From Economy Car to Race Car - A Look at the Evolution of the Porsche

The Porsche, named after its prolific and talented designer, had humble beginnings. 

Automobile engineer Ferdinand Porsche played an important role in the development of both airplanes and racing cars, and had more than one thousand patents to his name.  He also was responsible for the construction of tanks for the Wehrmacht. In the 1920s, he was appointed chief engineer at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart. Later on, he set up his own engineering workshop and designed the Volkswagen. The Volkswagen plant was located in Wolfsburg, where Ferdinand Porsche served as chief of operations until he was interned by the Allies at the end of the war.

After his release, Ferdinand began building his first car with his son, Ferry Porsche. The car was named the Porsche 356.  The 356 was a sports car that was reminiscent of the Volkswagen. It had the same four-cylinder boxer engine that was rear-mounted, just like the VW. It was far from being a powerful sports car, developing only 40 bhp and a maximum speed of 87 mph (140 km/h). First produced as a convertible and later as a hard top, the Porsche models became more distinguished with an elegant and innovative body. The body with fastback was designed by Erwin Komenda, a master of restrained streamlining who had been in charge of sheet metal and design techniques at Porsche since the VW Beetle. The new style of closed coupe was designed by Komenda and it soon became the embodiment of the sports car.

The Porsche 911 History and Distinctive Features

The sleek design and fastback style was continued by Komenda and Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche, the founder’s grandson, with the 911 model.

The Porsche 91e 911 was easily recognizable with an attractive sloping bonnet and what later became characteristic “frog eye” headlights, curves running from the top edge of the windscreen to the rear bumper and a straight waistline. From a functional and technical point of view it, the Porsche 911 was more like BMW 1500, although it retained the stylistic features of the original Porsche. The new 911 eventually became the foundation of Porsche’s identity, even though the design was not always appreciated in-house.

Departure from the Porsche Tradition

During the 1970`s and 1980`s,designer attempts to distance Porsche from its legendary design brought the company to the edge of disaster. The more modern 924 model, “a people’s Porsche”, developed with Volkswagen, as well as the 928 model, were far from fulfilling expectations.

In the 1990`s, the company realized that what it had perceived as too rigid a design for over twenty years  was, in fact, a market advantage.

Rebirth of the Traditional Porsche Design

During the 1990s, Porsche rebounded into profitabilty since it realized that its pre-1970s Porsche features were timeless. In that decade, nearly forty people worked in the design department on further developments of the long-running 911. These developments included the 911 GTI, a powerful combination of sports and racing car, put forward by the in-house designer Anthony R. Hatter. In 1999, the chief designer proudly presented the new Boxster which enabled Porsche to establish a second independent range of models.

"From Economy Car to Race Car - A Look at the Evolution of the Porsche," contributed by Geoff Oden