No matter how you pronounce Porsche, Porsh or Por-sha, the overwhelming consensus is that it's one of the greatest sports cars to ever surface on the planet. Of course, the car is only considered so great due to the man behind it all, Ferdinand Porsche.

The Austrian automotive genius was born September 3, 1875 in Vratislavice, Austria-Hungary and is responsible for the Volkswagen. Ferdinand's son Ferry would be the Porsche to create the sports car, but one could have never happened without the other. The origins of Porsche are intertwined with the history of Volkswagen, the design of the former being based on that of the latter, and both car companies have a storied history.

From a young age, Ferdinand made it a point to work on various mechanical components, and at 18 years of age, his aptitude for mechanical engineering landing him a job at Bela Egger in Vienna. After five years with the company, Porsche decided to go his own way, entering into the automobile industry by way of Jakob Lohner & Co. Ferdinand joined the company in 1896, and by 1898, his name was already attached to a concept vehicle, the System Lohner-Porsche.

This car, using an internal combustion engine to supply power to separate electric wheel motors, was showcased at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. At 35mph, it was the fastest carriage in Austria and much stronger than any of the competition.

Only two short years later, Ferdinand was called to duty and ended up serving in the First World War. After his service, Austro-Daimler recruited Porsche as their chief designer, and for the next two decades, the men would specialize in building war materials, aircraft motors and cars for racing.

However, after major disagreements about the future of their business, Porsche left Austro-Daimler and ended up as Tech Director of Daimler's in Stuttgart. This was the center of the automotive industry, and for his contributions, Porsche received an honorary doctorate.

Porsche's racing cars dominated the landscape throughout the 1920s, but after leaving Daimler again for what he thought were greener pastures, the Great Depression collapsed his new place of work, Steyr, and Porsche became unemployed.

Porsche would start his own consulting firm in 1931, bringing along the people he trusted the most, including his son Ferry. Porsche had trouble keeping financial backers until 1934, when Adolf Hitler suggested that every German should own their own car. This is when Porsche got the contract for three prototypes, and by the winter of 1936, an entire city was created - Wolfsburg - just to house the car factory (today's Volkswagen).

After the war had ended in 1945, Porsche was asked to continue his Volkswagen design in France, and Ferry was also contracted for military projects and continued to work on his sports car concepts. Production on the entire line was halted when the Porsche's and Anton Piech were arrested as war criminals.

Ferdinand would spend 20 months in jail without trial. It was this tragedy that brought triumph. In order to keep the business afloat, Ferry took a contract with Grand Prix racing and started the design for the Porsche 356. This car, along with the success of the Volkswagen, had turned the Porsche men into some of the world's foremost designers.

Ferdinand Porsche died in 1951 after complications from a stroke, but both the VW line and the Porsche sports cars continue to be among the world's most popular today.