In the world of sports cars, everyone has a favorite. For many, the Porsche is the undisputed king. And like any great car, Porsche has a long and storied history. Professor Ferdinand Porsche originally started a company called “Dr. ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH” in 1931, with its main office stationed in Stuttgart. The company initially offered vehicle development work and consulting, and did not build any cars under its own name.

Among the company's earliest assignments was to design a car for the German people. The resulting automobile was the Volkswagen Beetle, which is one of the most recognizable cars of all time. The first Porsche that the company produced was the Porsche 64. It was developed in 1939, using many components of the Beetle.

The Volkswagen factory fell to the British in 1945, and Ferdinand lost his position as company chairman when he was jailed for 20 months. During that time, Ferdinand's son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car after he was unable to find one on the market worth buying. He worked in Gmund, Austria and came up with the 356. This prototype was shown to German auto dealer, and production began after the pre-orders started rolling in. After hiring Reutter Carosseri to build the body of the 356, Porsche built an assembly plant across the street. In 1948, the 356 became road certified.

Parts were in short supply in post-war Germany, and many 356 parts came from Volkswagens. Eventually, Porsche would make and fit their cars with their own parts. In 1964, Porsche had begun to leave their mark on the world. Their 550 Spyder model witnessed some success in motor-racing, and the company launched the Porsche 911 shortly after.

The Porsche design group gave sequential numbers to every project they undertook, but the designated 901 classification conflicted with Peugeot's trademarks on all “x0x” names, so it was adjusted and became 911. Porsche is defined by their 911 model. Though the Porsche 911 remains in production to this day, newer models share little in common with the first 911's.

The company's legal form was changed in 1972 from limited partnership to public limited company (AG), because Ferry and his sister Louise felt their members did not team up well. This would lead to the foundation of an executive board whose members came from outside the Porsche family. The first CEO of Porsche AG was Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann who had previously worked in Porsche's engine development.

He was responsible for the engine used in the 356 Carrera models, as well as the 550 Spyder. Fuhrmann had planned to replace the 911 with the 928, a front-engine V8 model. After this failed to work, Fuhrmann was replaced in the early 80s by Peter W. Schutz. And then Schutz was replaced by Arno Bohn in 1988.

Porsche worked with Toyota in 1990, drawing up a memorandum and learning to benefit from Japanese production methods. Bohn was relieved of his position and replaced by Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking in 1993. Before his arrival, Porsche seemed vulnerable and ready to be taken over by larger companies. But during Wiedeking's tenure, he turned the company into one of the most efficient and profitable sports car companies around. To date, Porsche is as popular as ever, and the company doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.