You have almost certainly heard of the Porsche automobile, and maybe you have even ridden in one or possibly own one. But you are most likely unfamiliar with the background of Porsche. Specifically the time the Porsche automobile story started is a little unclear. The first car to be called Porsche was released in 1948, and in 1950 Max Hoffman delivered the Porsche 356 to the United States. But the actual beginning of the Porsche story was probably in 1875, when, in a Bohemian village called Haffersrdorp, a son was born to the local tinsmith.

He was called Ferdinand Porsche, and even though his technical genius had not been thought to have the necessary discipline for the skills of engineering. He received part-time instruction as an engineering student in Vienna, for his only formal education, but at the age of 25, he became an automobile designer. He was unquestionably brilliant as an engineer, but his volatile temperament meant that he didn’t stay with any employer and eventually he had worked for all the leading car makers in Germany. A dozen of the most technically significant automobiles ever were designed by Porsche. The SSK line, produced with his aide while he worked for Mercedez-Benz, is still one of the most awe-inspiring ever.

Porsche began an engineering consultation services group, later known as Porsche AG, after having to leave Mercedes. He didn’t get along with their own engineering policies, so he was dismissed. He established a crew with some engineers he cherry-picked, with a special interest in racing cars and sports cars. He and his crew were kept extremely busy, and one undertaking was developed for Steyr, which was the Austrian luxury sedan. It never managed to get through the prototype stage. Auto Union, who later on evolved into the present-day Audi, were the first to produce cars that had front-wheel drive and were relatively cheap to own, and they also called on the skills of the Porsche consulting group.

The Grand Prix likewise benefited from the abilities of the team, with the supercharged V12 and V16 engines for the mid-engine racing cars having been developed by them. For almost a decade, they reigned over European auto racing, coupled with Mercedes-Benz racer. A while following that, NSU and Zundapp each used their best-known designs. Several well-known Porsche protoypes ended up being the torsion-bar suspension, branded by them, and the rear-mounted engine. Neither company manufactured the layouts fast enough for Porsche, so he made a sale of the idea to the German government. His design ended up being manufactured in a facility at Wolfsburg, that he oversaw the construction of. The entire world got to know it as the Volkswagen Beetle, but he referred to it simply as the Type 60 as part of his blueprints.

It’s now more than a century later, and the Porsche engineering firm has left its mark on the automobile industry. Automobile development and engineering have benefitted from the long lasting and exceptional contribution of the Porsche family.