Ferdinand Porsche biography

Synopsis

Early Love of Cars

Born on September 3, 1875 in Maffersdorf, Austria, Ferdinand Porsche became fascinated with electricity at a young age. In 1893, when he was just 18 years old, Porsche landed a job at Bela Egger & Co., an electrical company in Vienna that was later renamed Brown Boveri. Around the same time, he enrolled as a part-time student at the Imperial Technical University in Reichenberg (now called the Vienna University of Technology).

After only a few years at Bella Egger & Co., Porsche—whose supervisors were thoroughly impressed by his technological skills—was promoted from an employee to a management position. The year 1897 was full of milestones for Porsche. That year, he built an electric wheel-hub motor, the concept for which had been developed by American inventor Wellington Adams more than a decade earlier; raced his wheel-hub motor in Vienna; and began working in the newly created Electric Car Department at Hofwagenfabrik Jacob Lohner & Co., a Vienna-based company belonging to the Austro-Hungarian Army's joint Imperial and Royal Army, or k.u.k. Three years later, Porsche's engineering abilities came under the international spotlight in Paris, when his wheel-hub engine was used to power the Lohner-Porsche—Hofwagenfabrik Jacob Lohner & Co.'s newly developed non-transmission vehicle—at the World's Fair of 1900. To his great satisfaction, Porsche's wheel-hub engine received wide acclaim.

Later in 1900, Porsche tested his engine in a race on the Semmering circuit, near Vienna, and won. In 1902, he got to drive one of his own designs while serving as a reserve foot soldier in the k.u.k. and, subsequently, a driver for Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Porsche's engineering continued on a successful track. After working at Lohner for nearly eight years, in 1906, he became technical manager of the Austro-Daimler company. In 1923, he moved to the Stuttgart-based Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft company, becoming a technical manager and executive board member. There, his career highlights included overseeing the construction of the Mercedes compressor car. For his accomplishments, Porsche received an honorary doctorate degree by the Imperial Technical University in 1917. In 1937, he was awarded the German National Prize for Art and Science.

Building a Company

Porsche left Daimler in 1931 to form his own firm, which he named "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionen und Beratung für Motoren und Fahrzeuge," according to Commercial Register documents from April 1931. In 1934, Porsche became deeply involved in Adolf Hitler's "people's car" project.