Ferdinand Alexander Porsche Quotes
101 Ferdinand Alexander Porsche Quotes
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I recorded my ideas in rough sketches, in part so I had better control of the lines, but then quickly translated everything to the [plasticine scale] model so that I could better visualize the shapes.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On a joint project with VW. It came about] From the realization that we needed to broaden our programme at a less costly level and that we couldn’t do it alone.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[As a young boy to his father Ferry Porsche (Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche)] Why aren’t you in the army like all other fathers? [‘Just imagine. If we were all soldiers, who would design and build the tanks and all the other weapons?’ -
Ferry Porsche]
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[In 1987 on his first creations being a boat, a jeep and skates.] It was after the war, and no one had any money for toys. If we wanted something, we had to make it ourselves.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On his creativity partly impacted by austerity after the war and making things himself.] No one had any money for toys…
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
In good design you have to combine different fields.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On a hefty stainless steel pen from the Porsche Design collection] In this, the material [on the barrel] is very different. It comes from high-pressure automotive hose that is very elastic. It is by combining the different parts that we can create something unique… See, this automotive material compresses and creates the same function [of exposing or hiding the pen’s tip] in a more habitable way.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[In November 2002 at the age of 66.] I never am far from the auto industry.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[In November 2002] Practically every time I am in Stuttgart, I visit the [Porsche AG] studio, and I offer suggestions when asked. But the car I’ve been most involved in [since 1972] was the Cayenne.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[In November 2002] The 911 has many evolutionary changes, but all 911s are in the same family. The Cayenne [Porsche SUV] is a completely different car, so it was more of a challenge. And they asked me to come back.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
You have to keep the identity. If there are technical developments, then
you have to incorporate the shape to the new technology, but a Porsche will always look like a Porsche. My grandfather took these shapes from nature, so the headlamps of the 911 maybe look a little like the eyes of the frog, but it comes from nature, and the best shapes are from nature, so why change?
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
My grandfather took these shapes from nature, so the headlamps of the 911 maybe look a little like the eyes of the frog, but it comes from nature, and the best shapes are from nature, so why change?
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Designers need to be part engineer. Good design only exists in concert with engineering. That is because form has to follow function, so you focus on function and then give the object a shape to make it appealing.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Automotive design today lacks individuality. It is all melting together,
and the different brands are copying each other. And also, they are all
trying to go back into their own history. When you look at the BMW, how do you say, zed 8 [the Z-8 roadster], you see it is a retro design. It is nice to go with your roots, but it seems that it is a lack of creativity that forces them to do this. They go back because they don't know where to go forward.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Off-road cars are strong cars, but the trend to SUVs is based more on the feeling of freedom [than fear], on the feeling that our urban society
is fed up with urban surroundings. People want the feeling that we can go across country whenever we want.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On the Porsche Cayenne in November 2002] It was important to focus on the aspect that it is a real off-road car, able to go where the Land Rover Defender could go, and on the other hand is a luxury limousine you could take to the opera. And, of course, it still is a Porsche.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On the name Porsche Cayenne] The name was picked by the company, and I'm sure it is interesting why it was picked, but I could never figure out why.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[In November 2002] I was recently approached to redesign a grand piano. That's interesting to me, because in earlier times we would all agree that a piano was made of wood because of the resonance. But now we have new materials and we have the possibility to redesign a classic object to give it new shape. That is a challenge. There are still a lot of possibilities to improve design.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On design] now we have new materials and we have the possibility to redesign a classic object to give it new shape. That is a challenge. There are still a lot of possibilities to improve design.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On whether auto design is finished and it all had been said and done.] Not at all… There are still a lot of possibilities to improve design.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Gugelot has not done anything on this car. There was once a car that resembled the 914 – but nothing more. There is no connection between Gugelot and 914.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Reduction of things to their basic value.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
The appropriate and most advanced materials, as well as workmanship which combines the tradition of craftsmanship with high technology.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On joining Porsche in 1958 and being assigned to work with Franz Reimspiess – one of the designers of the original beetle.] It was with him, that I was given the assignment – straight out of the parts list – to memorize all the items listed in the parts list… The specifications of screws, the cylinder head, the cylinder itself. All these I had to recite. This took quite a long time, but in this way you knew exactly the specifications and the procedure, the design. And then I had to draw the 1500 Carrera engine.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
I don’t know, it might have been because I wasn’t so good at drawing. But in my opinion, this ‘touchable’ quality is the result more of feel than of, say architecture of line. Feel it, touch it, work on it.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Form isn’t based on fashion. It’s really the other way around. I think a fine form can become fashion if it’s good enough. Take the Volkswagen, the beetle, as an example. It was accepted because it was good. And because it…
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On the transition from the Porsche 356 to the Porsche 911.] It had to become a new Porsche that is just as good as or better than the old one, in the same style but not necessarily in the same form.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
It should be a new Porsche… as good or better than the old, and in the same pattern, but not necessarily the same form.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Design by F.A. Porsche.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
[On spending time with his father and grandfather Ferdinand Porsche in the engineering design office in Zuffenhausen as a small boy.] I was proud and happy to be a part of it all. I think the experiences of that time have remained part of my subconscious mind.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
A product that is coherent in form requires no embellishment . It is enhanced by the purity of its form.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Good design must be honest. I enjoy making things better, because somehow I am always making them for myself, as well.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
If one considers the function of a thing, the form sometimes arrives on its own.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Design must be functional and functionality must be translated into visual aesthetics, without any reliance on gimmicks that have to be explained.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
A coherently designed product needs no adornment; it should be enhanced by its form alone. Good design should be honest.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
You start creating edges when the body of the car is bad.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
That ties the designer down.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
I wanted a clear break in the roofline to re-emphasise that roadster character.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Aerodynamics was given a higher priority in the 904…
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
Some of it was absolutely crazy…
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche
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