PORSCHE CARS IMAGES & SPECIFICATIONS

Porsche was established by Ferdinand Porsche. In 1900, at the Paris Expo, Ferdinand Porsche devised Lohner-Porsche Electric Car. In 1928, Ferdinand Porsche developed the legendary Mercedes SS and SSK supercharged sports car. In 1931, Ferdinand Porsche founded the Porsche Engineering Office in Stuttgart. In 1948, the first sports car bearing the name Porsche was produced.

Porsche SE or Porsche is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Porsche and Piëch families. Porsche SE holds two chief assets, the first of which is Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (which stands for Doktor Ingenieur honoris causa Ferdinand Porsche Aktiengesellschaft), often shortened to Porsche AG, manufacturer of the Porsche automobile line. The second asset is a majority stake in Volkswagen AG, the biggest car manufacturer in Europe. The company is headquartered in Zuffenhausen, a city district of Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg.According to CNBC even an at-the-time questionable foray into the SUV market with the Cayenne in 2003 couldn't damage Porsche cred. Times journalist Andrew Frankel says on one level it is the world’s best 4x4, on another it is the cynical exploitation of a glorious brand that risks long-term damage to that brand’s very identity in the pursuit of easy money with his verdict being "Great car, if only it wasn't a Porsche".

In racing, Porsche's main rival has traditionally been Ferrari, though their production vehicles appeal to quite different personalities, if similar demographics. The rivalry is therefore primarily because of both companies' storied racing heritage and the fact that some of their vehicles are of comparable performance. Porsche has a reputation for offering equal or higher performing cars than the more expensive Ferrari model while overall Ferrari sells far fewer cars at much higher prices (for example, there are no Ferraris under US $100,000, while several Porsches are priced below that figure).

In the daily-driver marketplace, Porsche's traditional rivals are its fellow German automakers Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW (the Boxster competes directly with the BMW Z4 and the Mercedes-Benz SLK, for instance), as well as Lotus, Jaguar, Maserati and the Chevrolet Corvette, while high-end Porsche models compete against firms such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Pagani.

Porsche has been successful in many branches of auto racing, scoring a total of more than 28,000 victories. Porsche is currently the world's largest race car manufacturer. In 2006, Porsche built 195 race cars for various international motor sports events. In 2007, Porsche is expected to construct no fewer than 275 dedicated race cars (7 RS Spyder LMP2 prototypes, 37 GT2 spec 911 GT3-RSRs, and 231 911 GT3 Cup vehicles).