Design Element: January 4, 2016

Many enthusiasts believe the Porsche story begins with the Beetle but that's not true. They also believe that the original Porsche-designed vehicles were powered by gasoline engines. Neither of those assumptions are accurate; witness the very first Ferdinand Porsche-designed car, the 1898 Egger-Lohner C.2 Phaeton, which was electric. Yep, Mission E be damned!

With six forward gears, two for reverse and four for braking, this lil' German zapper could utilize an overboost function ("Insane" mode, anyone?) to pump out 5 hp and dash to 20 mph at the time (don't forget that "roads" were not the same that we're used to). It had a range of about 50 miles and was, incredibly, a rally race winner.

A museum piece now, the car pictured was rescued from a permanent dirt nap by none other than Wolfgang Porsche, Ferdinand's son and is on display in Germany. The ghostly purplish-blue pieces are plexiglass reconstructions of what the body looked like. I'm not sure why they chose to do that instead of actually recreating the missing pieces with materials that would correctly represent the time it came from, but it gives the vehicle a fantastical appearance that is certainly suiting. When I was in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, seeing this vehicle in the flesh was nearly a religious experience. It's that amazing, regardless if you're a Porschephile or not.

There, now you know. Impress your frenemies with your vast knowledge. Just don't expect them to care.