EDITORS' NOTE TO THE READER: This is the official hagiography, therefore it may include some elements which are either redacted, incomplete when not utterly misleading or incorrect (e.g. on the role of the family during the Nazi regime). Also note that the fundamental role of financial backers like Adolf Rosenberger and senior Porsche staff (e.g. Erwin Komenda) had always been downplayed for internal "political" and marketing reason. Please use your best judgement.

Loosely translated from the original German

In June 1948, the first 356 with an aluminum body was completed in Gmünd, and in March 1951 the last of a total of 47 cars before Porsche returned home to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. In July 1948, by the way, there was the first sporting success for a sports car that was not only designed by Porsche, but also bore his name. Herbert Kaes, cousin and engineering colleague of Ferry Porsche, easily won his class in a road race in Innsbruck. It was the light metal car with production number 1 that had been completed the month before. "Due to its compactness, low weight and short wheelbase, its performance even exceeded our expectations," Ferry Porsche remembers today. "It climbed the mountains like a chamois and easily managed 130 km/h. That was an outstanding performance for a 1131 cc four-cylinder engine with 40 hp at 4000 revolutions per minute." Looking back, it can be said that practically the entire chassis - suspension, steering, brakes, the non-synchronized gearbox and the air-cooled engine - were original Volkswagen parts with small changes that led to better roadholding and higher performance.

In October 1948, Ferry Porsche negotiated a contract with Heinz Nordhoff, the then chairman of the Volkswagen factory, which on the one hand guaranteed VW the almost exclusive development work of Porsche, but on the other hand also gave Porsche advantages. This included the promise that Porsche could sell its sports cars through authorized dealers and importers of the VW factory, as well as the supply of VW parts to Porsche. After signing this contract, Ferry Porsche finally decided to move to Stuttgart. The part of the company that remained in Austria took over sales for VW and Porsche in Austria. Porsche's first modest entry into series production of automobiles began on around 600 square meters that it rented from the Reutter bodyworks. "We never dreamed that we would end up with a total of 78,000 of this type," says Ferry Porsche. The initial plan had only envisaged the "very modest" production of 500 cars.

Content

• The beginning
• The Volkswagen is created
• The 356 makes progress
• At Le Mans for 30 years
• The new Porsche generation