Germany is home to some of the best known automobile manufacturers, especially as soon as performance is mentioned. Porsche is one of the top tier producers from Germany; known for midrange and high level sports coupes, sedans, and sports utility vehicles (SUV), and innovation in the industry.
It all started in Stuttgart, during 1931 when Ferdinand Porsche founded his company, Porsche. In the beginning his firm did motor vehicle development and consulting work, but didn’t produce any vehicles themselves under the name Porsche. One of the first tasks for the company came from the German Government to develop a car for the people, a “VolksWagen”, and the Beetle was born, which was one of the most successful vehicle designs ever. Following that the “Porsche 64” was produced (but not officially sold), sharing many designs with the Beetle. During World War Two Porsche was contracted for building tanks and other military vehicles, most notably, the Kubelwagen (a military version of the Beetle), and their hand in the development of the Tiger I and Tiger II tanks, both incredibly successful tanks in their day. Towards the end of 1945, when Germany was falling the Volkswagen factory was taken over by the British, and Ferdinand Porsche was removed from the head of the factory and replaced by a British Major in the Royal Army, Ivan Hirst. Meanwhile, on December 15, 1945 Ferdinand was arrested on charges of war crimes, but was never charged. During his imprisonment Ferdinand’s son decided to build his own car when he couldn’t find one he wanted to buy. Ferry, Ferdinand’s son also took the Helm of his father’s business through some of its toughest days until his father’s release in August of 1947. Soon after his release, Porsche unveiled their first car, the 356, an aluminum body (for the prototype) car built in a small sawmill in Austria. This is often revered as the first car Porsche ever sold, as it was their first production vehicle, it became road legal in 1948. In 1952, Porsche had constructed a production plant and is now the oldest building belonging to Porsche and is now known as Porschestrasse.
Since then Porsche has been on the cutting edge of design, and development. One of the most iconic developments in Porsche’s lineup was their “Transaxle” era. Porsche developed a car whose transmission sat over the rear axles which allowed for an almost exact 50/50 weight distribution, this allowed for better handling, balance, and overall performance. The first car to feature this engineering feat was called the Porsche 924 in 1976. It featured a four-cylinder engine, transaxle design, and their slogan read: “family sports station wagon” the 924 was the first car of its kind, but the innovation didn’t just stop there. A year later, Porsche developed the 928, an impressive grand touring car. This car was truly the real package, with an impressive eight cylinder engine boasting up to 345 horsepower from a 5.4l v8 engine. This car was the complete package, it combined the best of three cars: a thoroughbred hardcore sports car, a comfortable luxury sedan, and a versatile utility car. This lineup was truly revolutionary in the industry. Never before had performance met luxury in such a fashion as the 928’s impressive specs. The Porsche transaxle series was not complete with just the 924 and 928, there was also the 944, the most popular model of the series. In addition to these in the transaxle series, a new car was launched in the late ‘70s, the Porsche 911. These cars were iconic, not only were they transaxle, but their engine was also mounted in the rear of the car. The prestige, popularity, and pure iconic nature of the porsche 911 doesn’t need to be reiterated.
Porsche is constantly revolutionizing the car industry, and finding new ways to create the peak in performance for each of their cars. I like to focus on their older cars, they have such elegance, grace, and character. The unrefined rawness of old German sports cars, their throaty roar when the engine is revving up, the controlled but thrilling speeds they are capable of attaining, the grace they take turns with, aspects that truly attract an enthusiast to a car. The classic Porsches are the stepping stones of some of the highest performance sports cars the world has ever seen, the trans-axle series of Porsche is a unique piece of automotive history. This historic line has been pivotal in the development of the most modern and futuristic super-cars to date. I had the privilege to visit the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart while they were doing the Transaxle exhibit where I learned a lot about the trans-axle Porsches and their impact on the sports car industry, I knew I had to write about them after my visit.
Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?q=porsche%2B928%2Bspecs&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS733US733&oq=porsche%2B928%2Bspecs&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.7211j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8.
“Porsche.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche. Usually wikipedia is unreliable, however the sources they recorded were highly reliable and lined up with my background knowledge on the topic.
“Porsche celebrates 40 years of transaxle cars.” Autoweek, autoweek.com/article/classic-cars/porsche-celebrates-40-years-transaxle-cars.
“When Porsche redefined itself.” Porsche Newsroom, newsroom.porsche.com/en/christophorus/porsche-924-944-968-928-transaxle-era-history-museum-exhibition-12537.html.
