Porsche diesel spotted!
The guys over at Jalopnik spotted this very special Porsche recently and it's not what you think. As anyone familiar with the history of Porsche knows, the old man Ferdinand Porsche designed vehicles for anyone with a checkbook. Along with the the legendary Auto Union grand prix cars of the thirties, and the original Beetle (although there is debate about whether he actually stole that design from someone else) he also designed at least one vehicle with an air-cooled (it is a Porsche after all) diesel engine. It's even a single seater, although it won't compete with the Auto Unions. In fact, it was the spiritual ancestor of the first Lamborghini's! Follow the Read link to get all the details. [Source: Jalopnik]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tiago do Vale 7:38AM (12/14/2006)
The Tatra T97 and the Beetle look alike because Hans Ledwinka and Ferdinand Porsche regulary met to discuss their automotive work and designs. But the Beetle is a smaller car.
Of course there were many pattent issuses between Tatra and VW, but that was in small components, not in the general ideia of the car. I must say that that architecture, even if now seems quite peculiar, was more common back then.
About the "Josef Ganz" story, it was Tatra who stole his design, not Porsche. Hitler might have stolen the "VolksWagen" name from him, but I don't think that's what the "Porsche stole the design" mith is about.
So this is just an elaborate mith, with a few "tweaked" connections with reality.
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