History of Porsche

"Steel and iron works combine" is what Ferry Porsche and around 200 comrades-in-arms at the time called the wooden huts, a former sawmill in the Austrian town of Gmünd, into which father and son moved Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche KG from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen during the War (1944). This is where the first Porsche, the 356 Number 1, was created in 1948. Fifty-two Porsche 356s were built in Gmünd. In the summer of 1949, a dozen Porsche employees started the relocation of the production site back to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, which was sublet from Reutter. In Zuffenhausen the success story of Porsche continued. At the beginning of 1950 series production of the Porsche 356 started with 400 vehicles being produced by the end of the year. Porsche production was continually expanded. The introduction of the Porsche 911 in 1963 marked a milestone in Porsche development.


The factory premises were enlarged considerably in May 1969 with the new multistory assembly operation on Schwieberdinger Straße. In 1988, the new body shell assembly building was added opposite the assembly hall.

Production technology has also changed somewhat over the last 50 years. In the meantime, a modern and flexible factory has developed from a series production process completed by hand. The honor "Factory of the year 1996", awarded by the German weekly publication "Produktion" and the management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, was received in Zuffenhausen as confirmation of their hard work and dedication.


At his company, which moved during the War from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen to Gmünd in Austria (Corinthian), Ferry Porsche started in 1947 to build "a sportscar, that I would like myself" with the aid of his reliable team. The starting point was the Volkswagen Beetle developed by his father. Fifty-two examples of the 356 model (not including number 1 off the line) were produced in Gmünd, all of the other vehicles produced after 1950 were built in Zuffenhausen. Initially Porsche's design and administration departments were accommodated at Schwieberdinger Straße 147 in two wooden huts. Body production and vehicle assembly was completed in buildings owned by the Reutter carbody factory on the opposite side of the street. Porsche's original plant premises, now Werk I, were occupied after the War by the Americans and could not be used again until 1956.

A further milestone was marked by the construction of a new building for Porsche engine and vehicle assembly in 1953. Shortly after the launch of the Porsche 911, the Reutter production buildings including body shell assembly were taken over by Porsche in 1964. A further important step was the completion of the three-story assembly hall (building 41) in 1969, which made it possible to increase capacity. In 1982, an automated high-bay warehouse was added. With the completion of the new paint shop next to the assembly hall in the spring of 1986 and the body shell assembly (Werk V) in August 1988, the current building structure took shape.


The Porsche 356 body was produced by hand at the Reutter carbody factory. The outer skin, comprising several pieces welded together, was placed on a basic vehicle frame. The gaps were filled with soft solder, a costly and time-consuming process, and ground off. In 1965, Porsche 356 production was shut down. At the end, the number of units produced totaled 25 bodies per day. With the launch of the Porsche 911 in 1964 Porsche broke away from the previous production methods. Various assemblies were now pre-assembled and then welded or bolted together to form the body. In 1973, Porsche was the first in the automobile industry to weld galvanized sheet-metal panels into the Porsche body. This marked a milestone in corrosion protection for automobiles.

The first robot put into operation at Porsche was a welding robot for the 911 rear axle transverse tube. 1988 marked the beginning of a new era in body shell assembly. The newly constructed body plant was opened for use, with 15 robots in operation for the first time. In July 1989, the last 911 body left the old Reutter building.

With the launch of the latest generation of vehicles, the degree of automation was increased while retaining the same level of flexibility. The mixed-model system is used in production so that the Boxster and 911 can be built in any order.


A high level of skilled craftsmanship and experience has always been required when painting the Porsche vehicles on account of the curvature of the body. Determined by the increases in production new premises were required over time, which led to the construction of a new building in 1969, the paint shop or building 40. In 1975, Porsche was the first manufacturer to introduce hot-dip galvanized steel for the entire body. This considerably improved corrosion protection. From 1980, painting of aluminum parts (hood, fender and doors) was added for the Porsche 928. In February 1986, a new body paint shop (in building 40A) was brought into operation with the first coating procedure in the cathodic dip tank (KTL). It was subsequently brought up to the stage in July 1986 where it was capable of handling production quantities. The old paint complex for painting plastic add-on parts was used until 1992.

