Ferry Porsche
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Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche | |
---|---|
Chief Executive Officer | |
Spouse | Dorothea Reitz (1935–1985) |
Children | Ferdinand, Wolfgang, Gerhard, Hans-Peter Porsche |
Parent(s) | Ferdinand Porsche Sr. Aloisia Johanna Kaes |
Relatives | Louise Piëch (sister) Ferdinand Porsche (father) Wolfgang Porsche (son) Ferdinand Piëch (nephew) |
Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (19 September 1909 – 27 March 1998),
Ferry Porsche's life was intimately connected with that of his father, Ferdinand Porsche Sr., who began sharing his knowledge of mechanical engineering already in his childhood. With his father he opened a bureau of automobile design, in Stuttgart in 1931.
The Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche Sr. and a team of engineers, including Ferry Porsche.
After
Early life
Ferdinand Porsche Sr. was chief designer at Austro-Daimler in Austria. His designs were focused on compact street cars and race cars. Austro-Daimler was so strongly tied to the local royalty that the Austrian double-headed eagle became the trademark of the company. The day Ferry Porsche was born, his father was competing with one of his race cars (called the Maja) at Semmering, finishing first in his class. He found out about his son's birth by telegram.[2]
Ferry Porsche's mother was Aloisia Johanna Kaes. He had an older sister, Louise Piëch, who was five years his senior. He was baptized Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, with the name Ferdinand after his father, the name Anton after his grandfather, and the name Ernst after his uncle on his mother's side. Early in his childhood he picked up the nickname "Ferry" rather than the usual nickname "Ferdy", as Ferdy reminded his parents too much of a typical coachman nickname — a profession that, coincidentally, was made obsolete by the family's work.
During the following years, the family moved around a lot. He and his father spent much time together in workshops where he began early to learn about mechanical engineering. They also used to tour around Europe and the United States of America, where they raced the cars they designed.
Ferry remarked later, "...cars were my greatest passion from the very beginning.".
Ferry Porsche attended school at Wiener Neustadt and Stuttgart, concentrating on mathematics.
Move to Stuttgart
In 1923, the family moved to
Meanwhile, Ferry Porsche received consent from the company to stay at the plant together with his father because of his increasing interest in design issues. The local town authorities endorsed a special permission for him to drive, even at 16 years of age.
Ferdinand Porsche senior enjoyed success particularly with his racing cars which excelled at the race tracks. His personal preference for designing
So, in 1929, Daimler-Benz began to question Porsche's work seriously and halted it suddenly. He worked temporarily as the technical director of Steyr AG in Austria; nonetheless, he soon decided to open a consulting office of automobile design, again at Stuttgart.
At the same time, after finishing school, Ferry Porsche was residing at Stuttgart where he began working for
Construction Bureau at Stuttgart
By the 1930s, Stuttgart had already established itself as a center for the German automobile industry. It was thus an ideal location for the new Porsche design company. When Porsche senior opened his offices in April 1931, his son Ferry (then age 21) was by his side. The firm was called "Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH Konstructionsbüro für Motoren, Fahrzeuge, Luftfahrzeuge und Wasserfahrzeugbau", meaning that Ferdinand Porsche's firm specialized in construction and consultation for engines, automobiles, airplanes, and motorboats. Porsche GmbH was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, Dr. Anton Piëch and Adolf Rosenberger. While Rosenberger was the financial backer, he also brought technical knowledge and racing skill to the company. Father and son were accompanied by renowned engineers.
During the early 1930s, Germany's economic crisis was at its peak. The country was on the verge of political succession by the
Nevertheless, Porsche soon obtained contracts from important German automotive firms
Ferry Porsche, at the time, managed departments "controlling of testing", "coordinating of the design engineers", and "keeping good relations with clients". In 1935, Ferry married Dorothea Reitz, whom he had first met at
In 1938, when his father moved to the new Volkswagen plant at Wolfsburg, Ferry became deputy manager of the Stuttgart bureau and relocated the design departments to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.
Volkswagen
Ferdinand Porsche's dream had been to create a small compact car "from scratch", instead of a version derived of an existing
The German government accepted the project on 22 June 1934, interested in producing "an affordable car for the German family". Originally, it was called Porsche (Model) 60 but it was soon officially renamed as the
In 1939, when the Volkswagen factory opened in Wolfsburg, Porsche senior became its general manager, along with an officer from the Nazi party.
