Porsche celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2018 with a series of events around the world

It’s a big year for Porsche — the first vehicle to bear the Porsche name was registered on June 8 1948: it was the 356 "No 1" roadster.

The Type 356 turned Ferry Porsche’s dream of a sports car into a reality.

"His vision at that time embodied all of the values that still define the brand to this day," says Oliver Blume, chairman of the executive board of Porsche.

"Tradition is a commitment. Without our tradition and without our core values, we would not be where we are today. We plan to uphold the standard of technical excellence set by Ferry Porsche well into the future. Intelligent dynamic mobility has a great future ahead of it.

"And we have the solid technological expertise, creative employees and unique team spirit to be involved. We have what it takes to ensure that the Porsche brand continues to fascinate — even in another 70 years."

The history of the brand begins in 1948. Yet the foundation of the sports car manufacturer is built on the life’s work of Prof Ferdinand Porsche — work which his son Ferry continued.

Ferdinand Porsche had already designed pioneering innovations for the automotive industry as early as the start of the previous century. In 1900, he built an electric car with a wheel-hub drive, the Lohner-Porsche, on which he would base the world’s first all-wheel drive passenger car.

In the same year, he created a template for hybrid vehicles with the development of a mixed petrol-electric powertrain. The Berlin-Rome Car showcased in 1939 was the beginning of his idea for a sports car bearing the Porsche name, although this dream was only realised by his son Ferry in 1948 with the Type 356.

The successor model to the 356, the 911 designed by Ferry Porsche’s son Ferdinand Alexander, finally gave the company its breakthrough as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sports cars.

"Although the 911 has been consistently developed in the intervening decades and enhanced many times over with new, innovative technologies, no other vehicle has managed to retain its original essence in the same way as the 911," says Blume. "All Porsche models to be developed now and in future are based on this sports car."

The future of Porsche sports cars is coming up to the starting line in the form of the Mission E, the first purely electrically driven technology champion from Zuffenhausen. The four-door model with four individual seats delivers a claimed more than 440kW and a range of more than 500km, acceleration from 0-100km/h in less than 3.5 seconds and a charging time of 15 minutes for 80% of the electrical energy required.

The company is celebrating 2018’s anniversary with numerous activities including exhibitions in Germany and the US. On June 9, the Porsche Museum will hold a comprehensive special exhibition and on the same day, Porsche will be inviting sports car fans to its Sports Car Together Day around the world.

The big question though is whether the company will use its 70th birthday year to reveal the next generation 911? We’d be willing to take that bet.

This article was originally published by the Business Day.
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