Porsche: Origin of the Species

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Karl Ludvigsen

Foreword by Jerry Seinfeld

Bentley Publishers, Cambridge, MA, 2012, English

Nonfiction, Product/Industrial Design

10 1/2 in. x 10 1/2 inches, hardcover, 356 pages, 436 photographs and illustrations

ISBN: 9780837613314

Suggested Retail Price: $119.95

From the Publisher. Within Jerry Seinfeld's renowned Porsche collection resides an unassuming yet extraordinary piece of Porsche history: the Porsche Gmünd coupe 356/2-040. Captured exclusively for this book in a series of evocative portraits by acclaimed automotive photographer Michael Furman, 040’s unsullied originality conveys with startling immediacy the combination of artistry, innovation, and determination that went into its improbable creation. This cornerstone of the Seinfeld collection serves as the inspiration for Porsche: Origin of the Species, an in-depth exploration by the eminent automotive historian Karl Ludvigsen into the specific influences and circumstances that brought forth the first Porsche-badged sports cars.

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Phil Patton

On Phil Patton’s Notable Books of 2012 list

A Venn diagram of designers and Porsche fans reveals a major overlap. Sober, businesslike design academics or executives turn into positive Bieber buffs when the subject of the quintessential German sports car comes up. As respectably modern as a Braun coffee mill or Vitsoe shelving system, a Porsche 356 or 911 possesses the additional advantage of being speedy and sensual. These are the people who will enjoy Karl Ludvigsen’s latest Porsche book, from Bentley, the auto book publisher. Ludvigsen is highly regarded by automobile collectors and historians; his three-volume Porsche history, Porsche: Excellence Was Expected, is standard. One such collector is comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who is very serious about his sports cars. (He constructed a special garage for them, at great expense, in Manhattan.) Seinfeld has written a foreword to Porsche: Origin of the Species. The book, arriving in the year that F.A. Porsche died, tells of the early days of the Porsche company, in Gmund, Austria, and the birth of the mythic 356.

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