when a Porsche is not a Porsche

[panzer grey]

So if technically we are not all driving 'Porsches', then what ARE we driving??

Do I own a 'Bores 944'??

...from another forum:

"Anybody researching into the families will discover that the name Porsche is an invention. Originally thought to be Boreš, or some variation thereof, Sudeten German, or Czech from a Sudeten area of Czechoslovakia, then part of the Habsburg ruled Austro-Hungarian Empire. Ferdinand Porsche was employed by the Austrians early in his life, but did not take Austrian nationality until the 1930s. One of the Austrian lawyers in Vienna who helped him get established was Anton Piëch, who married Porsche's daughter Louise. Despite Ferdinand's brilliance as an engineer, this would not have been regarded as a coup in Vienna's rather stuffy social circles. Interestingly, the name Piëch is itself somewhat artifical as the umlauted e is not naturally occuring in German speaking areas."

A controversial subject- but did any of you know that the name 'Porsche' was fake??

Or is this claim hogwash?

[Jim Sims]

All names are of human contrivance and are "fake". We are not born with our name imprinted in our DNA. One's name is merely what one is known by or has been legally named. Beyond that, there is nothing "natural or real" about a name. People obsessed with their surname name often are living off the accomplishments and glories of their forebears.

[afterburn 549]

A last name did not happen till after J.C- most were refered to as so and so son or the carpenter or etc last names are a modern thing

[pieterk]

Do you have a link to that post?

[bigchillcar]

i'm clearly stilltoo hungover to fully understand thequestion
ryan

[TRE Cup]

So we may all be driving "Borschts" ?!?!?

Funny - now i understand that mettallic beet taste in my mouth

[panzer grey]

I think I misinterpreted the quote- I got the false impression that Ferdinand Porsche was born Ferdinand Bores, but changed his name.

This all came up in the context of why there are no Porsche biographies in print- as opposed to Enzo Ferrari who has numerous.

An author of Porsche books involved in the original thread asserted that the reason is because of Porsche's 'dark' past- that his involvement with the Nazi regime was much deeper than anyone likes to admit- that the reason people are reluctant to do a biography on either Ferdinand Porsche or a history of the family is because it's too controversial / politically incorrect - that essentially no one wants to know the 'truth'.

I just find it curious that there are no biographies on Porsche outside of Ferry's out of print autobiography and an out of print biography of Ferdinand.

There are probably over 100 books on the marque in print, but not a one exclusively on the family.

[Jim Sims]

Ferdinand Porsche's role in 20th century German and Austrian history is actually well documented. The historians know what he did and didn't do. There is now quite a bit of information on the web if one does informed searches. As for books, they are there and readily available used if out of print:

"Ferdinand Porsche" by M. Kaltschmid, 1998

"Ferdinand Porsche: Der Vater des Volkswagens" by Peter Muller (in German)

"Ferdinand Porsche: Professor Beetle" by Martina Bleriot, Louis Bleriot 1989

"Porsche: The Man and His Cars" by Richard Von Frankenberg 1969

Also, "The Arms of Krupp....." by William Manchester contains some interesting information about Porsche's role in German heavy tank design and production during WWII. An interesting quote is one that goes something like: "The resulting madness of letting a toymaker (Porsche) loose in a weapons forge."

There is always a lot of convenient forgetting of history; reading BMW's corporate history website is laughable - WWII is just plain missing. Not a mention of likely the best piston aircraft engine ever made: the BMW 801.

Jim

[randywebb]

There is also a chapter devoted to him in a compilation titled something along the lines of Genius of the Motorcar Era or some such. The author says FP was the last genius to design a complete car - the last phrase lets out people like Ferry, Komenda, S. Honda and others who worked as a group to design cars.

[Jim Sims]

"The author says FP was the last genius to design a complete car."

Sounds like a statement from a technically ignorant journalist. One that doesn't have a clue about the complexity of the modern (post 1900) engineering design process and how one man's technology is built on the foundation of the technology and scientific work of hundreds of thousands of others. One classic example is Ferdinand Porsche admiring the large body panel stamping presses and technology at the Budd plant during his visit to the United States.

Jim Sims