The story of Porsche could begin in 1950 with the introduction of the Porsche 356 to the United States by Max Hoffman. It could begin in 1948, when the first auto bearing the name of Porsche came out. However, to get a real grip on the heritage of Porsche, you must go back as far as 1875. In September of that year, Ferdinand Porsche was born in the bohemian village of Haffersdorf.
Ferdinand Porsche showed indications of his technical genius at the age of 18 when he wired the family home for electricity. His only formal education was received when he was a part-time engineering student in Vienna, although the title Doctor is often appended to his name. By the time he was 25, Porsche had gone into automotive design. The Viennese firm of Loyner & Co. accepted his first car design. Over the next twenty years, he successfully associated himself with every major car manufacturer in Germany, and he designed about a dozen of the most technically important automobiles in history at the same time.
When he worked for Mercedes-Benz, he helped to create the SSK series, while for NSU, he designed the Auto Union Wandered and the Type 32, which as an ancestor of the...