Regarded as one of the great automotive engineers of the twentieth century, Ferdinand Porsche is well remembered today for his remarkable automotive designs including the Volkswagen Beetle and Auto Union Grand Prix cars. Yet there is another side to his extraordinary career, for he was an equally inventive designer of military vehicles and machinery. In this field too he excelled. Indeed the sheer versatility of his contribution is astonishing. Karl Ludvigsen's study is the definitive guide. He tells the complete story, focusing on Porsche's relations with the German armed forces and on the stream of advanced designs he was responsible for. Included are Austro Daimler's pioneering aero engines, the Kübelwagen, Schwimmwagen, Type 100 Leopard tank, Ferdinand or Elefant tank destroyer and the astounding Type 205 Maus tank. He also describes Porsche's creative work on aero engines, tank engines and even a turbojet for the V-1 flying bomb. Karl Ludvigsen's account confirms the preeminence of Ferdinand Porsche as a brilliant and prolific engineer, one of the most remarkable of his generation.

At the Berlin Auto Show in 1938, Adolf Hitler presented the prototype for a small, oddly shaped, inexpensive family car that all good Aryans could enjoy. Decades later, that automobile—the Volkswagen Beetle—was one of the most beloved in the world. Bernhard Rieger examines culture and technology, politics and economics, and industrial design and advertising genius to reveal how a car commissioned by Hitler and designed by Ferdinand Porsche became an exceptional global commodity on a par with Coca-Cola. Beyond its quality and low cost, the Beetle’s success hinged on its uncanny ability to capture the imaginations of people across nations and cultures. In West Germany, it came to stand for the postwar “economic miracle” and helped propel Europe into the age of mass motorization. In the United States, it was embraced in the suburbs, and then prized by the hippie counterculture as an antidote to suburban conformity. As its popularity waned in the First World, the Beetle crawled across Mexico and Latin America, where it symbolized a sturdy toughness necessary to thrive amid economic instability. Drawing from a wealth of sources in multiple languages, The People’s Car presents an international cast of characters—executives and engineers, journalists and advertisers, assembly line workers and car collectors, and everyday drivers—who made the Beetle into a global icon. The Beetle’s improbable story as a failed prestige project of the Third Reich which became a world-renowned brand illuminates the multiple origins, creative adaptations, and persisting inequalities that characterized twentieth-century globalization.

Ludvigsen traces the history of the Volkswagon Beetle, from its inception as a people's car for Hitler's Germany to its status as a beloved American icon, to the arrival of the New Beetle in 1998. He focuses on the car's creation, the industry-wide power struggle following the German defeat in World

Within Jerry Seinfeld's renowned Porsche collection resides an unassuming yet extraordinary piece of Porsche history: Porsche Gmünd coupe 356/2-040. Captured exclusively for this book in a series of evocative portraits by acclaimed automotive photographer Michael Furman, 040s unsullied originality conveys with startling immediacy the combination of artistry, innovation and determination that went into its improbable creation. Porsche-Origin of the Species will appeal to all car enthusiasts who are eager to know what events really ignited the spark from which all other Porsches evolved

Now, in a book whose design is as refined and as smart as the car itself, the story of the Porsche unfolds from its beginning, as a creation of Dr. Ferdinand Porsch and his son in 1948, through forty-two models to today's magnificent examples. Porsche: The Fine Art of the Sports Car features more than 225 color and 120 black-and-white photographs. Historical photographs document the car's past in all its glory, and stunning color photographs by top automotive photographer Lucinda Lewis captures the car's elegance and verve.An ideal book for car lovers, racing enthusiasts, and anyone who admires the very best in modern design and engineering.

Porsche's fabled 911 represents the ultimate expression of Ferdinand Porsche's original vision of the perfect sports car. In The Complete Book of Porsche 911, author and photographer Randy Leffingwell provides a year-by-year overview of Stuttgart's most famous car, from the original 901 prototype to today's technologically advanced GT2 and GT3 derivatives and the latest 992-generation 911. Along the way, he highlights the racing, prototype, and limited-production cars—offering the most complete reference available to these top-tier sports cars. In this book, you'll find the air-cooled cars of 1963 to 1998, then the water-cooled 911s of 1998 to present day. With behind-the-scenes info on the evolution of this iconic sports car, this book offers the detail craved by Porsche enthusiasts. Illustrated throughout with images from Porsche's own historical archive and complemented by the author’s stunning photos, along with detailed technical specification tables, The Complete Book of Porsche 911 offers a thorough account of one of the most beloved enthusiast cars ever produced.