Ferdinand Alexander Porsche with the original Porsche 911
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche with the original Porsche 911 (pic: http://wot.motortrend.com)

At some time or the other in our lives, we’ve all wanted a Porsche 911. And a few lucky ones out there even managed to covet one for themselves.

Yesterday, 5th April 2012, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the original designer of the Porsche 911, passed away in Austria at the age of seventy-six.

Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (pic: http://wot.motortrend.com)
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (pic: http://wot.motortrend.com)

The grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, (Founder of the Porsche empire), he launched the Porsche 901 at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963 but, according to Wikipedia, “It was changed to 911 after intervention of Peugot who had a trademark protection on three-number-combinations with ‘0’ in the middle!”

Later in his career, he was also responsible for designing the Porsche Type 804 Formula 1 racing car and the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS.

An updated version of the Porsche 911
An updated version of the Porsche 911

Narain Karthikeyan, India’s most famous racer, wrote on Twitter, “Ferdinand A Porsche, designer of the iconic sports car, Porsche 911, died yesterday. Its one of my favourite cars. Will cherish it forever. RIP!”