In the motor world, there are two brands that display a horse on their logos: one is Ferrari and the other is Porsche. Today we are going to focus on the second and on the shield that its models wear: it was not always there and far from what one might think, the German shield was not created in the homeland of the brand. It was created 6,298 kilometers from Stuttgart: this is his story.
The Porsche emblem is inspired by the city of Stuttgart and the symbols associated with this German city. In the center we find a horse framed in a golden shield presided over by the name of the town. It is surrounded, in turn, by the colors of the region (black and red) and by antlers, which come from the coat of arms of the state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern. And, above all, the name of the brand arises.
An unsuccessful contest
It was not always present: since 1948, German sports cars had the brand name on their hoods. The idea of shaping a corporate image did not come true until three years later. In 1951, Ferdinand Porsche and Ottomar Domnick (a Stuttgart doctor specializing in neurology and psychiatry, who was the brand’s first customer) launched a contest to design the logo of the car manufacturer: the prize was 1000 German marks. However, none of the creations convinced them.
Word of Max Hoffman
Then another illustrious name associated with the history of Porsche emerges: Max Hoffman, the owner of the Hoffman Motor Company. After World War II, this Austrian packed his bags to head to the United States, where he specialized in importing European sports cars: a job that made a name for himself in the motor industry.
Its first point of sale was located at 487 Park Avenue (New York) and was designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright: all the models that passed through there ended up becoming a success… and the Porsche 356, introduced at the 1950 Paris Motor Show, was no exception. However, from the point of view of Max Hoffman, the first series vehicle manufactured by the German brand was missing something.
1952: a year to remember
A year later he found out and he told Ferry Porsche at a business dinner they shared in New York. He explained that they could get more out of the potential of the Porsche 356 adding a seal that was the symbol of brand identity. The founder’s son took him at his word and in December 1951 commissioned Franz Xaver Reimspieß to create a logo that reflected the roots of the German house, its quality and the dynamism of its cars.
In 1952, for the first time in the history of Porsche, one of its models displayed the emblem on the hood: the honor went, naturally, to a Porsche 356. In 1954 it became customary and five years later, in 1959, it was added to tires. In its 71 years of life it has undergone five revisions to keep him up to date, but he has never lost the essence acquired at that dinner thousands of kilometers from his home.