The Crest

The iconic Porsche crest was created in part by the Czech engineer who originally designed the Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, partnered with the US importer Max Hoffman in 1952. Xaver Reimspiess, the designer who created the Volkswagen logo, was the one to fine tune and finish the design of the crest. Xaver sketched a magnificent, golden crest that not only symbolized the roots of the company, but expressed the dynamism and quality of Porsche product.

The Porsche crest first appeared in late 1952 in the center of the 356 Pre-A’s steering wheel. The crest now serves as their all-encompassing logo, and can be seen on every Porsche steering wheel, nose, and wheel.The golden logo has been accentuated with stylized black antlers and red and black stripes. The central part of the logo depicts a black horse headlong, meant to be an expression of forward driven power and a connotation of the origin city. Across the application of the Stuttgart horse, the Porsche team created a clear symbol of the relations they built with the city. The crest possesses the outer shape of a coat of arms, while the overarching inscription ‘Porsche’ over the top of the logo deftly seals the strength of the image.

In contrast to the current crest, the Porsche logo on the original crest was only embossed and was not black. In addition, the red elements of the crest were actually more orange in color to reflect the Württemberg-Hohenzollern state colors. The Classic experts charged with reproducing the crest went a lot further than merely ensuring that the colors were true to the original. The crest is produced using special tools based on original drawings. As with the original, it is gold-plated and the color and enameling are meticulously applied by hand.

The traditional Porsche Crest has had to undergo extensive quality testing. This involved an alternating climate test, for example, and a stone impact simulation carried out at a ballistic firing range. All of these challenging tests were passed with flying colors, thus proving its credentials as a genuine quality product, 100 per cent "Made in Germany". This symbol, steeped in history, signals a continued long life for classic Porsche models.