Auto Union and Wanderer
The German government had also decided to promote German race cars at the
In 1932, Ferdinand Porsche met with Adolf Hitler personally and their bid was accepted. Ferry Porsche took part in the conception and construction of those race cars, and was also responsible for the general organization of the workshop and the testing of units. In 1933, their first race car was developed with a 4.5 litre V-16 engine and an
In 1934, Wanderer and others merged to form Auto Union, and the senior Porsche became the chief designer of their race cars. Both racing teams, Daimler-Benz and Auto Union, were also used for political propaganda by the National Socialists. They overwhelmingly dominated all the competitions of the 1930s. In 1938, Ferdinand Porsche senior left the Auto Union racing team when his contract expired.
Second World War
Porsche volunteered to join the
Meanwhile, Porsche senior continued on at Wolfsburg, working for the Germans until the end of the war. The production of compact civilian cars at that factory had been halted, to produce small military cars called Kübelwagen.
Though, after the end of WWII, the French government requested formally that the Porsche family build a French version of the compact Volkswagen, in November 1945.
A group of French producers, led by Jean Pierre
Porsche company at Gmünd
After his release, Ferry Porsche attempted to return to Stuttgart but he was barred by the occupation forces. In consequence, in July 1946 he brought all the structure of the company to Gmünd/Carinthia, Austria.
Together, with his sister Louise, Ferry took over the management of the company. Early on, the workshop was primarily used for automotive repair. Additionally, they commercialized water pumps and lathes.
In time, they obtained two contracts for automobile design. One was for the construction of racecars for the Cisitalia racing team. The other was for the design of their own car, which later became known as the Porsche 356.
Porsche Type 360 - Cisitalia
As a result of
Porsche Type 356
Following his father's old aspiration, Ferdinand Porsche designed the Porsche 356, with a unique chassis and body while using Volkswagen components. The 356 had an air-cooled, rear-mounted, 4-cylinder engine producing 35 hp. Due to the location of its engine, the car was a little unstable but the balance favored potency and light weight.
An automobile dealer from Zürich ordered the first shipment in the winter of 1947 and production of the automobile began. Under Ferry Porsche's supervision, the units were built completely by hand at an improvised workshop inside a sawmill at Gmünd.
By June 1948, 50 aluminum-bodied units had been completely assembled. Additionally, 6 frameworks were sent to the Beutler Company at
Despite its compact size, the car was popular with wealthy customers. If successful, the 356 would mean Porsche's final hop out from performing only designing chores for others. Indeed, surprisingly, the 356 remained in production for many years and by 1965 had sold nearly 78,000 units. Additionally, it laid the framework which was followed by the entirety of the successive series of Porsche's sports cars.
Ferdinand Sr.'s fate
During his 20 months of jail time in Dijon, Ferdinand Sr collaborated on designs for Renault and their later popular 4CV. It is speculated that the conditions of his imprisonment contributed to his health decline.
In 1947, Ferry gathered the amount of the stipulated bail, immediately after receiving the early fees for his new designs. His father was then released on 1 August 1947, along with Anton Piëch.
Once in Austria, Ferndinand Sr. reviewed the designs of his son for both projects; the 360 Cisitalia and the 356. He consented with the plans and aided the projects which were in progress. He commented daily to their employees that he "would have done the same designs as Ferry".
As Ferdinand Sr.'s health further declined, Ferry took him to revisit Wolfsburg's plant which was flourishing with the massive production of the Volkswagen Beetle—which was carried out under supervision of the British occupation. In November 1950, Ferdinand Sr. suffered a stroke which disabled him until his death, on 30 January 1951, aged 75.
Return to Stuttgart
In the spring of 1949, the general manager of Volkswagen,
- a share of the profits from each Beetle sold
- the raw materials for building the sport Porsche's vehicles
- the usage of Volkswagen's world structure of retailers
- the usage of Volkswagen's world structure for technical service
Also by this agreement, junior Ferdinand Porsche would become the only dealer of Volkswagen for all Austria.
In view of this new stabilized situation, junior Ferdinand Porsche decided to reestablish the headquarters of the Porsche at Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Though, the old original Porsche's facilities were occupied by American forces. Nonetheless, he rented some workshops then from the company
In 1950, the production of the Porsche 356 resumed. Eventually, it was so successful that, despite being originally planned an annual production of 500, they had already produced 78,000 units by 1967. Ferdinand Porsche's motto was to produce automobiles which had to be reliable and of high-quality sports cars, of a high utilitarian value.
Porsche's most recognized involvement in car races began at 24 Hours of Le Mans, on June 1951, when an improved version of the 356 debuted on this track and won in its category. On successive years, Porsche's winning contribution to Le Mans is regarded as fundamental for the own existence of the circuit. Later, in 1959, Porsche won for first time an event of the World Sportscar Championship, at Targa Florio, while a Porsche 917 would achieve the first Le Mans win finally in 1970.
