Ferdinand Porsche | |
---|---|
Born |
Maffersdorf, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Vratislavice nad Nisou, Czech Republic) |
3 September 1875
Died | 30 January 1951 Stuttgart, West Germany |
(aged 75)
Citizenship |
Austria-Hungary (birth–1918), Czechoslovakia (1918–1934), Germany (1934–death) |
Occupation | Engineer |
Children |
Ferry Porsche Louisa Porsche |
Engineering career | |
Projects | Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, Tiger I, Tiger II, the Elefant, and the Volkswagen Beetle |
Awards |
German National Prize for Art and Science (1938) SS-Ehrenring War Merit Cross Wilhelm Exner Medal, 1936 |
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche car company. He is best known for creating the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner-Porsche), the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, several other important developments and Porsche automobiles. In addition, Porsche designed the 1923 Benz Tropfenwagen, which was the first racing car with a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout.
An important contributor to the German war effort during World War II, Porsche was involved in the production of advanced tanks such as the VK 4501 (P), Tiger I, Tiger II, Elefant, and Panzer VIII Maus, as well as other weapon systems, including the V-1 flying bomb. Porsche was a member of the NSDAP and allegedly the SS. He was a recipient of the German National Prize for Art and Science, the SS-Ehrenring and the War Merit Cross, and was called the Great German Engineer by Nazi officials.
Porsche was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996 and won the Car Engineer of the Century award in 1999.
Ferdinand Porsche was born to German-speaking parents in Maffersdorf (Czech: Vratislavice nad Nisou), northern Bohemia, part of the Austrian Empire at that time, and today part of the Czech Republic. Ferdinand was his parents' third child. His father, Anton Porsche, was a master panel-beater.