But the first car to bear the Porsche name is far older, even than that. It would be like someone today designing a four-wheel drive, petrol electric hybrid with e-motors within each wheel - it would be regarded as state of the art. But that is precisely what the Lohner-Porsche Mixed Hybrid was in, wait for it, 1901. Aged just 25 at the time, it was the first glimpse the world got of Ferdinand Porsche’s capabilities.

So the reason we celebrate 1948 as the true birth of the Porsche brand, rather than the Porsche company or cars designed, engineered and even bearing the name of Porsche, is because that’s the date the first actual Porsche car rolled out of an old saw mill in Gmünd, Austria where Porsche had moved from Stuttgart. Designed by Ferdinand’s son Ferry, the first prototype 356 was mid-engined, but all subsequent production cars had their engines in the back for cost reasons and to make space for rear seats. And although the chassis and body were new, the suspension, gearbox and engine were directly based on those already used in the Beetle. It is believed just 52 cars were made in Gmünd before production moved back to Stuttgart and if you own one, you have a very valuable car indeed.

That very first prototype won a local race in Austria and it wasn’t long before Porsche was taking racing far more seriously as a means of publicising the brand. A Porsche first appeared at Le Mans in 1951 entered by the French importer where it circulated trouble free for 24 hours, won its class and broke the record for the least time spent in the pits during the race. Two years later Porsche was back with its first purpose-built racing car, the 550, winning its class again.

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This set the tone for the company for the next decade: the 356 looked after the road car side while the 550 and its derivatives made Porsche the most successful manufacturer for class honours in endurance racing. But by the early 1960s Ferry Porsche felt the company had earned the right to step up to the next level, on both road and track. So, 60 years ago, at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show the four cylinder 356 was joined by the more sophisticated, six cylinder 901, whose name Peugeot objected to almost at once – it had trademarked all three digit numbers with a ‘0’ in the middle – which is why after just 82 units had been built (and you’ll have done well if own one of those too), the ‘0’ became a ‘1’ and the immortal 911 was born. Clearly not ever Ferry or his son Ferdinand ‘Butzi’ Porsche who actually designed it, would have predicted the unintended nameplate would still be with us most of a lifetime later, appended to what has become known as the greatest sports car ever produced.

In the same year Porsche produced an all new racing car, the 904 that set the company on course for the racing glories to come. It would take a while and many descendants – the 906, 907, 908 and 910 – but in 1969 Porsche won the World Sports Car Championship for the first time and, the following year with the fearsome 917, the first of its current tally of 19 wins at Le Mans, more by far than any other manufacturer in the 100 year history of the race.

By mid to late 1970s the 911 was already quite a mature product, one which conventional wisdom would suggest should be replaced. Porsche had already added a less expensive model to its line up when it took on an axed VW project for an affordable sports car: powered a four cylinder, water-cooled engine in front of the driver it was a complete break from anything Porsche had produced up until that time. But it was the 928, with its brawny 4.5-litre V8 engine that was really intended to replace the 911. It was a fine car and remains to this day the only sports car to win the coveted Car Of The Year award, but not even as that capable could turn people’s eyes away from their beloved 911.

The 1980s brought Porsche’s most dominant period in sports car racing, winning Le Mans no fewer than seven times on the trot between 1981-87, but by the mid 1990s the company found itself at a turning point, where traditional manufacturing methods needed to be changed for an approach fit for the 21^st century.

It decided on a new platform that could be turned into three different cars including the first genuinely all new 911 since its launch all those years ago. To this day the Boxster, Cayman and 911 are essentially the same car from the windscreen forward and continue to share variants of the same engines and transmissions.

That decision bought some time, but the car which transformed Porsche and helped turn it into the world’s most profitable car company was unlike anything it had contemplated before. As part of a deal to help VW develop a full sized SUV, Porsche got one of its own, called it the Cayenne and the rest is history.

Today Porsche is one of the most profitable car companies on earth, making everything from its traditional cars like the 911, past family cars such as the Cayenne, Macan and Panamera to the all-electric Taycan, which remains far and away the most desirable mainstream EV on the market and so popular that sales are determined only by the speed at which Porsche can build them.

What will the next 75 years look like for Porsche? So long as the company stays true to the its original brand values and continues to produce driver-centric, high quality machines there’s no reason why it cannot be as successful over the next 75 years as the last. We have already had one glimpse of that future with the recent unveiling of the Mission X, a concept for a future electric hypercar providing at least one horsepower for every kilogramme of weight it carries. And Porsche rarely, if ever, produces a concept car without then putting something very like it into production and the street version of the Mission X is rumoured to be about four years away. We can’t wait to see it.