• Winner of the Best of Books award at the 22nd International Automotive Media Competition
• Winner of the Gold Medal for Book Writing - History, Single Marque or Manufacturer at the 22nd International Automotive Media Competition
• Winner of the 2013 Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for Best History Book from the Independent Book Publishers Association
• Winner of Best in Category - General Trade, Illustrated award at the 2013 New England Book Show
• Winner of the 2012 Dean Batchelor Award for outstanding achievement in automotive journalism from the Motor Press Guild
• Winner of the 2012 Best Book of the Year from the Motor Press Guild

Within Jerry Seinfeld's renowned Porsche collection resides an unassuming yet extraordinary piece of Porsche history: Porsche Gmünd coupe 356/2-040.  Captured exclusively for this book in a series of evocative portraits by acclaimed automotive photographer Michael Furman, 040's unsullied originality conveys with startling immediacy the combination of artistry, innovation and determination that went into its improbable creation.  This cornerstone of the Seinfeld collection serves as the inspiration for Porsche-Origin of the Species, an in-depth exploration by the eminent automotive historian Karl Ludvigsen into the specific influences and circumstances that brought forth the first Porsche-badged sports cars.

How and when did the people of the Porsche firm find themselves in a sawmill in Gmünd?  What was the influence on the 356 of the cars and engines built by Porsche before and during the war?  How and why was the first 356 shaped as it was?  What was the real relationship between the tube-framed Type 356 roadster and the first 356/2 coupes?  Questions like these deserve answers because the resulting DNA is so powerful, so robust, that it still influences the shape and style of Porsches well into the twenty-first century.

Karl Ludvigsen, author of the award-winning Porsche: Excellence Was Expected and Ferdinand Porsche - Genesis of Genius, tackles these questions and more in Porsche-Origin of the Species.  The saga that emerges encompasses mechanical revelations, human drama and the turmoil of world war.  Porsche-Origin of the Species will appeal to all car enthusiasts who are eager to know what events really ignited the spark from which all other Porsches evolved.