Description
By: Randy Leffingwell, 2nd hand book in excellent condition, dust jacket is clipped, see the image
Born in the Bohemian town of Maffersdorf on September 3, 1875, Ferdinand Porsche displayed unparalleled automotive engineering genius from his earliest years. By 1900, he had designed all-wheel-drive race cars and electric-gasoline hybrid drive trains, and at the age of just 31, Porsche became the technical director of Austro-Daimler, at the time one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. At Austro-Daimler, Porsche designed some of the world's most iconic race cars, including the Mercedes-Benz Kompressor and Typ S models. In 1933, Porsche developed the fabled 16-cylinder mid-engine Auto Union Grand Prix race car. That same year he developed a rear-engined concept vehicle that would eventually become the "People's Car," or "Volkswagen."
In 1938 Porsche began development of the Typ 64. Built for long-distance endurance competition, the Typ 64 is considered the forefather of all Porsche sports cars. Further development would be disrupted by World War II and the chaos that followed, but in June 1948 Porsche finally introduced a production sports car that incorporated nearly half a century of engineering brilliance: the Typ 356, the first sports car to be branded "Porsche."
Thus began the story of the world's most fabled sports car marque.
In Porsche Sixty Years author and photographer Randy Leffingwell captures the Porsche story in words and photos, including hundreds of never-before-seen photos from Porsche's arthives, from the prewar Typ 64 to the latest GT3 RS and Cayman.
