Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche car company. He is best known for creating the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner-Porsche), the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, several other important developments and Porsche automobiles. An important contributor to the German war effort during World War II, Porsche was involved in the production of advanced tanks such as the VK 4501 (P), Tiger I, Tiger II, Elefant, and Panzer VIII Maus, as well as other weapon systems, including the V-1 flying bomb. Porsche was a member of the
SS Panzer Brigade Gross company. The brigade participated in the fighting in Courland and Riga in August and September before it was transferred west to training grounds in Sennelager and Steinhagen in November where it was broken up for replacements. It was not formally disbanded until April 1945. SS Panzer Brigade Gross SS Panzer Brigade "Gross" was a unit of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, under the command of Obersturmbannführer Martin Gross. The brigade was formed from the SS Panzer Training and Replacement Regiment based in Dundaga, Latvia and the SS Panzer Troop Training Regiment "Seelager" based at the training