A giant within the German motor car industry.

The son of a tinsmith, Porsche was an inventive and imaginative engineer, first making motors for airships, aeroplanes and helicopters. It was Porsche's work on cars, however, firstly for Austro-Daimler and later under Weimar designing sports cars for Mercedes, that made his name.

His design practice which evolved into Porsche AG was founded in Stuttgart in 1931. When asked by the Nazis in 1934 to design and produce a people's car, Ferdinand obeyed and started immediately on the car Hitler dreamed every citizen could own. The result was the eclectic Volkswagen 'Beetle', based upon the Czech Tatraplan Type 77 and the Chrysler Airflow Sedan of 1934. The Beetle was air-cooled and Porsche took the unprecedented step of mounting the horizontally opposed engine at the back of the car.

As the first models appeared war broke out and Ferdinand was engaged designing military vehicles. After the war mass production of the Beetle became a symbol of Germany's reconstruction, providing practical transport for millions of Germans. Meanwhile Porsche, with his son Ferry, used Volkswagen components to build sports cars. The famous 356 Roadster styled by Komenda in 1948 was the first to carry the Porsche name.

In recent years Porsche has become synonymous with luxury sports cars, but it is his Volkswagen Beetle that ranks alongside Henry Ford's Model T and Issigonis's Mini as a truly significant car for millions of motorists.