Ferdinand Alexander Porsche

Ferdinand Alexander “Butzi” Porsche (1935–2012) was a German-Austrian industrial designer, best known for creating the legendary Porsche 911 and for founding Porsche Design. Born in Stuttgart to Ferry Porsche and Dorothea Reitz, he was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer behind the original Volkswagen Beetle. Immersed in design and engineering from an early age, Butzi studied at Stuttgart’s Waldorf School and later at the Ulm School of Design, before officially joining Porsche in the late 1950s.
 
In 1962, at just 27 years old, he became head of the Porsche design department. His most famous creation—the Porsche 911—was unveiled in 1963 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, originally as the Porsche 901. Renamed due to a naming dispute with Peugeot, the 911’s clean lines, rounded headlights, and sloping rear defined a new era of sports car design and established a legacy that continues to evolve today.
 
Beyond the 911, Butzi designed several iconic racing cars, including the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS and the Formula 1 Type 804. His designs were celebrated not just for performance but also for their aesthetic clarity and engineering elegance.
 
After Porsche transitioned into a publicly traded company in 1972, Butzi left day-to-day car design and founded Porsche Design. He applied his philosophy of “form follows function” to a new realm of products—from wristwatches and sunglasses to pens and luggage. His first product, the Chronograph I, became a modern classic with its matte black case and minimalist face.
 
He later served on the Porsche AG supervisory board during the early 1990s, helping steer the company through a challenging era before retiring fully in 2005 as honorary chairman. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche passed away in 2012 in Salzburg, Austria, leaving behind a legacy that spans automobiles, industrial design, and luxury consumer goods.