The homely setting of Ferry Porsche’s front room provides the backdrop for this informal gathering one evening in March 1974. This was a preliminary discussion on the possibility of cooperating with a car manufacturer in what was then the Soviet Union.
Here’s Ferry Porsche presiding over what looks like a management meeting. He’s flanked by his oldest son, design director Ferdinand Alexander – or Butzi as most people now call him – and his nephew, technical director Ferdinand Piëch.
A 22-year old mechanic and aircraft technician, in 1951 Rolf Wütherich possessed the kinds of skills Ferry Porsche was seeking for his nascent business. Within weeks he was part of a small group developing a new transaxle for Porsche’s own gearbox, a component urgently needed because the stock VW item was failing under the increasing torque of Porsche’s flat fours.
