Ferry Porsche
1909–1998
Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche
Founder of Porsche sports car production · Chairman of Porsche
Austrian-German engineer, son of Ferdinand Porsche, who put the Porsche 356 into production and led the company that created the 911.
- Born
- 19 September 1909Wiener Neustadt, Austria
- Died
- 27 March 1998Zell am See, Austria
- Nationality
- Austrian-German
Biography
Ferdinand Anton Ernst 'Ferry' Porsche was born in Wiener Neustadt on 19 September 1909. In April 1931 he and his father opened a car design consultancy in Stuttgart. When his father moved to Wolfsburg in 1938, Ferry became deputy manager of the Stuttgart office and moved its design departments to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.
In July 1946 he moved the company to Gmünd in Carinthia, Austria. There production of the Porsche 356 began after a Zürich dealer placed the first order in the winter of 1947. In 1949 an agreement with Volkswagen allowed Porsche to return to Zuffenhausen, and after his father died on 30 January 1951 Ferry became chairman of the board of management.
Under his leadership came the Porsche 911, originally planned as the 901. In 1972 the company was converted into a public limited company. He received Germany's Grand Cross of the Order of Merit in 1959 and 1979 and honorary doctorates from Vienna and Stuttgart in 1965. Ferry Porsche died in Zell am See on 27 March 1998.
Timeline
- 1931Opens the design consultancy with his father in Stuttgart[1]
- 1946Moves the company to Gmünd, Austria[1]
- 1947First order for the Porsche 356; production begins[1]
- 1949Porsche returns to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen[1]
- 1951Becomes chairman of the board of management[1]
- 1972Porsche is converted into a public limited company[1]
Cars
Porsche 356 №1 Roadster
Porsche 911 Carrera CabrioletFerry Porsche in 1CARS stories
Related people
Sources
- Ferry Porsche — Wikipedia · accessed 13 October 2026