Ferdinand Porsche

Austrian-German automotive engineer, inventor and Nazi who founded the Porsche car company

Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was born in Austria. He was a talented and well-known car designer, especially of race cars. But he always wanted to make a small car useful for a family. Finally Adolf Hitler gave him the opportunity to make the Volkswagen Beetle in 1936. But by the time the car started production, war broke out, and the company started making army vehicles instead. After World War II he was put in a French jail for almost 2 years but never convicted of a crime. He was released, but his health had been damaged and he died not long afterwards. He lived long enough to see his beloved small car being successfully produced by the Volkswagen company, but not to see the great success it eventually became.[3]

Ferdinand Porsche
Born(1875-09-03)3 September 1875
Died30 January 1951(1951-01-30) (aged 75)
CitizenshipAustria-Hungary (birth–1918), Czechoslovakia (1918–1934), Germany (1934–death)
Known forstarting Porsche, Volkswagen
ChildrenFerry Porsche and Louisa Porsche

He started the Porsche company in 1931. At first it made designs and prototypes for others (including the Volkswagen Beetle). Later, under his son Ferry Porsche's leadership, it started making high-end cars.[3] It continues to produce high power cars to this day.

References

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  1. "Porsche Founder's Legacy Hits Nazi Past in Czech Hometown". Bloomberg.com. 27 February 2014.
  2. "Professor Dr. Ing. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche". Archived from the original on 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Nelson, Walter (1967). Small Wonder. Little, Brown & Company. pp. 333.

Further reading

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  • Barber, Chris (2003). Birth of the Beetle: The Development of the Volkswagen by Ferdinand Porsche. Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-85960-959-7.
  • Ludvigsen, Karl E. (2008). Porsche: Excellence Was Expected – The Comprehensive History of the Company, Its Cars and Its Racing Heritage. Brooklands Books. ISBN 978-0-8376-0235-6
  • Hans Mommsen; Manfred Grieger: Das Volkswagenwerk und seine Arbeiter im Dritten Reich, ECON Verlag, Düsseldorf 1996, ISBN 3-430-16785-X (in German)
  • Peter Müller: Ferdinand Porsche. Der Vater des Volkswagens, 4. Aufl., 1998 (in German)
  • Martin Pfundner: Austro Daimler und Steyr. Rivalen bis zur Fusion. Die frühen Jahre des Ferdinand Porsche. Böhlau, Wien 2007. ISBN 978-3-205-77639-0 (in German)

Other websites

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