Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the man responsible for creating the Porsche 911 and kicking off one of the greatest sports car legacies known to man, passed away??on the 5th of April, 2012, in Salzburg, aged 76.

??e 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.??/p>

Born in??1935, he studied at the??Waldorf school and the prestigious Ulm School of Design before joining the engineering offices at Porsche in 1958. It was here that he sculpted the first models of the successor to the sublime 356.

He became the head of the Porsche design studio in 1962 and promptly created a legend, putting the Porsche 911 (originally to be called the 901) into production in 1963.

“With the Porsche 911, F.A. Porsche created a sports car icon whose timeless and classical form survives to this very day in what is now the seventh 911 generation.”

The 911 would go on to become not only the most??recognizable??sports car ever made, but one of the most successful competition cars as well. 911s have competed in and won countless motorsport contests at every level, including classic wins in the Targa Florio and at tracks like the??N??rburgring and Daytona. The 911 also formed the basis of the Porsche 935 - a turbocharged monster that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and pretty much any other sportscar or endurance race in which it was entered.

An integral part of Porsche’s glittering motorsport history,??F.A. Porsche is responsible for designing the??Type 804 Formula One car, which notched two Formula One wins, including the??1962 French Grand Prix, and the Porsche 904??Carrera GTS - one of the most beautiful racing cars ever made.

He stood down from front-line operations at Porsche when the company restructured in the early ‘70s and formed the??Porsche Design Studio, where he continued to hone his craft in industrial design and accessories.

We will always be grateful for his immeasurable contributions to the world of motoring and for his wonderful cars, which give us such joy every day.

Images & quotes courtesy of Porsche