Porsche - Type 911 (1963)
At the demand of Porsche's fans, the company began planning a successor to the 356. The project was originally called Porsche 901. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (who was also nicknamed "Butzi") and Ferdinand Porsche's nephew took charge on designing the new model.
The first units were manufactured in 1962. However, Peugeot pushed legally for a change of the name, due to its registered trademark on automobile names with a zero amid two numbers. The model was renamed Porsche 911. Over time, it has evolved, but still kept the general shape and architecture since the beginning with a rear-mounted high-performance engine. On 11 May 2017, the millionth example was built.
Porsche plc
Following his father's death in 1951, Ferry Porsche was the most responsible official of the company, as general manager, the chairman of the board of management. In 1972, he decided to transform the Porsche Company (which was a limited partnership) into a public concern, also by merging all the three enterprises which constituted it:
- Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche KG, from Stuttgart
- VW-Porsche Vertriebsgesellschaft, from Ludwigsburg
- Porsche Konstruktion KG, from Salzburg
Additionally, Ferdinand Porsche stepped down from the chairmanship and became honorary chairman of the supervisory board. In fact, he continued controlling the company as such. He remained in that position until his death In 1998.[7] Ferdinand Alexander Porsche took his place as general manager.
The enterprise became a public limited company (plc), the Porsche GmbH. Nevertheless, the two deeply seated families, Porsche and Piëch, assured the possession yet of most of the shares. This status has also been kept through the years, until recently.
Later years
In 1989, Ferdinand Porsche retired definitively from involvement with the company he created, returning to his cherished Austrian farm at Zell am See.
Later, one of his last visited events was the launching of a new model, the Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. It was based on the old 356[citation needed], with a 300 hp 6-cylinder air-cooled engine.
He also assisted in the large celebration of the 30 years of the Porsche 911 which took place at Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg. Despite being in an unhealthy condition, he signed autographs and drove through a street of 500 911s. He supported himself with a cane and was wearing a straw hat.
Ferdinand Porsche died 74 days short of the 50th anniversary of the company, at the age of 88, on 27 March 1998, at the farm in Zell am See, Austria. He was buried there at the Schüttgut church, beside his parents, his wife Dorothea and Anton Piëch. Porsche AG conducted a memorial service soon after in Stuttgart.
Recognitions
- 1959. Grand Cross for Distinguished Service, from the Federal Republic of Germany. It was presented by President Theodor Heuss.
- 1965. Honorary doctorate, from the Vienna Technical College.
- 1965. Honorary doctorate, from the University of Stuttgart.
- 1984. Honorary professor, from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
- 1975. Grand Golden Decoration, from Austria. It was presented at Vienna.
- 1979. Wilhelm Exner Medal.[8]
- 1979. Grand Cross for Distinguished Service, from the Federal Republic of Germany. It's the highest award for service. It was presented at his 70th birthday, by the chief minister of Baden-Württemberg, Lothar Spath.
- 1981. Gold Medal, from the Societe des Ingenieurs de L'Automobile.
- 1981. Honorary citizenship (dubbed "Freedom of the City"), from the town of Zell-am-See, at Austria.
- 1984. Professor. It was presented by the chief minister Lothar Späth.
- 1985. Honorary senator, from the University of Stuttgart.
- 1989. Economic Medal for outstanding service to the economy of Baden-Württemberg. It was presented by the minister of economy of Baden-Württemberg, Martin Herzog.
- 1989. Citizen's medal, from the city of Stuttgart.
- 1994. Honorary citizenship, from Wiener Neustadt.
References
- ^ Chapman, Giles (31 March 1998). "Obituary: Ferdinand Porsche". The Independent. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- ^ Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche: le plus grand des petits constructeurs Archived 2007-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0-385-05309-6"We at Porsche, The Autobiography of Dr. Ing. Ferry Porsche with John Bentley"
- ISBN 9780306824555.
- ^ Jong, David de (19 April 2022). "Opinion | They Are the Heirs of Nazi Fortunes, and They Aren't Apologizing". The New York Times.
- ^ Jong, David de (19 April 2022). "Opinion | They Are the Heirs of Nazi Fortunes, and They Aren't Apologizing". The New York Times.
- ^ Nachrichten, Unterhaltung, Video, Sport, Lifestyle, Finanzen, Auto und mehr bei MSN
- ^ Editor, ÖGV. (2015). Wilhelm Exner Medal. Austrian Trade Association. ÖGV. Austria.
Further reading
- de Jong, David (2022). Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties (Hardback). Boston: Mariner Books. ISBN 9781328497888.