100 Entrepreneurs Who Changed The World
97. Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951)
“Design must be functional, and functionality must be translated into visual aesthetics without any reliance on gimmicks that have to be explained.”
Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche Car Company. Porsche was a man ahead of times, conceiving of electrically powered automobiles more than 100 years before they’d become in demand. Porsche designed the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle in 1900, the Lohner-Porsche. He also designed the Volkswagen Beatle, the Mercedes SS/SSK, and several Porches. In 1999, he was posthumously awarded the Car Engineer of the Century Award. His namesake, Porsche, makes some of the finest performance vehicles in the world. They helped establish the standard of excellence that is German auto engineering.
