Page 6 - Sample pages "Forty Six: The Birth of Porsche Motorsport"

CHAPTER 1
PORSCHE – THE EARLY DAYS
“The styling of the 356 was influenced by my own ideas,” Ferry explained in We at Porsche. “In fact, I was responsible for this model, and the whole concept was the product of my own technical ‘feeling.’ For example, I prefer an open-wheeled race car in which the driver can see exactly where he is putting his front wheels. This makes cornering easier and more accurate.” Ferry recognized that this was not practical for passenger-carrying automobiles and he recognized that a few British manufacturers
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FORTY SIX The Birth of Porsche Motorsport
had solved this by fitting motorcycle-type fenders at the front. “I compromised by designing the front fenders in such a manner that although the whole assembly was one unit, the driver would still have a fair idea of where his front wheels were located and would get a feel for the turning radius,” he continued. “We followed this idea from the beginning and gave the Porsche front fenders a shape of their own, making them quite distinctive from that of the hood.”
Porsche factory, Gmünd, Austria, circa 1945.
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