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Revealing the Mystery
of Porsche History
By Ralph Fritsche
Ferdinand Porsche was a prolific automotive engineer, but many
people are not aware of the extent of his influence on automotive
history. His legacy lies, not only in the cars that bear his name, but
also on the history of companies that today would be considered
both competitors and collaborators.
This story illustrates just such an example. The year was 1931 and
Ferdinand Porsche was still struggling with the economic affects
of the great depression; however, in April of that year
he and Adolf Rosenberg founded an automotive consulting
firm in Stuttgart. The pair brought together
several old coworkers, who would continue to play a
leading role in Porsches future. They included Karl
Rabe, Erwin Komenda and Porsche’s son Ferry.
The Porsche consulting firm worked on many projects
and business steadily grew. Then in 1932 Porsche
founded a subsidiary company in order to develop a
racing car, although at this point a customer for the
project hadn’t been found. The P-Wagen project (P
for Porsche) was designed to be a Grand Prix racer
according to the current regulations of the 750 kg
formula.
In 1932 the struggling German automobile manufacturers
Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer joined forces to form
Auto Union in an attempt to gain a better market position at the
expense of Mercedes-Benz. The Auto Union chairman of the board
was in search of a showpiece project and at Adolf Rosenberg’s insistence
he met with Porsche who had worked for him before. Then
at the 1933 Berlin Motor Show, the new German Chancellor Adolf
Hitler announced two programs intended to demonstrate Germany’s
growing engineering prowess to the world. The first was the
People’s car project (of which Porsche’s involvement is well known)
and the other was a state-sponsored motor racing program initially
intended to provide Mercedes-Benz the opportunity to develop a
high-speed automotive industry.
Auto Union and Porsche, sensing an opportunity, arranged for a
meeting with Hitler at the Reich Chancellery to plead the case that
for the good of Germany it would be better for two companies to
develop the project. Much to the dismay of Mercedes, Hitler agreed
to split the seed money between both Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz.
12 volume 4, Issue 1
Paddock at the AVUS race, 1937, start number 31, Bernd Rosemeyer’s car. To
the right of it, one of the two single-seater race cars which started in this race for
Auto Union alongside the two streamlined cars.
With an agreement in place, Auto Union purchased the Porsche
subsidiary and along with it the P-Wagen project. The motor racing
program proved to be a huge success and the Silver Arrows from
both Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz dominated Grand Prix racing
until the start of World War II.
The Porsche/Auto Union Grand Prix car typified the Porsche
philosophy of unconventional design. Even thought the weight of
the car was restricted to 750 kg, Porsche opted for a mid mounted
16-cylinder engine. Light alloys were used in both the block and
the head in order to keep weight down. In its initial versions the
supercharged engine displaced just under 4.4 liters and produced
295 bhp, which drove the rear wheels via a five-speed gearbox.
The final evolution of the original Porsche P-Wagen design was
the Auto Union Streamliner. Although evolved from the original