Robert Mulkey
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23 April 2018
History of Porsche/ VW
Vroom...vroom goes the sound of a luxury sports car pulling up next to you. You sit there admiring the car as it drives away, and the model of the car is a Porsche. The top favorite Porsche models are: 911, Cayenne, Boxster, Carrera and many more. Porsches are considered to be luxury sports cars that are German engineered. Porsche alongside many other luxury sports car brands such as Lexus, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Jaguar are the leading in the world. I will be elaborating more on the history of Porsche, about the different models and why Porsche is considered to be a luxury brand.
To start off, the history of Porsche all begins in 1875 in Mattersdorf which is where Ferdinand Porsche was born Growing up as a teen Ferdinand spent most of his days in his father’s repair shop learning the ins and outs of vehicle mechanics while attending the Imperial Technical University at night. Since Ferdinand was so persistent he landed himself several engineering jobs at local companies, and by the time he was 23 he had designed his first automobile the Porsche P1. In the 1920’s Ferdinand was then hired by Daimler as technical director and he designed the Mercedes-Benz SSK which his known as the greatest race car of its era. In the 1930’s Ferdinand finally had the money to start his own company but during this time in Germany many people couldn’t afford cars. January 30, 1933 Adolf Hitler had become the Chancellor of Germany and a few days later he announced the beginning of a new era of automobiles. He wanted every German citizen to have a car that could fit a family of five, start in the cold and be very fuel efficient he wanted a people’s car; a Volkswagen. Hitler recruited the best engineers including Ferdinand and in 1934 he began working on the Beetle. After Ferdinand got arrested and imprisoned for war crimes in 1945 after he was released a few years later his son Ferry Porsche had got control of the company. He wanted to build cars with the Porsche name on them and in 1948 he created the Porsche 356. In 1965, after production ended over 76,000 cars had been produced and in 1963 the Porsche 911 started being produced. It was a rear-engine car that was air cooled, with two small back seats and a trunk. Many people said that it was a better and more civilized version of the Porsche 365. The Porsche 911 became their best-seller despite the price which was $6,000 which was more than most people’s annual salary. By the 1970’s, Porsche were selling over 20,000 911’s every year. In 2002 Porsche decided to make an SUV the Cayenne it was Porsche’s first car with four doors.
Next, we will be talking about the company’s ownership Porsche is owned by Volkswagen. After WW2 Volkswagen became very successful more than Porsche and selling 60 times as many cars. In 2005, two executives decided for some reason that they wanted to acquire Volkswagen. Volkswagen was way bigger than Porsche could afford but they found a legal way around that problem. Their first move was to buy call options on Volkswagen stock and Porsche bought out almost 75% of Volkswagen’s stock which ended up hurting Porsche. They then had to file for bankruptcy but already prepared for that. In 2007 they had created a holding company for Porsche, which owned 100% of the manufacturing business, but added an extra layer of legal security. This kept the manufacturing business alive but ironically, when the Porsche holding company went bankrupt, Volkswagen stepped in and helped out. Volkswagen purchased the entirety of the Porsche manufacturing company, which gave the Porsche holding company enough money to pay back its debts and keep a 30.8% stake in Volkswagen. The two executives responsible for the fiasco ended up walking scot-free and with millions in severance money.
Next, I will be talking about the design of the Porsche and why so many people love this car. When you think of a Porsche you think about speed, style, curves and power of the car. You also think about the engine and body including the interior and dashboard it gives you chills just thinking about driving one of Ferdinand’s many creations. Everything on a Porsche car is uniquely made and each part of the car comes together to create a sports car that gives people a rush of adrenaline. The originality of this car is astonishing because it has a sleek and sophisticated design, and not only does it look good but under the hood of the car an eight-cylinder engine which is lightweight. The eight-cylinder engine produced 176 at 176 kW (240 hp) at a moderate 5,500 rpm, which was sufficient for a top speed of 230 km/h. The engine’s nominal torque was 350 Nm at 3,600 rpm. One of Porsche’s cars is in the top five of the fastest cars in the world and model of the car is he 9ff GT9-R which can reach a speed of 257 mph, and go from 0 to 60 in 2.9 seconds, according to CBS Miami. A good way to increase speed is to reduce weight which is why the 9ff-GT9-R is in the top five because it is lighter that most cars.
Works Cited
· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLyCHJuKh_8
· http://www.intervarsitychicago.org/an-outstanding-essay-example-on-porsche-cars-history/
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche
· Stacy, Lee. Porsche. Rourke Publishing, 2005. Hot Cars. EBSCOhost, proxygsu-alb1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=392103&site=eds-live&scope=site.
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