissioning of Volkswagen by Hitler. From the very beginning, ‘the people’s car’ was known as the Beetle.
World War II disrupted the project after the initial release. His efforts were committed to vehicles to support WWII until it was over. At that time, Volkswagen took off with its own ownership, while Porsche and his son Ferry returned to his initial love of the smaller two seat sports car.
Soon, I will cover the next chapter of his life, the beginning of the 356 Series, and Porsche as we know it today.
