Porsche's in house design company located Weissach has built and designed a lot of cool stuff over the years. Some things were not car related at all. Some had two or four wheels. Some I bet you never even thought Porsche had a hand in developing. Its been rumored that Weissach accounts for some 97% of Porsche AG income(this was back before the Cayenne & Panorama days). Sports cars are flashy but its hard to make money on them. Hence SUV/SAVs and sedans.
Have a look and see how many of the projects that Porsche AG had a hand in designing & building(in some cases)...
Ferdinand Porsche was an engineer(or Ing as the Germans say) by trade. He worked for a lot of companies in Germany and Austria in his early years. He got so fed up with them he left and started up his own design house in Stuttgart.
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionen und Beratungen für Motoren und Fahrzeugbau(limited liability company, construction and consulting for engines and vehicles).
Ferdinand Porsche's design house would number their projects(or Types). For their very first paying customer Wanderer... they did not want them to know they were the first! So... Ferdinand started his project numbering system with lucky #7 or the
Type #7. This is also how the 356 and the 911(type 901, but the French objected to that name, so 911 it was to be!) got their names. By the late forties Porsche was already up to #356
Here is a listing of all the various Porsche type numbers thru the years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_type_numbers
Anyways... here are some of the weird things Weissach has designed over the years...
Dackel
Seabob's electric powered Cayago. Works on and under the water(at depth)...
Since 2010, Porsche has designed Scania trucks...
For Terex Porsche has designed the interior cab & controls for their truck cranes.
For Zündapp GmbH(now out of business), the Porsche design office developed a trend-setting small: type number 12. A young Ferry Porsche stands besides the car.
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH - first project for Wanderer. The type number 7. Built from 1931 to 1933. The so called: Middle Class auto.
In 1933 Porsche built the NSU "small car prototype"(or Volkswagen) Type 32. This car was photographed in front of Porsche Engineering Office in Stuttgart Kronenstraße 24.
1934: Ferdinand Porsche and racing driver Hans Stuck Sr testing the Auto-Union silberpfeile(Porsche type 22) with 16-cylinder mid-engine.
Ferry Porsche at the wheel of the second version(V2) Volkswagen prototype in 1935
1937 - 1939 Daimler-Benz AG's high speed Rekordwagen T 80.
The type 60 (W30) designated prototype - it later became Volkswagen "Beetle" from 1937 onwards.
The small tractor type 110( years 1937-38) with air-cooled two-cylinder diesel engine is the basis for the subsequent "People's Tractor" and was produced after the war under the name: "Porsche diesel tractor" in the 50's and 60's. Now a collectable tractor.
Porsche Type 64 also known as "Berlin-Rome car" photographed in the courtyard of the Porsche villa in Stuttgart (1939). Only three cars were built. The car never raced due to WWII breaking out in Poland. The Porsche Family home: Feuerbacher Weg 48, 70192 Stuttgart
The VW Schwimmwagen (Porsche Type 166) in experimental runs in 1942. It was all-wheel drive and it could swim!
The Type 360 Cisitalia Grand Prix racing car 1947-1949 built for Piero Dusio the Italian industrialist. Also AWD I believe.
Porsche Type 597 - built for the German Army(Bundeswehr) 1954 series production development of all-wheel drive "scouting car".
Under the name SAVE (Schnelle Ambulante Vorklinische Erstversorgung in English: Rapid Ambulant Pre-clinical primary care) in 1975 launched a project to develop an innovative ambulance system.
VW Group paid for Porsche to design the 924 project. In the end VW changed their minds to sell such a sports car and cancelled the project type 924. But Porsche decided to sell the car between 1975 to 1985 years and later the 1988 & 1989 924S. Porsche had VW build the cars in their Neckarsulm factory just North of Stuttgart since the 911 was selling so well back then.
On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, the Weissach Development Centre constructed in 1977 pioneering firefighters System "O.R.B.I.T."
The air-cooled six-cylinder aircraft engine
PFM 3200 to 1981 developed from their 911 engine series.
Linde forklift - the ergonomic design originates since 1981(& today) by Porsche.
Project 914 - The VW Porsche in 1969 to 1974. The two-seater was developed in cooperation with Volkswagen.
As a development contract of the American carmaker Studebaker produced with the
type 542 a four-door sedan with a unibody construction.
The 52-hp Porsche aircraft engine Type 678/3 from 1959. Also, the aircraft engine was of course designed as a flat boxer engine, 1.6 liter four.
Hard to believe it... On behalf of the Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ Porsche developed the
1984 Lada Samara.
The "research project long-term car"
FLA type 296 was presented at the Frankfurt Autoshow(IAA) in 1973.
Porsche Study C88 for the Chinese market back in 1994. The C88, however, never went into production.
Jack-Wolfskin tents...
Porsche developed the 3.5-liter twelve-cylinder Grand Prix F1 engine exclusively the Footwork Arrows racing team for the 1991 season.
Porsche developed the Porsche "TAG-Turbo" race motor thatdominated the Formula 1 from 1984 to 1986.
Harley-Davidson V-Rod with 115 PS (85 kW) at 1,131 cc's. I remember reading that Porsche could not understand one of Harley;s engineering goals. This watercooled V-Rod engine had to be able to idle for over two hours while not moving without over heating. The P-engineers thought this was crazy until one of the Harley engineers told them "we in America" have something called parades... so the bike can't over heat!
Harley chose Porsche bc who else had so much experience with watercooled engine layouts.
The Mercedes-Benz E 500 was developed by Porsche and produced from 1990 to 1995 in Zuffenhausen. Porsche had the extra factory capacity when the 928 GTS production had ended.
The Audi RS 2 Avant... As part of a joint venture Audi and Porsche in 1993 developed under the name "Audi RS 2 Avant" together as a high-performance sports wagon. Also built in Zuffenhausen after the E500 project had ended.
The compact van Opel Zafira(1999) was also developed in Weissach.
In cooperation with the company "Airbus Industrie" Weissach engineers work 1981-1984 on the design of an ergonomic cockpit layout for passenger aircraft.
ULSAB-AVC vehicle concept developed by Porsche Engineering Group GmbH.
Porsche Design a two-megawatt wind power plant: Styling by gondola aerodynamic aspects.
Ferdinand Porsche at the wheel of the Lohner Porsche "Mixte" - from the year 1903. The Lohner Porsche was constructed by Ferdinand Porsche.
Hans Stuck in the Auto Union racing Grand Prix Brünn 1934 on the Masaryk Circuit. To the left of Hans Stuck(white racing gear) is Ferdinand Porsche.
The Austro-Daimler racing car type ADSR "Sascha" won, in the 1.1 liter class - the Targa Florio in Sicily in 1922.
Porsche tractor
model 111 in the courtyard of the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen Werk 1, 1939-40.
The rally legend
Audi Sport Quattro S1 had a Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission.
Note: I first saw this info on AMS website. I thought'd translate it for you and add some Porsche history/insight.
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/n...a-1039061.html