Let’s celebrate Porsche’s 70th Birthday!
Today, Porsche is celebrating. The German sports car maker has managed to set a new record for the fastest lap around Nurburgring-Nordschleife, registering a time of 5 minutes and 19.55 seconds with Timo Bernhard driving an unrestricted 919 Hybrid Evo. It’s hard to find a better way to celebrate the 70th year anniversary of the company.
Porsche released an emotional video to say thank YOU its fans and customers around the globe. It features people who were born during the same year that some of its most iconic models were released. The 356 was the first Porsche ever made, in 1948.
Porsche’s history actually began in the 1930s when Ferdinand Porsche opened a shop in Stuttgart under the name “Dr. Ing. Ing. It’s likely more accurate to say that Porsche marks 70 years since the first Porsche-branded vehicle was registered.
Ferry Porsche’s son engineered the first 356. It was an aluminum prototype hand-built by Porsche. It was built mainly from Volkswagen components. It featured a lightweight aluminum body with a tubular steel chassis. In total, 52 copies of this sports car were built in just one year in Gmund (Austria). The company eventually moved to Stuttgart.
The engine underhood was a 1.3-liter VW four-cylinder engine. It was mounted in front of the rear axle. Ferry Porsche increased the cylinder bore and compression of the engine, as well as added twin carburetors. This allowed the motor to produce an impressive 40 horsepower (30 kW) instead of the 25 horsepower that was originally supplied by VW.