If the name Porsche doesn't make you picture a galloping horse emblem and a feisty, sleek sports car, perhaps you don't know very much about the brand. So, let's take a look at the German company's place in history. The Porsche company was founded in 1931 as "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" by Professor Ferdinand Porsche, who placed its main office in downtown Stuggart, located in Southern Germany. Originally, the company provided consulting and automobile development work, but it did not build any cars itself. When it did get a vehicle assignment from the German government to design a vehicle for the common person, Porsche built one of the most famous vehicles ever to grace the streets of Germany (and otherwise), the Volkswagen Beetle. Following this successful vehicle, Porsche used its own name to construct the Porsche 64 in 1939, which closely emulated several features from the Beetle.

During the second World War, Volkswagen/Porsche began building a variant of the Beetle that would be used by the military. Over 50 thousand were produced of the K?belwagen variant and 14 thousand of the Schwimmwagen variant. Porsche also created several tank designs for the War, but it lost out to another company for the contracts to produce them. By the end of WWII in 1945, the British had taken over the Volkswagen factory. A famous British officer took over, and Ferdinand was imprisoned for war crimes (but not tried). His son managed to aid the company through its tough times, and even to produce a prototype vehicle because he didn't like the ones on the market. This model would become the Porsche 365; it was built in Austria and showcased to German auto dealers who convinced Ferry Porsche to begin production. Porsche constructed a new company based on the model, and many consider it to be the original Porsche model. It was certified for road use in 1948 and used many Volkswagen parts due to the short supply available in Germany post-war, but the engines solely belonged to Porsche

The company continued to be successful and grow bigger after the 395's release and several successful motor races, many of which used the new Porsche 550 Spyder. At this point, 1964 to be precise, Porsche decided to launch its iconic Porsche 911, one of the most well-known Porsches ever built both in racing and road car segments. The 911 remains in production today, though it has only the same base concepts as its original predecessor, due to several generations of revisions. A lower cost version of the model was also produced, labeled the Porsche 912 to give it a bigger edge against competitors such as Audi, BMW, Aston Martin, and Ferrari-although for Porsche, it's not such a direct competition between these brands as it is based on particular models. Porsche owns a little over 50 percent of the Volkswagen company.

Some of the popular Porsche models in production today include: The 2012 Porsche 911 (Carrera , Targa, and Turbo variations), the 2012 Porsche Cayenne, and the 2012 Porsche Boxster.