Ferdinand Porsche Passes To Great Racetrack In The Sky

It's with great sadness that I report the second well-known tech visionary's death today, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, otherwise known as one half of the family racing car business founder duo which also included his grandfather. Porsche's grandfather, also named Ferdinand, designed the original Volkswagen Beetle, while the duo started the Porsche business 20 years after that. The original Porsche 911, developed directly from drawings and models built by Porsche himself, was first shown to the world in September 1963 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The first model 911 Porsche sold for $5,500 back in 1964 – fast forward 48 years later and the newest model is the line's seventh generation and will cost you somewhere around $115,000 brand new. This model – and of course subsequent models and designs for the company, lead Porsche to be a world-renowned designer. As one Porsche dealer Mike Sullivan from Torrance, California noted to the LA Times upon hearing the news:

"There has not been a single individual whose contribution to the Porsche brand over the decades since the '60's has been greater than that of Ferdinand 'Butzi' Porsche. His iconic design of the original 911 has elevated Porsche to the top of the automotive world. [The Porsche 911] has singularly dominated sports car racing for most of the last 40 years as well as making Porsche the world's most profitable auto manufacturer." – Sullivan

In honor of Porsche's legacy, we offer you this quote from the man himself:

"A product that is coherent in form requires no embellishment. It is enhanced by the purity of its form. Good design should be honest." – Porsche

Thanks for the cars, Butzi!

[via LA Times]