Porsche looks back on the special story of the very first 911 Turbo.
Porsche is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 911 Turbo, which has spent the last half-century blossoming into one of the world’s most respected performance car nameplates and expanded to offering Turbo versions of Porsche’s other cars. Over 50 years ago, on August 29, 1974, the very first series production Porsche 911 Turbo was given by Ferry Porsche as a gift. Specifically, that gift was given to his sister, Louise Piëch, for her 70th birthday.
Being the very first Porsche 911 Turbo, the one-off that was given to Louise didn’t feature the widened fenders the 911 Turbo would become known for, but it did feature the “whale tail” spoiler. In its time, the 930-generation Porsche 911 Turbo with its 3.0-liter engine was Germany’s fastest production vehicle. However, Louise Piëch’s car featured a 2.7-liter supercharged engine.
Born in 1904, Louise Piëch was the daughter of Porsche’s founder, Ferdinand Porsche. Their father was a well known design engineer in the auto industry with a passion for performance. Her 16th birthday present was the Austro-Daimler AD 35 “Louise Wagen” open-top touring car. Louise even participated in racing, driving a supercharged Mercedes in racing events in 1927. Also having a passion for hunting and painting, Louise Piëch married attorney Anton Piëch in 1928.
Louise spent time as a housewife, albeit with her finger on the pulse of Porsche and her husband being instrumental in Porsche’s legal affairs. However, after World War 2, Louise Piëch would become responsible for caring for the entire family, and for getting Porsche’s business up and running. With the help of Volkswagen, Porsche emerged with the 356 in 1948. Long after being gifted the first Porsche 911 Turbo in 1974, Louise would have a passion for sports cars, and for driving the Porsche 911 into her 90s. She passed away in 1999, remembered as one of the most instrumental people in the story of Porsche, very deserving of the role as custodian of the very first Porsche 911 Turbo.
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Image Source: Porsche
