• Ferdinand Porsche and Ferry Porsche
• 356
• 550 Spyder
• 911
• 914
• 924 / 944 / 968
• 928
• 959

Ferdinand Porsche and Ferry Porsche

Professor Porsche was the last automotive engineer who design the entire car by himself. Accompany with his versatility and his influence in subsequent automotive design, few can be compared with him. His son, Ferry Porsche (1909-98), was not ordinary either. Being a greatest engineer's son and trained in Bosch, he succeeded his father to enhance the reputation of their company. In fact, it was his achievement rather than his father's to establish the solid status of Porsche as famous a sports car maker. His creations included 356 and 911.

To create affordable sports car in such a tough period was not easy. Having reference to Italian sports car maker Cisitalia's experience, Ferry decided to build his car based on the components of a mass production car so that no matter manufacturing cost or development time could be minimised. Logically, he chose Volkswagen Beetle as the donor car, which was designed by his father before the war.

Also because of its root, 356 was never a powerful car - the original 1086 c.c. air cooled flat-four could only squeeze out 40 hp even with modified heads. However, Porsche's body was quite light (745 kg) and super streamline, so performance was respectable. As reported by Autocar in April 1951: "The acceleration above 50 mph is quite beyond what would be expected from the engine size, and is achieved in extraordinary quietness." In later years, engines grew more powerful and the car got faster and faster. The best version was probably the 1600S Speedster, whose pure styling was the most beautiful among all (shown in above). Besides, the 90 hp 356 Super 90 and the race-purpose 130 hp Carrera 2000 Coupe also worth mentioning.

356 was not regarded as very exciting. But it was very all round - decent handling, fine performance, comfortable, practical, economical and well-built, although not as bargain as contemporary Jaguar XK120. It was these two cars dominated the global sports car market in the 50s. After 15 successful years and 76,303 units built, the 356 retired in 1965. Its position was succeeded by the even more successful 911.

Before this, Ferdinand Porsche created several awesome racing cars, including Mercedes SSK and Auto Union's V16 mid-engined Grand Prix car. However, as Ferdinand was half-retired since WWII, while Ferry was
concentrating on creating the company's first production car, the first racing car was not developed until the summer of 1952. Although Ferry was more a "road car man" than a "racing man", unlike Enzo Ferrari, he still had the ambition to dominate the motorsport world like his father. While he was busy in expanding the production facility and continuing the development of his own 356, he handed the whole project to Huschke vo Hanstein.

However, Porsche was still a small company then. Although some money was earned by engineering consultant service to subsidise the programme, they still had to use the existing suspension parts and wheels from the 356, incorporated in a ladder chassis which was also modified from the 356. Engine, again from 356, was tuned to 78 hp from 1500 c.c.. Nevertheless, 550 Spyder was still unmistakably a racing car because of its aluminium body and the mid-engined layout, a first for Porsche. Weighing at just 1200 pounds, the first racing 550 Spyder immediately won the 1500 c.c. class German sports car championship in that year, 1952.

Porsche built 8 racing prototypes before selling the car to the public in 1954. The first generation "public" 550, called 1500RS, featured a new engine - a 1500 c.c. boxer four with 4 camshafts and twin-spark plugs per cylinder. This was very advanced by contemporary standards. With 125 hp and a still-outstanding 1320 pounds weight, no wonder it continued to dominate class racing. Please note that the "public" 550 was still primarily designed for racing although it was finished in road-legal trim. Driving it too hard in public highway may lead to tragedy, one of the examples was James Dean - in 1955 he crashed his 550 Spyder in a Californian highway and died ... I saw that photo some time ago, the 550 was really fragile.

Porsche improved the 550 again in 1956. The new car, now called 550A, received a new space frame chassis which was not only lighter, but added 3 times torsional rigidity over the ladder chassis. Engine was boosted to 135 hp. 550A handled a lot better than its predecessors.

As 550 Spyder remained unbeatable in the 1500 c.c. class for nearly a full decade, Porsche became a famous name in motor racing. From 1960 it terminated all development of the 550 and started to take a new challenge in F1 ... I can tell you that was a failure, but after that when Porsche re-concentrated in GT and endurance racing, greater success came and lasted for nearly 3 decades ...

