Man Behind the Machine: Life & Legacy of Ferdinand Porsche
Daily Slideshow: A look at the life of Ferdinand Porsche. (Sept 3, 1875 - January 30, 1951).
Ferdinand Porsche: A man with a vision.
Porsche is a car, a company, a manufacturer, and a high standard. It is all these things, but the fact yet remains that Porsche is a family name, and its relevance to the automotive industry was once owed to a man, one Ferdinand, whom may very well be the greatest auto designer who ever lived. While the story of the company itself ranks among the most interesting in the industry, the early rise of Porsche cannot be easily distinguished from the storied life of its founder. Ferdinand Porsche frankly deserves every bit of acclaim he gets, so in case you don't know anything about the man behind the machine, we've put together a quick overview of his life and accomplishments.
Trust us; a man this interesting is worth setting aside a few minutes for.
The early rise of Herr Porsche...
Although Ferdinand Porsche didn't have the benefit of a noble birth, it's hard to imagine a childhood better suited to nurturing a future engineer. Born in Austria-Hungary on September 3, 1875, he was the third child to a machine body mechanic. Unsurprisingly, Ferdinand picked up a lot of skill from his father around the workshop, reportedly showing remarkable talent from a young age.
The only way from here is up.
It was always apparent that Ferdinand's future lay with machines. Although it wouldn't be until 1931 that Porsche started a company of his own, he didn't wait to be inventive; in his earliest days working as a machinist in Vienna, he was already making waves with his inventions-- not least of all being the electric hub engine. Porsche got due attention for his talents, at one point joining Austro-Daimler as their lead designer.
From depression, prosperity.
It was actually the Great Depression that prompted a newly unemployed Porsche to strike out for himself. Out of work, but with ideas in abundance, it was April in 1931 that Porsche officially hoisted a flag of his own.
As it so turned out, Germany turned out to be one of the few places in the 1930s that wouldn't feel the weight of the depression. Quite the opposite, really; by 1934, a certain Fuhrer had already commissioned Porsche to create a "people's car"-- a Volkswagen.
A visionary talent for timeless auto design.
If we were to mention cars that have remained popular over several decades with relatively minimal change to the aesthetics, the Porsche 911 would come second only to the Volkswagen Beetle. It's more than mere coincidence that Ferdinand Porsche was the mastermind behind both of them. While it's true Porsche was born at the right place and time to make his mark in the industry, it takes a special visionary to lay claim to even one iconic quantity—let alone an entire collection!
In wartime, a success...
If you'll forgive the comparison: in a sense at least, being a business leader is somewhat like akin to being a racecar driver. To be a good one, you need to be able to negotiate your turns gracefully and use your power where it's needed most. Porsche's Nazi involvement has cast a dark cloud over the man's otherwise legendary reputation. Indeed, for an innovative engineer and vehicle manufacturer, the prospect of war may as well have been like a modern turbo car tearing into a stretch of fresh Speedway.
Perhaps not surprisingly, however, the war also produced some of Ferdinand's greatest engineering feats, not least of all including the feared Tiger tanks. The Wehrmacht honored Porsche by originally naming one of their late-war tank destroyers the Ferdinand. While it was ultimately renamed the Elefant, it was little matter; only 90 of the heavy tank-killers were produced, and of those, only one made it into proper action.
Post-war despair and hopeful rebirth.
When the Allied forces invaded Germany, Porsche was arrested and imprisoned for his participation in the regime. The years immediately following WWII were dark for Porsche (both the man and the company). While Ferdinand idled in prison, the Porsche company, now led by son Ferry Porsche, was hard at work on a prototype. The first model of the immortal 356 was put together painstakingly by hand-- in an Austrian barn, no less. While it was impressive enough that they even gathered the necessary raw materials with tight post-war scarcity, 1948 marked a renaissance for Porsche. The first 356 was the start of the Porsche company as we now know it, and the early success of the car was enough to bail Ferdinand out of prison.
Whatever the contents of his conscience might have remarked on his Nazi connection would, one gets the impression that Porsche was never passionate about anything half as much as he was about building a better machine. Racecars, like tanks, are essentially competitive in their function. For a fan of any of the Porsche models to be released after 1945, it can only be a good thing that Ferdinand was permitted to return his talents to sports car design after the following, if only for a few short years before his passing in 1951.
The good fortune of keeping talented company.
While Ferdinand Porsche indeed laid the seeds, it's become more than the vision of one man could well have predicted. As indispensable a role as Porsche played in constructing his namesake, it would not be fair to allot the credit to a single man. Indeed, there have been thousands who have played some part in Porsche's success, and minds of equal genius entrusted with the daunting prospect of keeping the cars a titch above their competitors.
Ferdinand's legacy lives in Porsche.
Ferdinand's legacy lives in Porsche. While he saw the company through many incredible highs during his lifetime, we've still got to wonder if he'd have been able to predict just how far Porsche would go after his passing. Remaining active in the company operations until the end of his life, Porsche passed away on January 30th, 1951, shortly after suffering a stroke.
Given the continental pessimism of the post-war era, could he ever have predicted that the millionth 911 model would have would rolled off the assembly line in 2018? What of Porsche's post-2000 rejuvenation at the hands of the crossover market, i.e. the Macan and Cayenne?
In Ferdinand's own words: "I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself."
Ferdinand can rest easy. After this long in the game, their sporting models still remain unmatched. It could be said that Porsche's torchbearers have taken the vision further than whatever his wildest dreams might have conjured.
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