The day Ferry Porsche was born, his father was competing with one of his race cars (called the Maja) at Semmering, finishing first in his class.

At age 12 he drove a real race car, the Austro-Daimler Sascha, which had just won its class at Targa Florio, Sicily, in 1922.

In 1923, the family moved to Stuttgart, due to senior Ferdinand Porsche's unrest about the poor financial condition of Austro-Daimler.

Meanwhile, Ferry Porsche received consent from the company to stay at the plant together with his father because of his increasing interest in design issues.

His personal preference for designing compact cars differed with the current policies of (now merged) Daimler-Benz, who were in favor of more luxurious Mercedes-Benz models.

He worked temporarily as the technical director of Steyr AG in Austria; nonetheless, he soon decided to open a consulting office of automobile design, again at Stuttgart.

At the same time, after finishing school, Ferry Porsche was residing at Stuttgart where he began working for Bosch Company in 1928; this was to add depth to his interest in automobile engineering.

In addition to the financial and political crises, Porsche also faced a lack in personnel, limiting the company's prospects initially.

Nevertheless, Porsche soon obtained contracts from important German automotive firms Wanderer, Auto Union, Zwickau, Zündapp and, starting in 1933, the Nazi government.

Some of these projects had historical impact, such as the mid-engine Auto Union Silver Arrow race cars, designed by Porsche.

Ferry Porsche, at the time, managed departments "controlling of testing", "coordinating of the design engineers", and "keeping good relations with clients".

In 1938, when his father moved to the new Volkswagen plant at Wolfsburg, Ferry became deputy manager of the Stuttgart bureau and relocated the design departments to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

Ferdinand Porsche's dream had been to create a small compact car "from scratch", instead of a version derived of an existing sedan.

Originally, it was called Porsche (Model) 60 but it was soon officially renamed as the KdF-Wagen or Volkswagen (people's car).

In 1939, when the Volkswagen factory opened in Wolfsburg, Porsche senior became its general manager, along with an officer from the Nazi party.

Ferry Porsche took part in the conception and construction of those race cars, and was also responsible for the general organization of the workshop and the testing of units.

In 1934, Wanderer and others merged to form Auto Union, and the senior Porsche became the chief designer of their race cars.

In 1938, Ferdinand Porsche senior left the Auto Union racing team when his contract expired.

Porsche volunteered to join the SS on December 17, 1938, later claiming, falsely, that he had been conscripted by Himmler to design the Schwimmwagen.

[5] To avoid the aerial bombings of Stuttgart, Ferry Porsche was forced to bring some of the design departments to Austria, to two locations, Gmünd/Carinthia and Zell am See, where the family had a farm.

As a result of Carlo Abarth's mediation, Ferry Porsche inked a contract with Piero Dusio to produce Grand Prix racing cars again.

Under Ferry Porsche's supervision, the units were built completely by hand at an improvised workshop inside a sawmill at Gmünd.

In 1947, Ferry gathered the amount of the stipulated bail, immediately after receiving the early fees for his new designs.

As Ferdinand Sr.'s health further declined, Ferry took him to revisit Wolfsburg's plant which was flourishing with the massive production of the Volkswagen Beetle—which was carried out under supervision of the British occupation.

In the spring of 1949, the general manager of Volkswagen, Heinz Nordhoff, approached junior Ferdinand Porsche and unpacked a massive contract.

Ferdinand Porsche's motto was to produce automobiles which had to be reliable and of high-quality sports cars, of a high utilitarian value.

Porsche's most recognized involvement in car races began at 24 Hours of Le Mans, in June 1951, when an improved version of the 356 debuted on this track and won in its category.

On successive years, Porsche's winning contribution to Le Mans is regarded as fundamental for the own existence of the circuit.

In 1989, Ferdinand Porsche retired definitively from involvement with the company he created, returning to his cherished Austrian farm at Zell am See.

Ferdinand Porsche died 74 days short of the 50th anniversary of the company, at the age of 88, on 27 March 1998, at the farm in Zell am See, Austria.