Daily Slideshow: Take a Moment of Silence For the Gent Who Saved the 911

Good Day at Work

Imagine going to work at your new job and telling the board of directors they've been doing it wrong and you were about to change all that. That's exactly what happened when Peter Schutz, who passed away on October 29th at the age of 87, did. Mr. Schutz recounts the story: “You have to understand that, in Germany, once a decision is made, it’s made. As far as the company was concerned, the 911 was history. But I overturned the board’s decision in my third week on the job. I remember the day quite well: I went down to the office of our lead engineer, Professor Helmuth Bott, to discuss plans for our upcoming model. I noticed a chart hanging on his wall that depicted the ongoing development trends of our top three lines: 911, 928, and 944. With the latter options, the graph showed a steady rise in production for years to come. But for the 911, the line stopped in 1981. I grabbed a marker off Professor Bott’s desk and extended the 911 line across the page, onto the wall, and out the door. When I came back, Bott stood there, grinning. 'Do we understand each other?' I asked. And with a nod, we did."

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Germany to Peoria and Back Again

Schutz was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1930, but by 1937 he and his family had fled Nazi Germany for Cuba, eventually settling in Illinois a few years later. He graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and went on to work as an engineer for Caterpillar Tractor in Peoria, Illinois, for 15 years. From Caterpillar he moved to Cummins Engine, working for three years in the corporate strategic planning division, and another eight as Vice President of the truck engine sales and service department. In 1978 Schutz moved to West Germany to work for Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG, and in 1980 was asked by Ferry Porsche to consider heading up Porsche. On January 1, 1981, Schutz took over the reigns.

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Porsche circa 1980

When Schutz started at Porsche he "noticed a sort of pervasive sadness among the staff.” That mood could have been attributed to poor sales—1980 was the company's first unprofitable year in history. As with seemingly the rest of the world during the "malaise years," quality was down on the 911 and the cars that Porsche was staking their future on, the 924 and 928, weren't doing nearly as well as the carmaker had hoped. Schutz's arrival came none too soon, as the air-cooled, rear-engined lifeline of the company was slated to be severed—the 911 was to be phased out of production in 1981.

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Turning the Ship Around

"Everywhere I went, I listened to people who asked, 'Why discontinue the 911? It's a great car,' and 'Why aren't you in racing?'" Schutz said in an interview with Autoweek. "They were winners and they were trying to act like losers,'' Schutz remembers thinking. ''We decided that technology is the heart of the company and that high performance is an approach to transportation. We were going to live or die with that concept.'' History shows that keeping the 911 around was a good thing for Porsche, they made a profit of $4.5 million in 1981 on sales of 27,983 cars, and by 1985 those numbers were up to $54.7 million and 49,365 cars. And they took a more immediate approach to racing, rather than running a 924 in the 1981 24 Hours of LeMans as planned, Shultz directed the racing department to pull their 936 out of mothballs, stick the engine that was being developed for the 956 into it, and take a shot. That shot paid off with Jacky Icxk and Derek Bell claiming a victory that year, and Porsche taking top honors at the circuit every year for the next six.

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One Last Gift

In an effort to make the 911 the cutting-edge implement we all know and love today, Schutz worked to bring the 959 to fruition. The engineering knowledge gained through racing made its way into the new car with a twin-turbo flat-six, all-wheel drive, and driver-adjustable suspension. It was the fastest production car of its time, just 1mph shy of the 200 mark. Unfortunately, it cost more to produce than they sold it for and they lost over $400,000 on every one. Porsche pulled the plug and soon after Schutz left the company. Exactly seven years after he started at Porsche he was done. If only every automotive CEO could accomplish what Peter Schutz did, this would be a more exciting world.

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