The man who is credited with the design of the most famous Porsche models of all, the original 911, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, died Thursday in Salzburg, Austria at age 76, of unknown causes, Porsche announced today.
Porsche CEO Matthias Müller issued this statement: “We mourn the death of our partner, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. As the creator of the Porsche 911, he established a design culture in our company that has shaped our sports cars to this very day. His philosophy of good design is a legacy to us that we will honour for all time.”
The legendary German designer, nicknamed “Butzi”, was born in Stuttgart on December 11, 1935. He was the oldest son of Dorothea and Ferry Porsche, and grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the company that bears his family name.
F.A. Porsche, as he was known by his colleagues, joined the company in 1958 and designed the first model of a successor to the 356 out of plasticine. In 1962, he took over as head of the Porsche design studio and one year later, he finished work on the 901, which was renamed to 911 after French carmaker Peugeot said it owned the rights on car names with a zero in the middle.
The rest, of course, is history as the 911 evolved to be one of the greatest sports cars ever and is now in its seventh generation.
Along with the production cars, Porsche also designed racing models, including the legendary Type 804 Formula One racing car and the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS.
In the years that followed, Porsche, along with all the other family members, stepped down from the company’s business operations and in 1972, he founded the “Porsche Design Studio” in Stuttgart, the head office of which was moved to Zell am See in Austria in 1974. The studio became famous for a plethora of accessories such as watches and glasses, as well as industrial products, household appliances and consumer durables.
Even though he had stepped down from Porsche’s front-line operations, Ferdinand was always on hand to help and even served as President of the company’s Supervisory Board from 1990 to 1993 when the automaker was experiencing financial troubles. Porsche left his Supervisory Board role to his son Oliver and took over the mantle of Honorary President of the Supervisory Board in 2005.
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