There were mixed reaction about the 914: in terms of styling, some liked it but some criticized of lacking Porsche's tradition. To me, the treatment around the nose was particularly awful - the shape of indicator lamps, pop-up headlamp covers and front bumper looked odd.

In terms of performance, the base version, powered by VW's 1679 c.c. pushrod flat-four with 85 hp and 103 lbft obviously lack the sparkle to cope with the 940 kg weight. Alfa Romeo Spider's twin-cam, for instance, was far better. If someone would pay 70% more than the base model, he could get a 914/6 with 911T's flat-six (2 litres, 110hp) and excellent performance, but wasn't it over-priced ?

In terms of handling, the first mid-engined Porsche did not live up to expectation - who would have expected a mid-engine car always understeer ?

Lacking the Porsche's shape, the Porsche's build quality, die-hard Porsche fans refused to recognise it as a real Porsche, while other open-minded enthusiasts would probably choose 911T (the cheapest 911) over 914/6. Therefore 3 quarters of the sales were the 4-cylinder 914. Profit margin was very low even 118,947 units were made in 6 years time so that eventually VW quit the venture. As a result, 914 died in 1975 without replacement.

The story began in 1971. In those days, Porsche was always thinking of a replacement for the 911. That's easy to understand. Since the 911 had already passed its planned life span, it would be risky if the company's fortune still rely heavily on it. Therefore they started the development of the next generation Porsche - 928.

The original concept of 928 is clear: more powerful and with more useful space in rear seats. To obtain the 300 hp output target, engineers designed a 5-litre V8. Since the engine was heavy, they also developed a rear-transaxle gearbox so that better balance between front and rear could be obtained. By 1973, essential development was finished and a prototype was built and under testing. At this moment, the Arab-Israeli war brought the threat of "energy crisis". Big and thirsty cars no longer sold well. It was a big hit to both 928 and Porsche. The project was immediately put into low gear and production postponed until 1977.

The styling of 928 was also special. Its circular headlamps were classic - in appearance they looked like ordinary exposed lamps, in fact they were pop-up lamps. Porsche apparently copied that from Lamborghini Miura. Besides, fully integrated bumpers incorporated in the smooth and round body made it like no other cars. By just seeing it, you can feel the power and mass.

However, the most impressive to me was its engine noise. It sounded very deep, even deeper than the 911. But you will never confuse it with 911 or any car else. Even it ran slowly, the noise seemed telling you " I have a lot of potential, but normally I like to stay low-key". A 911 screamed very hard in strong acceleration, but the 928 did that effortlessly. It remained confident all the time. "My confident came from my huge torque", it told you. To me, 928's engine note was the most beautiful I had ever heard. I prefer its low frequency than Ferrari's high pitch.

In the year of its launch, 928 won the most recognised European Car of The Year (COTY) award. That was the first and only occasion that a sports car won this title.

928S

928S2

928S2 (1985)

928S4

Further uprated from the 4-valve 928S2. The S4 got a beautiful nose and tail bumpers and a larger black rear wing. The V8 employed larger valves, faster cam profile and a 2-stage variable length induction manifold with resonance effect. Power and torque rose to 320 hp and 317 lbft respectively. Drag coefficient dropped to 0.34.  Porsche now called the manual version as 928 S4 SE, leaving the "928S4" label to the automatic version that comprised the majority of sales. Meanwhile, a lighter-weight, tauter-tuned, 330 hp version called "928 GT" appeared as the hottest S4.

928GTS

The engine was stroked to 5397 c.c., with 8 balance weights instead of six to enhance smoothness. No less than 350 silky horsepowers and 362 lbft of torque were available. This enabled a top speed of more than 170 mph (Autocar's test was conducted in a less ideal bowl track).

GTS was smoother and more flexible than its predecessor, cabin got extra sound-proofing. All these made it a quieter, smoother and easier to dirve.

The End of 928

A year later, BMW 850i added further trouble. The market positioning of 928 became embarrassing, it was neither as quick as Ferrari nor as luxurious as Mercedes, and also much more expensive than a Toyota Supra turbo. Annual production dropped to approximately a thousand units in its last year. As a result, the termination was inevitable.