Page 8 - Porsche Decades sample pages

record on the Semmering road near Vienna. The vehicle was lightened by removal of unnecessary equipment and even had improved aerodynamics in the form of an angled sheet metal faring or bonnet in front of the two tandem seats. Porsche lowered the record for an electric-powered vehicle by more than eight minutes at a sensational average speed just under 25 mph. In his autobiography, We At Porsche, Ferry Porsche wrote: “Looking back, I never knew my father to design any automobile without keeping open the possibility that it might be used for racing.”
During this same period, Porsche began to work on what he referred to as the mixt (in German, or mixte in French) power concept. In modern times, this is what one might refer to as a ‘hybrid’. At a time when batteries were excessively heavy and highly inefficient by modern standards, charging and range were huge technical challenges. The mixed concept began to solve this problem by using a combustion engine to run a generator, making electricity on board. Excess electricity from the generator could be stored by a small battery, which could run accessories and help start the engine. Gasoline engines were sourced from the Daimler Company at this stage, although the first Semper Vivus used two single-cylinder de Dion-Bouton engines. Porsche also began to work on all-wheel drive by installing electric hub motors on all four wheels of a vehicle. Racing vehicles were built on the mixed concept and military use, another key activity in the future of Ferdinand Porsche, began in this period. In 1902, Porsche personally drove Archduke Franz Ferdinand in a mixed vehicle during military maneuvers in West Hungary. In 1905, Porsche was recognized with the Pötting Prize for Austria’s most outstanding automotive engineer.
1900 Lohner Type J, Ferdinand Porsche’s first purpose-built competition vehicle.
1875 to 1919
Marriage and Children
While working at VEAG/Béla Egger, Ferdinand Porsche metAloisiaKaes,knownasLouise.AuthorKarlLudvigsen wrote in Professor Porsche’s Wars: “On a sunny Saturday, 17 October 1903, the two were married in the church at Maffersdorf where Ferdinand had been baptized. True to Porsche’s workaholic character, their honeymoon in Austria, Italy and France included several business meetings.”
Their first child, Louise, was born in August 1904. Their son, also named Ferdinand, was born in September 1909. Ferdinand would be known by his nickname, Ferry. Both children went on to play important roles in the future of Porsche.
PORSCHE DECADES 1875 to 1919
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1900 Lohner La Toujours Contente competition electric vehicle for E.W. Hart. Ferdinand Porsche shown in the passenger seat at the front.