Porsche and the War Economy
Porsche began as a motor vehicle development and consulting firm. Established in Austria in 1931, the company got its first big start helping to design the first Volkswagen car. Namely the Volkswagen Beetle, a design the company still uses today. In fact, the Beetle design was so groundbreaking that Porsche reused some of its components in designing the 1939 Porsche 64.
When Volkswagen production shifted to the war economy, Porsche followed suit. He helped design heavy tanks, but his designs were never incorporated into the final product. Instead, the government settled on Henschel & Son’s Tiger I and Tiger II designs. Porsche did design the chassis for the tank, and two prototypes for a super-tank that was set to be produced by the end of the war.
Volkswagen’s factory fell to the British after World War II, and it was during that time that Porsche’s son designed a car. He was driven by a need to buy a car, but he couldn’t find one on the market that he liked enough to pull the trigger. He built the first model of what was to become the Porsche 356 in 1947.
Aside from the Porsche 360, the Porsche 356 was the first car to be mass produced and sold by the company.
The Porsche logo resembles a coat of arms because it is based off of one. The Free People’s State of Wurttemberg formally of Weimar, Germany was the foundation for the logo. The antlers from the head of the stags form the ivy pattern on the logo, and the coat of arms of Stuttgart (which proudly features a horse) is emblazoned in the center.
About the Author: Phineas Upham is an investor at a family office/ hedgefund, where he focuses on special situation illiquid investing. Before this position, Phin Upham was working at Morgan Stanley in the Media and Telecom group. You may contact Phin on his Phineas Upham website or Facebook page.
