For the love of technology
Ferdinand Piëch, former Member of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG, died on 25 August 2019 at the age of 82.
Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG remembers : “His love of cars and his constant desire to drive forward technical progress will never be forgotten”.
The fascination for cars already ran in his blood as the grandson of design engineer Ferdinand Porsche.
In 1966, after becoming an engineer,Piëch became head of the Porsche testing department. The legendary six-cylinder boxer engine of the Porsche 911 was developed under his leadership.
Piëch placed particular importance in developing Porsche motor racing department, which achieved countless motorsport success.
He had for instance the 917 race car designed in 1969, a car which today is still considered to be one of the most successful race cars ever.
He left Porsche in 1972 to join Audi and was key in the development of the Quattro concept both for rallye racing and road cars.
Ferdinand Piëch remained associated with Porsche as a Member of the Supervisory Board from 1981 to 2015.
The huge commercial and sporting successes of both Porsche and Audi owe him a lot.
A legend has left us.
