The Real Influencers: Ferdinand Porsche

He gave his name to what would become the world’s most successful sports car maker and oversaw the creation of the world’s best-selling car. There were other vehicles of real significance too, including the pre-war Auto Union single seaters: the first successful Grand Prix cars to have an engine behind the driver.

Yet his first big automotive innovation may have been his most significant, certainly in terms of 21^st century relevance. This was the world’s first mechanical-electric powered hybrid, designed for Austrian car maker Lohner. The Lohner-Porsche of 1900 was also one of the first front-wheel drive cars and – as it was also available as a 4×4 – the world’s first production all-wheel drive machine too.

The Ferdinand Porsche story includes a much darker side, as with many motor industry men of influence. He had an uncomfortable rapport with Hitler, was an SS Oberführer, and used forced labour in his factory to help the German war effort. After the war, he was briefly imprisoned for his role in the conflict.