Porsche Trivia
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43 free Porsche trivia questions with answers — technology quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
Porsche trivia begins long before the first sports car. This quiz opens with Ferdinand Porsche: a Bohemian-born engineer who built an electric car with motors in its wheel hubs in 1898, the world's first petrol-electric hybrid in 1901, the Mercedes SSK, the Auto Union racers and the Volkswagen Beetle, before wartime tank work and postwar imprisonment. Then his son Ferry, the sawmill at Gmünd, the 356 and its Beetle parts, Erwin Komenda's bodywork and the Württemberg coat of arms that became the crest. The heart of the quiz is the 911: why it was almost called the 901, who styled it, the flat-six, the Targa named after a Sicilian road race, the switch to water cooling, the millionth car and its place in the Car of the Century poll. Racing questions cover the 917's first Le Mans win, Piëch's 25 cars in the yard, the flat-12, Steve McQueen, the record 19 wins, and the 959 that won Dakar and became the fastest road car of its day. The last section covers the front-engined 924 and 928, the Cayenne, Leipzig, the Taycan's Turkish name and fake 'Turbo', the Carrera GT, Wiedeking, the 2009 deal that put Porsche inside Volkswagen, Rimac and the 2022 IPO. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Porsche, Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche and the individual models, with the supporting sentence attached to each question. Easy questions suit any car fan; the expert tier reaches the Elefant tank destroyer, Valmet in Finland and the Austro-Daimler Sascha.
30 of 43 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which German city is Porsche headquartered?
Stuttgart
Stuttgart: Ferdinand Porsche returned to the city to open the design office that grew into the company.
Q 02What does the 'Dr. Ing. h.c.' in Porsche's official name refer to?
Ferdinand Porsche's honorary doctorate
Ferdinand Porsche's honorary doctorate: a German technical university gave him one in 1924 for designing the Mercedes that won that year's Targa Florio.
Q 03Porsche's people's car was built in a new town founded for it in 1938; what is that town called today?
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg: it was still the 'City of the KdF-Wagen' when American troops took it in April 1945 and freed the plant's forced labourers.
Q 04Ferdinand Porsche was born in 1875 in Maffersdorf, a town that is now part of which country?
Czech Republic
Czech Republic: the town belonged to Austria-Hungary when he was born, which is why he is usually described as an Austrian engineer.
Q 05What pioneering vehicle did Ferdinand Porsche create at Jakob Lohner & Company around 1900?
The first petrol-electric hybrid car
The first petrol-electric hybrid car: instead of a heavy battery pack, a petrol engine drove a generator feeding electric motors in the wheel hubs.
Q 06Which 1930s Grand Prix racers did Ferdinand Porsche's design office create?
The Auto Union Silver Arrows
The Auto Union Silver Arrows: Porsche began the mid-engined V16 design on spec for the new 750 kg formula, before Auto Union agreed to back it.
Q 07Porsche's rejected wartime chassis design for the Tiger I was reused as the base for which vehicle?
The Elefant tank destroyer
The Elefant tank destroyer: expecting to win the Tiger order, Porsche had already built dozens of hulls before Henschel's design was chosen.
Q 08In which Austrian town did Porsche hand-build its first 356s before production moved to Germany in 1950?
Gmünd, Austria
Gmünd, Austria: Porsche had moved design work there during the war to escape the bombing raids on its home city.
Q 09Which honour did the 356 win at its first outing, a race at Innsbruck in 1948?
Its class
Its class: that first 356 carried its engine ahead of the rear axle, but every production 356 after it had the engine at the back.
Q 10What does '356' in the name of Porsche's first production car refer to?
Its design project number
Its design project number: Ferry Porsche insisted the firm build a sports car of its own instead of only designing cars for others.
Q 11Which designer shaped the body of the 356, having also designed the Beetle's body?
Erwin Komenda
Erwin Komenda: he went on to lead body development for the 911, devising its self-supporting body structure.
Q 12The Porsche crest is based on the arms of which former German state?
Württemberg
Württemberg: Porsche created the crest after its US importer, Max Hoffman, urged Ferry Porsche to give the cars a quality emblem.
Q 13After World War II the French imprisoned Ferdinand Porsche; how did his family win his release?
They paid a large sum
They paid a large sum: in the family's own account, the whole affair was a thinly veiled attempt to extort money from them.
Q 21Which Hollywood star was killed in 1955 while driving his new Porsche 550 Spyder?
James Dean
James Dean: he was driving the car to a race in Salinas, California, when a student turning at a junction collided with him.
Q 22Which Hollywood star finished second at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Porsche 935?
Paul Newman
Paul Newman: he caught the racing bug while training at a racing school for his 1969 film Winning.
Q 23What was the engine layout of the Porsche 917?
Flat-12
It grew from 4.5 to 5.0 litres; the turbocharged 917/30 Can-Am car made about 1,100 bhp in 1973.
Q 14The 911 was originally to be sold under which number, before Peugeot objected?
901
901: Peugeot claimed French rights to three-digit car names with a zero in the middle, so Porsche swapped the zero for a one.
Q 15At which motor show was the 911 first presented, in 1963?
Frankfurt
Frankfurt: the car shown there was meant to replace the 356, yet the older model stayed in production until 1965.
Q 16Who penned the styling of the original 911?
Ferdinand 'Butzi' Porsche
Ferdinand 'Butzi' Porsche: he later founded his own consumer-products company, Porsche Design.
Q 17What engine configuration has every 911 used since 1964?
Rear-mounted flat-six
The 356-derived four-cylinder version in the same body was sold as the 912.
Q 18With which generation did the 911 switch from air-cooled to water-cooled engines?
996
996: Porsche switched to water cooling because its air-cooled engines had reached their limits on emissions and power.
Q 19The 911 Targa takes its name from a road race held where?
Sicily
Sicily: Porsche named the removable-roof 911 after the race because it had won there several times.
Q 20Which car won the 1999 Car of the Century vote, in which the Porsche 911 placed fifth?
The Ford Model T
The Ford Model T: assembly-line production cut its price so far that ordinary families could afford one.
Q 24What does the K stand for in the name of the Porsche 917K?
Kurzheck (short-tail)
Kurzheck (short-tail): the short tail gave more downforce for twisty circuits, while the long-tail Langheck suited fast straights.
Q 25Which Porsche prototype won the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans?
919
919: the winning car had fallen far behind with repairs, and it took the lead only in the penultimate hour as rival cars broke down.
Q 26Which was the first production road-going Porsche with a water-cooled, front-mounted engine?
924
924: it began as a Volkswagen project, and when VW dropped it, Porsche bought the design and built the car in Neckarsulm.
Q 27Which Porsche, the firm's first production V8, won European Car of the Year in 1978?
928
928: it was meant to replace the 911, but the older car outlived it.
Q 28What set the 1986 Porsche 959 apart from the 911 of its day?
All-wheel drive
All-wheel drive: the 959 became the blueprint for the all-wheel-drive 911s that followed.
Q 29Which rally did Porsche's 911-based 953 win outright in 1984, with René Metge driving?
Paris–Dakar
Paris–Dakar: the previous year's winner, Jacky Ickx, drove a second 953 and fought back from breakdowns to finish sixth.
Q 30The 959 was originally conceived to compete in which motorsport category?
Group B rallying
Group B rallying: development ran late, and after the 1986 season the FIA banned Group B cars from world rallying.