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How the Porsche badge is made

Everything on a Porsche is meticulously assembled, even its iconic crest. We look at the one item on every Porsche that’s still decidedly old tech.

Porsche badges being made
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As you’d expect, not much that goes in or on a Porsche is put together in a hurry and that goes right down to the tiny crests on their bonnet, which have been handmade and painted since 1952.

Porsche badges
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That was the year it was suggested as a quality seal for the Type 356 at a meeting between Ferry Porsche and US importer Max Hoffman back in 1952.

The company’s advertising manager Herrmann Lapper and designer Franz Xaver Reimspieß produced a preliminary design that became the familiar crest still used today, albeit with a few subtle alterations.

Porsche badge mould
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Reimspieß, who is also said to have designed the Volkswagen logo in 1936, sketched a crest the company’s roots and products.

In case you ever wondered, the horse, or ‘Rossle’, at the centre of the shield is taken from the official coat of arms of Porsche’s home city Stuttgart, which is written above it. They are surrounded by the red and black colours and antlers from the coat of arms of the former German state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern before it was incorporated into the merged state Baden-Württemberg.

Porsche badge being applied
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The crest is still produced using special tools with the silver and gold plating applied with the colour and enamelling meticulously applied by hand.

A few years ago Porsche Classic started reproducing the original badge design using tools made from the original drawings for use on early Porsche 911s and 356 restorations.

Porsche crest history
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The new "old" crest underwent the same quality tests as the original including a simulated stone impact test at a ballistic firing range and 240 hours in a salt spray chamber.

The video shows the classic badges being made, complete with a Game of Thrones-esque soundtrack.

David Bonnici
Contributor

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