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History of the Porsche

by admin, March 25, 2014

History of the Porsche

At Midtown Autoworks of Sacramento, we have a strong passion for the Porsche and that’s why we specialize in repairing the various models.  The history of the Porsche is very interesting and how it has progressed over the years into the amazing sports car it is today.

The Porsche is one of the most well-known and extraordinary cars ever made and it was created by Ferdinand Porsche.  As a young engineer around the age of 25 years old, he designed the very first electric/hybrid. Over the course of his career, he worked with Mercedes, Volkswagen, Daimler-Benz and many others.  Also, the well-known Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Ferdinand’s independent design firm back in 1931.

Once his son Ferry Porsche was of age, he became a test driver and draftsman at his father’s firm.  He designed race cars and was the key player of the design of the very first Porsche, which was the 356.  It was hand-built with an extraordinary 40-horsepower Volkswagen engine that was rear-mounted.  A distributor from Switzerland ordered five of the cars and not long after, the 356 won its very first race.  By 1950, the model 356 went into production and later in 1954, the speedster version was introduced.

In 1963 the 901 was introduced, and by 1964 the production car was formally named the 911.  It had a two-liter six-cylinder engine that generates 130 hp, which was considerably more than the previous model.  Following the 901 came the Targa, semi-automatic, high-performance, and entry-level versions

Porsche concluded its 356 production in 1965, but its engine still lived in the new 912.  In 1970, the 912 was replaced for the mid-engine 914, and by 1976, the front-engine 924 with its Audi power-plant was replaced for the 914.  Next in 1977, the brand new 928 came out and in 1978 it came out with a 240-hp V8.  Following that in 1982, the 944 was made available for sale, which was based on the 924.  Additionally, the super-car 959 made its debut at the 1985 Frankfurt Auto Show.

The company introduced in 1990 its “Tiptronic,” a clutchless manual transmission, an innovation that held its own for practically 20 years before getting replaced by the dual-clutch PDK system in the 2009 911 Carrera.

Through the years and with the different models manufactured, now Porsche has four basic models available on the market.  The models are the 911 Carrera, the Boxster, the Cayman introduced in 2006, and the Cayenne sports SUV introduced in 2007.

Porsche has been very successful over the years and continues to run strong as one of the foremost sports cars.  This is why we are very passionate about the Porsche, and why we only employ the best, certified mechanics at Midtown Autoworks of Sacramento.  Visit us today at www.midtownautoworks.com.