Ferdinand Piech 75 - the creator of Porsche 917 and Bugatti Veyron
 

Ferdinand Piech is celebrating his 75th birthday today.
Ferdinand Porsche is his grandfather, Ferry Porsche his uncle and F.A. Porsche his cousin. Piech’s father Anton Piech was the co-founder of the Porsche company. F.Piech is the second greatest engineering genius in the family after his grandfather. He wrote his university thesis on F1 engine and he was there to co-engineer the original 911 engine. To understand Piëch's work at Porsche, let's list the cars he is credited for: 906 Carrera 6, 906/E, 906/8, 910/6, 910/8, 910/8B "Bergspyder", 907 LH, 907 K 2.0, 907 K 2.2, 908/01K Coupé, 908/01LH Coupé, 908/01 Spyder, 908/02 Spyder, 908/02 Flunder Spyder, 908/02LH Spyder, 908/02LH Flunder Spyder, 909 Bergspyder, 908/03 Spyder'70, 908/03 Spyder'71, 914/4, 914/6 street car, 914/6 competiton car, 914/8, 917K'69, 917K'70, 917K'71, 917LH'69, 917LH'70, 917LH'71, 917PA Spyder 12-cylinder, 917PA Spyder 16-cylinder, 917/10 '71, 917/10 '72, 917/10K Turbo, 917/20.... So, Piëch's work at Porsche can be described as a new car or modification averagely every second month.
When Porsche went public in 1972, management personnel was hired and family members stepped down from top positions. Audi hired Piech and he continued being the best. He created the Audi Quattro Coupé, which in 1982 became the winner of WRC. Then he created the Audi V8 four-wheel-drive luxury car. This car was so good that even being a big luxury car, it was able to win DTM in 1990 and 1991 in front of smaller cars like BMW M3. In 1991 his next creation, a W12 powered Audi Avus concept car was presented. In 1993 Piech became the CEO of VW, the parent company of Audi. His creations included the fantastic all-aluminium 4WD Audi A8. In 1998 Piech buys Lamborghini, Bentley and Bugatti. Some more amazing cars are being made on his command: the Lamborgini Murcielago, Bentley Continental GT and Bugatti Veyron with quad-turbo W16 engine. So you see, Piech is the car king of the world, no doubt about it.
Lot's of photos of Piech's creations can be found here: http://stuttcars.com/about-porsche/ferdinand-piech