Porsche

Porsche has a long history, although its early years are somewhat complex. Ferdinand Porsche had been designing cars since 1898, mainly in Austria before decamping for Daimler. By 1934, he had started developing the Beetle on a contract from the Nazi government. After World War II, the Volkswagen factory went to the British, and Porsche was imprisoned. His son, Ferry, built the first real Porsche in Gmund, Austria, using a healthy proportion of modified VW parts, but tuned for performance. From there, the original Porsche, the 356, started winning races almost immediately. The 550 Spyder, an evolution of the 356 ideas, was even more successful and much faster. The aging 356 was replaced by the iconic 911 in 1964, and from there the company's legend grew. It has dominated several motorsports genres almost completely over the years, producing a list of competition vehicles too long to list here. But after flirting with a few other designs, such as the 914, 924, 944 and 928, the company came up with a formula that worked: a 911 at the core of the lineup, with some SUVs like the Cayenne and the Macan to provide the funds needed to keep the lights on. The 718 Boxster and Cayman twins are the newest Porsche models, sporting turbocharged flat-fours in an echo of the four-cylinder 356 that started it all.