A genius, Ferdinand Porsche invented the world's first front-drive electric car and then the first gas/electric hybrid auto around 1900. That put him about 100 years ahead of his time.

Heading his own design firm, Porsche worked on famous race/high-performance cars, including the Mercedes SSK/SSKL -- one of the world's 10 greatest cars. But among Porsche's best-known and most-loved cars is the classic 356 sports car, introduced in Europe in 1948 and sold in America from 1950 through 1965.

Living in Germany, the apolitical Porsche designed the Volkswagen Beetle with its air-cooled rear engine (for more interior room) in the 1930s. Porsche wanted a small, affordable "people's car" -- and so did Hitler. Porsche initially refused Hitler's request to build the Volkswagen because Hitler at first didn't want to give Porsche enough money to develop the car.

After World War II, Porsche invented the first Porsche sports car with his son, Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche, nicknamed "Ferry," who was born in 1909.

Ferdinand Porsche had a major setback, though, because he'd been unjustly imprisoned at age 72 in an unheated dungeon in 1945 by the French, who wanted him to help develop the country's small, successful Renault 4CV auto. It demanded one million francs "bail" for his release.

Ferry Porsche raised the money to get his father from prison by signing a design contract to work on the innovative 12-cylinder, all-wheel-drive Cisitalia race car. He never got the money back although a French court later "acquitted" Porsche, whose health was almost broken when he finally was released in August, 1947.

The desire to build a sports car probably kept Ferdinand Porsche going. He'd developed winning 1930s Auto Union rear-engine grand prix race cars, and it thus was logical that the first Porsche had a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. Besides, Porsche then could use modified parts from Volkswagen -- the Porsche design firm's major client -- to keep costs down. (Under British direction, Volkswagens started rolling off assembly lines before the end of 1945.)

Simply called the "356," the first Porsche was built in tiny numbers before its debut in America in 1950. Max Hoffman, an aggressive, successful New York foreign car entrepreneur, was always looking for new autos for the infant U.S. sports car market and convinced Porsche to sell cars here.

The Porsche 356 soon caught the attention of rich, famous car buffs who wanted a unique and exclusive -- but costly -- sports car. Among early 356 owners was young actor James Dean, who raced his Porsche 356 Speedster in California before he was killed in a freak traffic accident while driving to a race in his specialized Porsche 550 Spyder race car.

The Nazis ordered the Porsche design firm to leave the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart, Germany, in 1944 to escape Allied bombing. It moved to the sleepy Austrian village of Gmund, where British troops were startled to find the emergency headquarters of the Porsche firm in 1945 after Germany had capitulated.

The first Porsche 356 coupes, which looked essentially the same as all 356 models -- were built in a former sawmill in Gmund, where Porsche's continuing operations were headed by Ferry Porsche.

Completed in May 1948, the first 356 was a mid-engine roadster with an expertly modified Volkswagen engine behind the cockpit but ahead of the rear axle shafts instead of behind them, as was the case with all other 356s.

Also used were Porsche-designed Volkswagen steering and brake systems, suspensions and transmissions, although Porsche put a sleek body over the auto's race-car-style tubular space frame.

The roadster was a success, even scoring a class victory in a race in Innsbruck a week after its debut in June 1948 at the Swiss Grand Prix.

Porsche decided to make most 356s coupe models for the cold-weather climate of central and northern Europe, where the 356 mainly was to be sold. Also, the engine was moved behind the rear axle shafts to provide more interior room, as was the case with the Volkswagen Beetle.

Porsche had built three sleek, aerodynamic coupes with Volkswagen parts for a Berlin-Rome race just before World War II, which caused the race to be canceled. Ferry Porsche said the coupes were to be the "blueprint" for the 356.

Most agree that only 50 356 models -- nearly all coupes -- were built at Gmund in 1948, 1949 and probably in early 1950. Production began in March of 1948, before Porsche moved back to more sophisticated and better-located facilities at Zuffenhausen.

Each Gmund 356 was a little different, depending on customer specifications. The cars were constantly changed, with modifications to chassis, body and Volkswagen-based engine.

The engine initially only produced about 40 horsepower, but a low 1,350-pound weight and aerodynamic body let a 356 hit 90 mph and average about 30 mpg while cruising at 70 mph. A Gmund 356 could be driven almost 400 miles before its fuel tank was empty.

Two Swiss car enthusiasts -- one an advertising agency owner, the other a car dealer -- agreed to buy the first 50 Porsches. A Porsche worker said that without the Swiss, building and selling a Porsche car could not have been done, author Karl Ludvigsen says in his Porsche history book Excellence Was Expected.

The first Porsche catalog was only a four-page folder that arrived in the late summer of 1948. The coupe's price was a rather lofty $3,750 and the cost for the yet-to-be-built convertible was $4,250.

The "Gmund 356" models are worth a small fortune. They were beautifully built, with a superbly tailored interior, which has a front bench seat, integrated bumpers and flush door handles.

The oldest surviving serial number Gmund 356 (outside of the convertible now in the Porsche museum) has only two gauges -- a large speedometer/odometer and small oil temperature gauge. A set of switches control lights, turn signals and wipers. One red dashboard light indicates headlight high beams, while another serves as a warning light for the generator.

There was no facility for making curved glass at Gmund, so early 356s had some plastic windows, although the windshield and doors had laminated safety glass. The little body trim that Porsche could get after the war was made from scrap aluminum and enhanced the front of the car and its bumpers. The 356 was constantly upgraded, starting in the early 1950s.

Ferdinand Porsche died in January 1951. He thus lived long enough to see the sports car bearing his name begin to become a major success.