Porsche, Ferdinand (1875-1951)

German automotive designer and engineer who designed the Volkswagen Beetle, first mass produced in 1945. By 1972 more than 15 million had been sold, making it the world's most popular model. He also designed the original Porsche sports cars, further developed by his son Ferry Porsche from 1948.

Ferdinand Porsche designed his first racing car in the mid-1930s, which was successfully developed by Auto-Union for their racing team. Ferry's Porsche Company produced Grand Prix cars, sports cars, and prototypes. Their Formula 1 racing car was not successful and it was at sports-car and Can-Am racing that they proved to be more dominant.

Ferdinand Porsche was born in Bohemia. He was technical director with Daimler-Benz 1923-29 and formed his own company in 1931. In 1932 he devised the first torsion-bar suspension system, which was incorporated in the Volkswagen prototype he began working on in 1934. In 1936 he received a contract from the German government to develop the Volkswagen and plan the factory where it would be built. World War II halted this development, so Porsche designed the Leopard and Tiger tanks used by German Panzer regiments and helped to develop the V1 flying bomb.

In the 1930s Porsche also designed light tractors, and worked on aviation engines and plans and designs for wind-driven power plants - large windmills with automatic sail adjustment.