Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the man who designed the iconic Porsche 911 sports car, met his demise on 5th April 2012 at the age 76. He came up with the design of the 911 with sloping roof lines and extended hood, which made the car a favourite of all sports car enthusiasts. According to reports released by Porsche AG on 5th April, Alexander expired in Salzburg, Austria, though the company did not state the cause of death.
Alexander, commonly known as FA, was the son of former chairman of Porsche, Ferry Porsche, who passed away in 1998 and the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, who established Porsche as an engineering and designing company during the end of the 1930s. He was born in Stuttgart on 11th December, 1935, and was engaged in the family business since a young age. He spent much of his time at grandfather's designing place and workshops. An alumnus of Hochschule fuer Gestaltung, Ulm, Alexander entered Porsche as an employee in 1958 and began handling the design studio.
He headed Porsche’s design studio during the early 1960s, when the company required a follow-up to Porsche 356, the first car produced by it. With his innovative ideas and in-depth expertise, Alexander presented a sleek design in which was conspicuously devoid of any decorative accessories. Instead, his design of the car could assimilate a powerful six cylinder engine, which was installed in place of the 356's four cylinder engine. The seventh generation Porsche 911 sold nowadays is, notably, an evolved version of the car designed by FA.
After heading the design department of the company for a decade, he left design department of Porsche to start the Porsche Design Studio in 1972, where he made watches, eyeglasses and pens. As a designer, he stressed over the importance of functionality in place of decoration. He said, “A formally coherent product needs no decoration, it should be elevated through pure form.”
Manny Alban, the owner of two 911’s (1990 model) and President of 106,000-member Porsche Club of America, likened the design of car with the bottle of Coca Cola, an iconic design. He said, “It's a car that has evolved since 1963 quite gracefully.” Although the latest version was “Porsche Carrera S” he said, “A lot of people would say you don't need that because a Porsche enthusiast would say you can look at it and know it's a 911. It's very German. Everything has a purpose, every button, it all makes sense, there are no gizmos. You won't look back 20 years later and say why did they put that on there.”
From 1990 to 1993, FA remained Chairman of Porsche AG and efficiently developed the company as it sales figures plummeted during the late 1980s. This downfall was mainly attributed to extensive competition from global brands and a strong German establishment that did not allow the company to meet its export targets. During his tenure as the chairman of company, Alexander recruited Wendelin Wiedeking as the new CEO, who is accredited with introducing the company on the global platform.
Presently, the shares of Porsche AG are mainly owned by Porsche SE and Volkswagen AG. VW's acquisition of Porsche has not been possible as of now because of some official issues. Under the leadership of Martin Winterkorn, who is the CEO of both the companies, the two brands work cohesively and share cordial relations. Ferdinand Piech, the grandson of Alexander, is positioned as the Chairman in Volkswagen AG board of directors.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche is supposed to be buried at private ritual in a chapel located at Schuettgut, an estate owned by the Porsche family in Zell am See, Austria. The company said that the memorial ceremony of FA will be conducted at Stuttgart, Germany.
