Ferdinand Porsche

1875 to 1945

From plumber’s apprentice to ingenious designer. Ferdinand Porsche shaped the automotive industry like few others. He invented the wheel-hub motor and developed cars, trucks, aircraft engines and sports and racing cars for various companies. His masterpiece was the Volkswagen, which years later also formed the basis for the entrepreneurial success of his children.

1875

Ferdinand Porsche was born in Bohemia

The roots of Porsche’s company history lie in Bohemia where Ferdinand Porsche was born on 3 September 1875 in Maffersdorf, as the third child of Anton Porsche and his wife Anna. When the automobile was invented Ferdinand Porsche was eleven years old. He was particularly interested in electricity and at age 13 he installed electric doorbells at his parents' house and at 16 added electric lighting.

1893

First steps at Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke in Vienna

Following his plumbing apprenticeship in his father’s business, in 1893 Ferdinand Porsche’s abilities and his interest in technology led him to begin his career at the Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke of Bela Egger & Co in Vienna.

1900

Electric wheel-hub motor and all-wheel drive invented

Shortly before the turn of the century, Ferdinand Porsche went to work for Jacob Lohner, purveyor to the Austrian Royal Court. He amazed the automotive world at the Paris World Exposition in 1900 with the development of the electric wheel-hub motor. He presented a vehicle that could be propelled by all its wheels: the world’s first four-wheel drive car. This construction principle was applied 70 years later in the design of NASA’s lunar rover. The world’s first hybrid car – the hybrid Lohner-Porsche Mixte car from 1901 with petrol and electric drive – was also designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

1904

Louise Porsche was born

Ferdinand Porsche married Aloisia in 1903 and became a father for the first time one year later when his daughter Louise was born in 1904.

1906

Switch to Austro Daimler

In 1906, Ferdinand Porsche left Lohner to join the large Austrian industrial company Austro Daimler in Wiener Neustadt.

1909

Ferry Porsche was born

Ferdinand Porsche’s second child arrived three years after his daughter Louise with the birth of his son Ferry.

1910

Victory in the Prince Henry Tour and honorary doctorate

Ferdinand Porsche worked for Austro Daimler for a total of 17 years, including many years as General Director. He developed the first high-performance, aerodynamically-shaped saloon cars and won – with himself behind the wheel – the famous Prince Henry Tour in 1910. Ferdinand Porsche also built trucks and the Landwehr train for the imperial army, designed to travel on both roadways and railroad tracks. The ingenious design engineer also developed aircraft engines, for which he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Vienna.

1922

Victory at the Targa Florio

After the First World War, Ferdinand Porsche built the first two-seater sports car, the “Sascha”. In his very first race, he won the famous Targa Florio in Sicily in his class even prevailing against competitors with a larger engine capacity.

1923

Switch to Daimler in Stuttgart

In 1923 Ferdinand Porsche moved to Stuttgart to become Technical Director at Daimler, where assumed responsibility for the development of the famous S, SS and SSK models (Sport, Super Sport and Super Sport Kurz), while also helping to develop truck and aero-engines.

1931

Steps into self-employment after some time spent in Austria

After his contract with Daimler expired, Ferdinand Porsche returned home to Austria and worked as General Director at Steyr. In 1931, he set up his own business in Stuttgart. His Porsche design office undertook development work for all kinds of technical devices such as wind turbines and other types of turbines, as well as engines and new vehicle concepts for Wanderer and Zündapp.

1933

16-cylinder racing car for the Auto-Union

In 1933, Ferdinand Porsche designed the famous Auto Union 16-cylinder sports car for the only recently formed Auto-Union (from Audi, Horch, Wanderer and DKW). This car was a precursor to today’s Formula One design principles – one of the most successful racing cars of its time.

1934

The Volkswagen is born

Ferdinand Porsche’s most famous design, however, was the Volkswagen. He was commissioned on 22 June 1934 by the “RDA – Reichsverband der Deutschen Automobilindustrie” (Automobile Industry Association of the German Reich) to develop a vehicle which years later would become one of the best-selling models in the world as the VW Beetle, and would be a key factor in Porsche’s corporate success. The first prototypes were built by the Porsche engineering team in their own garage at Porsche’s villa in Stuttgart. His son Ferry was in charge of test drives, but the major test drives did not begin until 1936 under the supervision of the RDA.

1938

From the Volkswagen to the “KdF” car and the war economy

After Ferdinand Porsche was appointed by the German Reich government as Managing Director for Technology and Planning in 1937 in preparation for the Volkswagen (“people’s car”), the foundation stone for the Volkswagen factory was laid on 26 May 1938. And the Volkswagen becomes the “KdF (Kraft-durch-Freude, or “Strength through Pleasure”) car”. With the outbreak of the Second World War, however, the company switches to wartime needs: instead of a people’s car for the everyman, the assembly line in Wolfsburg turned out military vehicles such as the amphibious “Schwimmwagen” and the so-called “Kübelwagen” (or “bucket” car). The drawing boards at Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH in Stuttgart were filled with designs for tanks rather than race cars.

Into the future as a group

Growth & internationali­sation

Louise Piëch & Ferry Porsche

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© Porsche Holding Gesellschaft m.b.H, 2025

Louise-Piëch-Straße 2

5020 Salzburg / Austria

Tel. +43/662/4681-0

Supplier portal

As the largest automobile dealer in Europe, Porsche Holding is always on the lookout for the best suppliers.

Go to the supplier portal

© Porsche Holding Gesellschaft m.b.H, 2025

Louise-Piëch-Straße 2

5020 Salzburg / Austria

Tel. +43/662/4681-0

Supplier portal

As the largest automobile dealer in Europe, Porsche Holding is always on the lookout for the best suppliers.

Go to the supplier portal

© Porsche Holding Gesellschaft m.b.H, 2025