Do you know the origin of the Porsche shield and its relationship with that of Ferrari? We explain. The story involves a restaurant in New York, an Auto Show in Paris, starring Ferdinand Porsche and an Austrian named Max Hoffmann.
The story goes that the Porsche logo was designed by Ferdinand Porsche himself on a paper napkin in a New York restaurant in just five minutes. The prancing horse that appears has some similarities with the Ferrari. Will it be the same? Will there be a relationship between the two?
It all starts in 1950 and with a certain Max Hoffmann, a well-known Austrian importer of European sports cars who made a name for himself in New York.
His stand on Park Avenue was frequented by the most famous personalities of the time. In fact, its importance was such that Max Hoffmann managed to convince Mercedes-Benz to mass-produce the 300 SL and BMW to create the 507 under his direction in order to occupy a market niche.
Ferdinand Porsche com Ferdinand Alexander Porsche e Ferdinand Piëch, em 1949
Back in 1950, a journalist named Max Troesch, who was a personal friend of Max Hoffmann, had tried a small German sports car, very light and not very powerful, equipped with a small 1.1 liter engine, but with agility and a sporting behavior that impressed him. It was the Porsche 356 and he shared this opinion with Max Hoffmann, who would end up ordering two units with coupé bodywork.
Contract signed in Paris
At the Paris Motor Show, Max Hoffmann had a meeting with Ferdinand Porsche and signed an agreement to import 15 units a year of the Porsche 356. This is where the story really begins.
Hoffmann realized that Porsche needed a logo that would allow quick identification by buyers, much like the three-pointed star on Mercedes or the cat on Jaguar. In addition, he also managed to eliminate the big PORSCHE letters on the hood of these sports cars.
Porsche 356 Cabriolet and Coupé presented at the 1949 Geneva Motor Show
It hadn’t been that long since the end of World War II and the name Porsche was still very much associated with Nazism. And rightly so, because Ferdinand Porsche was one of the regime’s favorite engineers, thanks to his brilliance. Naturally, Ferdinand Porsche acceded to Max Hoffmann’s request.
Thus, at the aforementioned dinner in a New York restaurant in 1952, the Austrian asked the German to incorporate a logo on his cars that could be identified by customers.
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Ferdinand Porsche replied: “If all you need is a badge, we can give it to you too”. Then he went to his coat to get a pen, took a paper napkin and in five minutes he drew the outline of the logo, which, on his return to Germany, was worked out to the smallest detail by the publicity managers.
The logo elements
The logo consists of a double shield. In the center appears a black prancing horse on a golden background with the inscription “Stuttgart”. This is the coat of arms of the city of Stuttgart.
This first shield is inside another, made up of the antlers of a deer and some red and black stripes, which is the shield of the Baden Württemberg region.
Porsche 956 Speedster, the 1954
What, then, is the relationship between the Stuttgart shield and Ferrari? Ferrari’s horse pays homage to Francesco Baracca, a Count and renowned Italian World War I combat pilot.
Baracca had painted an identical red horse on his plane on a white cloud, which was a “war trophy”, since the first plane he had shot down was piloted by a German from Stuttgart. Thus, it was Baracca’s own mother who asked Enzo Ferrari to use her son’s horse, promising him that it would bring him luck. Enzo accepted, painting it in black as a sign of mourning for the famous Italian aviator.
Porsche Taycan Turbo S and Porsche 356
