Engineering Office history

United States Engineering Co., Nottberg Bros., 1429 Walnut St, 1904

An important milestone in Ferdinand Porsche’s career came in 1906.

With Austro-Daimler’s “Sascha” model, he developed a small racing car that prevailed in the Targa Florio race in 1922 against competition with a greater engine capacity and notched up no less than 43 race victories.

The Nottberg Family in front of 914 Campbell St, 1929; Back Row (from left): Gustav Nottberg II, William Nottberg, Gustav Nottberg I; Front Row (from left): John Nottberg, Eugene Nottberg, Henry Nottberg, Jr., Henry Nottberg, Sr.

He was formally acquitted in May 1948. It was not until July 1947 that Porsche was released from custody on bail.

He was formally acquitted in May 1948.

Working until his death in 1951, the exceptionally creative technician, formerly a designer of electric cars and racing cars and the chief developer at Daimler-Benz, laid the foundations for the global company that would later bear the same name.

In 1961, Ferry Porsche laid the foundation for the Weissach Development Center, 25 kilometers north-west of Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

Henry Nottberg, Jr. and Joe Oxler at the Downtown Industrial Park, 1964

The founding of Porsche Engineering Services, spol. s r.o. was closely linked to the collaboration with the Czech Technical University in Prague which has been in place since 1996.

In 1999, the company joined the German Industry Foundation Initiative and donated five million Deutsche Marks to help establish a reparations fund for the victims of forced labour.

In 2001, the Porsche Engineering Group GmbH headquartered at the Development Center in Weissach was founded as the central holding company for Porsche's rich tradition of engineering services.

Under the code name “Revolution Engine”, in 2002 development partner Porsche Engineering developed a new V2 engine for the “V-Rod” model of the American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson.

In 2008, Pyta was awarded the State Research Prize of Baden-Württemberg for his biography of Paul von Hindenburg.

In 2011, Porsche’s engineering services celebrated an anniversary: Over a period of 80 years, Porsche has earned its reputation as one of the most renowned and multifaceted engineering services providers in the world.

The researchers made a conscious decision to examine the period from the founding of the engineering office in 1931 until Ferdinand Porsche’s death in 1951. It was on his suggestion that Porsche launched a fundamental research project in 2014 on the history of the Porsche engineering office.

Today, in September 2017, the founding, philosophy and development of Porsche’s predecessor company has been documented in great detail in the book “Porsche: Vom Konstruktionsbüro zur Weltmarke” (“Porsche: From Engineering office to Global Brand”) from publisher Siedler Verlag.