Porsche owners and fans alike are mourning the loss of Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, designer of the iconic 911, who died today in Salzburg, aged 76.
Nicknamed “Butzi”, the son of Ferry and Dorothea Porsche was born on December 11th 1935 in Stuttgart; he attended the city’s private Waldorf School, then studied industrial design at the prestigious Ulm School of Design before moving on to the family company in 1957. He was later given the task of creating a more comfortable and practical successor to the 356, and so the 901 (or 911) was born, making its début at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show. F.A. was also responsible for penning the Type 804 Formula One racing car and beautiful Porsche 904 Carrera GTS. Officially known as the Porsche Carrera GTS (because Peugeot had exclusive rights on three-number names with a central ‘0’), the fibreglass-bodied 904 was Ferdinand Alexander’s favorite work for Porsche.
He later went on to found the Porsche Design Studio in 1972, which spawned everything from highly desirable timepieces and sunglasses, to model cars and cufflinks.
“We mourn the death of our partner, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche. As the creator of the Porsche 911, he established a design culture in our company that has shaped our sports cars to this very day. His philosophy of good design is a legacy to us that we will honour for all time,” said Porsche’s Matthias Müller.
[Source: Porsche]