Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, designer of the Porsche 911, dies.

[Shop Rat]

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, designer of the Porsche 911, dies at 76 | Motoramic - Yahoo! Autos

[earl e rizer]

I'm sure he must have led an exciting life! RIP

[Guest]

Thank you Susan for posting that important announcement. After forty four years I'm still driving the same car ( plus another ) that Butzie Porsche's Grandfather and his design team created, and Butzie's father also helped in the testing of the cars starting back in 1936.

Don

[Shop Rat]

You are certainly welcome helfen. Not sure I have seen photos of your vehicles that you are talking about.

[Guest]

You are certainly welcome helfen. Not sure I have seen photos of your vehicles that you are talking about.

The blue one is a 1965 type 111 1200A (former standard) model not sold in the U.S.A. I bought it when I was a senior in HS in 1968. It's still matching #'s and un-restored and has 170,000 Kilometers ;

http://www.pismoderelicts.com/photogallery/new%20format%20834/images/img_0131_edited_1.jpg

This second one is a un-restored U.S.A. spec. 1964 deluxe Type 113 that I bought in 1974 as a daily driver. It has 168,000 miles.

http://www.centralcoastvwclub.com/images/stories/dons64_2.jpg

Don

[Dandy Dave]

May he be lifted to that big Porsche race in the sky. Dandy Dave!

[Bud Tierney]

Without Googling to make sure, I believe he also designed, or was involved in the design of the original VW.

[Guest]

Without Googling to make sure, I believe he also designed, or was involved in the design of the original VW.

Pretty hard to do. The VW was his grandfathers project. His father did testing on the VW and later responsible for the founding of Porsche company that built Porsche cars and the 356. Yes, it would have been very hard for him to have worked on the Beetle design because the first of the prototypes V-1 @ V2 were being tested in 1936 and he was born in December of 1935!:eek:

D.

[Guest DavidD4]

Hi, want to share this nice video. RIP Ferdinand Alexander Porsche!

David

[R W Burgess]

Merged these two threads to keep them together.

Wayne

[Bud Tierney]

Helfen: (Sigh)--how time flies!! Seems just the other day I was following the war in Europe and the Pacific...

Ahh, yes, the V1 and V2: poor Von Braun: "He aimed for the stars, but all he managed to hit was London".

[Guest]

Helfen: (Sigh)--how time flies!! Seems just the other day I was following the war in Europe and the Pacific...

Ahh, yes, the V1 and V2: poor Von Braun: "He aimed for the stars, but all he managed to hit was London".

Bud the V-1 and V-2 I'm referring to are the VW prototypes Type 60 hand built a Porsche's house in 1936 for testing by the German Automobile Manufacturers association in association with the German government to see if the VW project was viable for further development as the new peoples car.

Here is a picture of a V-2 prototype with Ferry Porsche test driving. Ferry Porsche is the father of Butzie Porsche ( the gentleman who just died ).

http://www.automotiveaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ferry-porsche-vw-prototype.jpg

Here is a picture of Dr. Porsche (father of the Beetle) and father of Ferry Porsche demonstrating the VW to Hitler in 1938;

http://s1.hubimg.com/u/99732_f260.jpg

Here is Ferry driving the 1938 VW cabriolet sitting next to him is Hitler, and sitting behind him is Dr. Porsche, his father and creator of the Beetle. this was taken at the cornerstone laying for the factory at Wolfsburg in 1938. Butzie Porsche, who died a few days ago and what this thread is about is three years old when the picture was taken.

http://ranwhenparkeddotnet.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/rwp_porsches_hitler.jpg

Bud, If it weren't for Von Braun and the people he brought with him from Germany, there would have been no U.S. space program, or if there were with the people (scientist) we had here at the time, we would have never got to the moon by 1969. Nor the Russians with the other half of the German rocket scientist.

D.

[Bud Tierney]

Helfen: My apologies on the V1 and V2; not being a VW buff yours sailed right over my head.

Von B just wanted to build rockets; he'd've worked for the Devil if the Devil provided funding (some think he did).

Undoubtedly we stole their groundwork and experience; no program without them I feel is a stretch. Hard to tell what Goddard et al might've come up with if he'd've had the equivalent of Von B et al's funding.

Our space failures weren't because we couldn't build reliably, but that we wouldn't; in our system, too many incentives to cut corners.

[Guest]

Helfen: My apologies on the V1 and V2; not being a VW buff yours sailed right over my head.

Von B just wanted to build rockets; he'd've worked for the Devil if the Devil provided funding (some think he did).

Undoubtedly we stole their groundwork and experience; no program without them I feel is a stretch. Hard to tell what Goddard et al might've come up with if he'd've had the equivalent of Von B et al's funding.

Our space failures weren't because we couldn't build reliably, but that we wouldn't; in our system, too many incentives to cut corners.

Not a problem on the first account, second, my comment was a "matter of speaking" in regards to us not really having a program. Third, I think Von B. did work for the devil...and so many others too. The only person I can recall who really understood what he and is associates had done was Oppenheimer. I think that after the test at Los Alamos, reality really shook him up.

Getting back to Butzie, I think my favorite of his creations is the 904;

http://dayerses.com/data_images/posts/porsche-904-carrera-gts/porsche-904-carrera-gts-10.jpg

D.

[earl e rizer]

He was instrumental in the development of my favorite Porsche model;928