Founded in Germany by Ferdinand Porsche in 1931, the company has close ties with both Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz. In fact, the very first Porsche cars were built based on the Volkswagen chassis. At the time, there weren’t many sports cars on the market, so when the company began manufacturing small, two-seaters with powerful engines, the world paid attention.

During the 1950’s the company manufactured the 356 Speedster and the 550 Spyder. Light weight and built low to the ground, the cars were both popular on the racetrack, where they won several races. In the 1960’s the 356 was replaced by the luxury rental car of the decade - the Porsche 911. Built around a new six-cylinder engine placed in the rear rather than the front, the vehicle became the base for several Porsche sports cars to come.

After several successful decades of releasing powerful sports cars high in technology, Porsche took a chance and released their first sport utility vehicle. Though consumers and race-enthusiasts were skeptical of the exotic car rental, the SUV, named the Cayenne, was popular because it produced 450 horsepower with a turbo engine. Shortly afterwards, Porsche released the Carrera GT supercar, which generates 605 horsepower to power the kind of speed Porsche customers rely on.