IT IS HARD TO THINK of a motoring dynasty that has remained as steadfastedly singular for quite as long as Porsche. Even today the German manufacturer remains fiercely popular by stubbornly doing what no one else is doing – it exists on an engineering and motoring plane all of its own, as it has done ever since engineering prodigy Ferdinand Porsche created what we now call the Lohner-Porsche in 1900. This car, created by a 25-year old but dreamed up years earlier, established so many firsts with its four independently electrically driven wheels and much more, that it set the template for the Porsche ethos of innovation, if not the template for its drivetrain. That said, he did follow it up by inventing the PHEV in 1901 with the Mixte!
Depending on your standpoint, the first actual Porsche – after Ferdinand busied himself with the Beetle, the Auto Union racers et al – came either in 1939 with the Type 64 or, more logically, with 1948’s unique 356/1 the mid-engined sports car that Ferdinand’s son Ferdinand (kno
