Mr Piech is also the grandchild of Ferdinand Porsche who founded the sports car maker and whose family still controls the firm.

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The root note in the 911's symphony of design, going back to Ferdinand Porsche's explorations of aerodynamics in the 1920s, was and is the functionally streamlined roof.

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More than a decade ago, VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, commissioned a vanity project to rival the pyramids: to resurrect the great French luxury and racing marque Bugatti, right down to Ettore Bugatti's l'orangerie in Molsheim, in Alsace, France, and build there the greatest sports car of all time, with no compromise.

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