Ernst Fuhrmann

Who was Ernst Fuhrmann?

Dr Ernst Fuhrmann was the chairman of Porsche AG between 1972 and 1980. He was a German citizen.

Fuhrmann’s attended primary school in Vienna before progressing to a Grammar school. Between 1936 and 1941 he attended a technical high school. During the war he undertook his military service before returning to civilian life. Already in 1947 he was working for Porsche, initially at the Gmünd facility in Austria, relocating subsequently to Stuttgart. In 1950, the year in which he married his wife Elfriede, he received his Doctorate of Machine Construction for a study on valve trains in high-speed internal combustion engines.

In 1952/53 he provided significant input to the development of the 547 engine which became known as the Fuhrmann engine. The is a four-cylinder boxer engine with two overhead camshafts, driven by bevel gears, for each of the two cylinder banks.

In 1956 Fuhrmann left Porsche and took over responsibility for development with the car parts company Goetze, where in 1962 he joined the board of directors.