Porsche Type 12
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Porsche Type 12 | |
|---|---|
 Porsche Type 12 replica on static display at Museum Industriekultur Nürnberg | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Ferdinand Porsche |
| Production | 1931–1932 |
| Assembly | Stuttgart |
| Designer | Ferdinand Porsche |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | compact car |
| Body style |
|
| Layout | rear-engine, rear-wheel drive |
| Platform | Porsche Type 12 |
| Related | VW Beetle |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Zündapp five-cylinder radial |
| Transmission | three-speed manual |
| Propulsion | tyres |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,500 mm (98.4 in) |
| Length | 3,330 mm (131.1 in) |
| Width | 1,420 mm (55.9 in) |
| Height | 1,500 mm (59.1 in) |
| Kerb weight | 900 kg (1,984 lb) |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Porsche Type 32 |
The Porsche Type 12 was a German project to develop an "Everyman's automobile" (Auto für Jedermann) for Zündapp. Fritz Neumeyer, then owner of Zündapp, ordered Ferdinand Porsche to design and build the prototype in 1931. Eventually, two saloons, and one drophead coupé were built.[1] All of those cars were lost during World War II,[2] the last one in a bombing raid in Stuttgart in 1945. The Type 12 is considered an important early step in the development of the original Volkswagen. A replica of the Type 12 is on static display at the Museum Industriekultur in Nürnberg.[2]
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The Type 12 was an early example of the aerodynamic and rounded designs that came somewhat in vogue in the 1930s, developed concurrently with Mercedes-Benz's 120H, and ahead of Tatra's second V570 prototype, and DKW's F2-based, one-off rear-engined streamline prototype — both in 1933.[3] In production cars, the style was typified by the 1934 Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow, Toyota's AA copy of these (1936), and the eventual "People's car", the 1938 KdF-Wagen aka the Volkswagen Type 1 or Beetle.
Contemporaneous prototypes with a more extreme focus on aerodynamics were the 1933 Dymaxion car and Karl Schlör's Schlörwagen, developed from 1936 to 1939.[4]
