Ferdinand Porsche in the context of "Auto Union racing cars"

Béla Barényi (1 March 1907, Hirtenberg, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy – 30 May 1997, Böblingen, Germany) was an ethnic Hungarian engineer from Austria-Hungary, who was a prolific inventor, sometimes even compared to Thomas Edison. Barényi made numerous crash protection inventions, and is therefore regarded as the father of passive safety in automotive design. "The lives of thousands of people have probably been saved thanks to Barényi's work."

Barényi is also credited with first conceiving the original design for the German people's car (the Volkswagen Beetle) in 1925, – notably by Mercedes-Benz, on their website, including his original technical drawing, – five years before Ferdinand Porsche claimed to have made his initial version.

The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. A global cultural icon known for its bug-like design, the Beetle is widely regarded as one of the most influential cars of the 20th century. Its production period of 65 years is the longest for any single generation of automobile, and its total production of 21.5 million units makes it the most produced car of a single platform in history and the second-highest of all nameplates manufactured in the 20th century.

The Beetle was conceived in the early 1930s. The leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, decided there was a need for a people's car—an inexpensive, simple, mass-produced car—to serve Germany's new road network, the Reichsautobahn. The German engineer Ferdinand Porsche and his design team began developing and designing the car in the early 1930s, but the fundamental design concept can be attributed to Béla Barényi in 1925, predating Porsche's claims by almost ten years. The result was the Volkswagen Type 1 and the introduction of the Volkswagen brand. Volkswagen initially slated production for the late 1930s, but the outbreak of war in 1939 meant that production was delayed until the war had ended. The car was originally called the Volkswagen Type 1 and marketed simply as the Volkswagen. It was not until 1968 that it was officially named the "Beetle".

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, commonly known as Porsche, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company is owned by Volkswagen AG, a controlling stake of which is owned by Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE. Porsche's current lineup includes the 911, Panamera, Macan, Cayenne and Taycan.

The origins of the company date to the 1930s when German Bohemian automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche founded Porsche with Adolf Rosenberger, a key figure in the creation of German automotive manufacturer and Audi precursor Auto Union, and Austrian businessman Anton Piëch, who was, at the time, also Ferdinand Porsche's son in law. In its early days, it was contracted by the German government to create a vehicle for the masses, which later became the Volkswagen Beetle. After World War II, when Ferdinand, a member of both the Nazi Party and the SS, would be arrested for war crimes, his son Ferry Porsche, an SS volunteer, began building his own car, which would result in the Porsche 356.

Lohner–Porsche is a term encompassing several electric vehicles designed by Ferdinand Porsche and manufactured at Lohner-Werke in the early 1900s. They include the first hybrid electric vehicle and the first commercial hub motor car. The hybrid "Mixed" or "Mixte" racecars are powered by a gasoline engine which drives four electric motors, one in each wheel hub. The battery-powered "Touring" or "Chaise" commercial cars utilize only two front-wheel hub motors.

Elefant (German for "elephant") was a heavy tank destroyer (self-propelled anti-tank gun) used by German Panzerjäger (anti-tank units) during World War II. Ninety-one units were built in 1943 under the name Ferdinand (after its designer Ferdinand Porsche) using VK 45.01 (P) tank hulls which had been produced for the Tiger I tank before the competing Henschel design had been selected.

Following their use at the battle of Kursk, in January to April 1944 the surviving Ferdinands received modifications and upgrades. They were renamed Elefant in May 1944. The official German designation was Panzerjäger Tiger (P) and the ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 184.