The new paint shop brought a number of benefits with it:
Improvement of corrosion protection by means of cathodic dip painting
Restriction of the solvent emissions by means of an exhaust air decontamination system
Use of robots for applying the underbody protection
Increase of the potential daily number of items to 140 bodies
Heat recovery via a countercurrent heat exchanger

From 1993 to 1995 the level of automation was increased further. Robots used for sealing purposes contributed to the increase in efficiency and at the same time humanization of the work place. Environmental issues, in particular, gained in significance. From 1992, Porsche embraced water-based paint technology. Since 1997 water-based filler has been in use. In 1995, continuous solvent emission monitoring was introduced and a contract under public law regarding long-term control of maximum emission and noise levels was concluded with the city of Stuttgart.


Engine production started in 1948 in Gmünd/Corinthian with a four-cylinder Boxer engine for the Porsche 356, a VW engine that had undergone further development. Only shortly after the return of Porsche to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen in 1950, engine production moved in 1953 into its own purpose-built building, Werk II.

In 1963, with the launch of the Porsche 911, production of the first version of the new six-cylinder Boxer carburetor engine began on an assembly line for the first time. With the expansion of the product range (1974: Porsche Turbo, 1977: Porsche 928, 1978: Porsche 924 Turbo etc.) a parallel assembly line was needed. Technical innovations, such as pneumatic and electric bolting systems, gradually contributed to the improvement of the production processes.

1985 saw an increase in production quantities triggered by a higher demand for the models Porsche 924 S/944. Since this time engine assembly has operated two shifts, apart from brief interruptions.

1993 marked another milestone. With the start of production of the fundamentally reworked 911 (development number 993), engine production was transferred to a continuously moving assembly line.

The test run on the engine test rig (hot test) remained an unchanged feature of engine production over the years. Every Porsche engine built to date has passed through this reliable procedure.


The upholstery section was initially housed in the body shell assembly building belonging to Reutter. The front and rear seats, convertible tops and interior trims were produced here for the Porsche 356. With the run down of the Porsche 356 model range, seat production was transferred to Recaro. As from this point the Porsche 911 was manufactured exclusively as a Coupé, production of convertible tops was no longer required. In 1969, the upholstery section was moved to the newly constructed assembly building. Since this time a continued growth in the proportion of leather used for panel trim can be observed, a trend which continues today.

The expansion of capacity for vehicle assembly made it necessary to move the upholstery section to the building previously used for engine assembly.

After 1982 all upholstery areas were brought together and accommodated in the high-bay warehouse building. Production of convertible tops was taken up again for the 911 Cabriolet and Targa models. However, partially with the introduction of the Porsche Boxster in 1996 and then completely on the arrival of the new Porsche 911 in 1997 it was transferred to the subsidiary jointly owned with DaimlerChrysler.

Despite numerous technical innovations, such as the use of automatic sewing machines since the end of the 1980s or the spraying of adhesive, work in the upholstery section is characterized by its craftsmanship to this day. This is also reflected in the number of employees, which increased from around 60 in the mid 1950s to 250 today.


In the 1950s the bodies for the Porsche 356 were built and fully painted at the Reutter factory and then delivered with windows and interior equipment. Porsche subsequently undertook fitting of the engine and running gear. In 1964, Porsche purchased the Reutter carbody factory. This meant that for the first time Porsche was in possession of an independent automobile factory.

In 1969, vehicle assembly moved into the newly built multistory building on Schwieberdinger Straße. At that time, vehicle interior equipment was fitted on the third floor. Installing the engine and bolting together the running gear followed on the second floor.

In 1979, a second production line was introduced for the production of the Porsche 928.

This was the first time that a hanger system was used in running gear installation, which was adopted for the Porsche 911 a short time later. At the beginning of the 1980s, Porsche converted to movement on skids on the third floor. The assembly process was still executed on a static vehicle. However, at the end of the cycle assemblies were forwarded automatically within the respective production section. In the meantime, production technology at Porsche has been developed further so that the Boxster and 911 are now both assembled using the mixed-model system on a continuous line.

Since 1987, bodies welded previously in the main plant have been transported from a newly erected body shell production site over a bridge to the paint shop and then fed to the assembly hall.