Diving into the origins of Porsche's forgotten mid-engined Type 114, and its impact on the evolution of the brand's sports cars for decades to come.

Within the annals of automotive history, the name Porsche resonates with unparalleled craftsmanship, performance, and innovation. Yet, hidden within this rich history is a forgotten gem—the Porsche Type 114—an experimental creation that would sow the seeds for generations of iconic Porsche designs. We are continuing our theme of finding forgotten gems from the past, and this time it’s another historic model. In 1930, Ferdinand Porsche established his design office in Stuttgart, Germany, and began working on projects for Wanderer, a part of the Auto Union. Four years later, a pivotal moment unfolded when Porsche received a mandate directly from Adolf Hitler himself: to create a "people's car" that could be purchased by every family, with a strict budget of 1000 Reichsmark.

This directive led to the birth of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, a state-sponsored project heavily subsidized for mass production. However, within the Porsche design office, Ferdinand Porsche and his son, Ferry, recognized an opportunity to transform this concept into something even more compelling. Their vision was to craft a sportscar based on the Beetle's platform. They proposed this idea to the German state office, but it was promptly rejected, as all available Beetle components were earmarked for Beetle production, not sportscars. Undeterred, the Porsche design team decided to rethink the concept entirely, giving rise to what would become Ferdinand Porsche's first proprietary car.

Porsche's Long Lost Mid-Engined V-10-Powered Sports Car From The 1930s - Original Article by Amrit Balraj: https://www.topspeed.com/porsches-lon...

Written by: Jean Bernard
VO by: Tim Blaine
Edited by: Kem Ramirez

Our Social Media:
  / topspeed  
  / topspeed  
   / @topspeed  
  / topspeed  
  / topspeed  
https://flipboard.com/@topspeed1