Porsche

Founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche under the name Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH, the company headquarters were based in Stuttgart Germany. The original focus of Porsche was not building cars but development and consulting of motor vehicles. One early assignments saw the German government task Porsche with designing a car for the people. The resulting car was called the Volkswagen Beetle which became one of the most successful car design of all time. In 1939 Porsche used the design and development of the Beetle to produce their own car called the Porsche 64.

During World War II production turned towards military requirements with Porsche designing several heavy tanks during the war. At the conclusion of the war in 1945, the Volkswagen factory fell into the hands of the British, and Ferdinand Porsche was arrested for war crimes later that year. During his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand was never tried. His son, Ferry Porsche, was tasked with steering the company through a difficult time and went ahead with developing a new car called the Porsche 356. Built in a small sawmill in Austria, the 356 is considered by many to be the first true Porsche, as it was the first car to be sold by the fledgling company.

Post World War II has seen many car manufacturers achieve tremendous sales success, with Porsche right amongst them. Key to the longevity of the brand has been the 911 sports car, the most famous badge in the companies history and one of the most well-known cars in the world.