NARRATOR: A German factory builds one of the world's most famous cars.
MAN: The 91 1 is the icon of the sports car industry.
lt's the shape, it's the engine in the back,
it's the feeI it gives you, it's the emotion.
NARRATOR: The factory runs like a precision machine,
building hundreds of engines a day.
(Man speaks German)
INTERPRETER: The product and our manufacturing process are one unit,
and that's our secret of success.
NARRATOR: Automation, technology and skilled human labour
combine to build 1 6 versions of the Porsche 91 1.
lncluding the 91 1 G T3.
MAN: Lots of our customers,
they want a race car that they can use on the normaI street as weII.
NARRATOR: The Porsche 91 1 has been made for more than four decades
on the same grounds in Stuttgart, Germany,
at Porsche's mega factory.
The Porsche 91 1, small, light, nimble, and always powered
by a flat six-cylinder engine in the back of the car.
The 91 1 may offer the ideal connection between car and driver.
The 91 1 is Iike a gIove that fits you perfectIy.
The car communicates very directIy what it's doing,
so it's a very emotionaI driving experience to have a 91 1 under you.
NARRATOR: There are 1 6 models of the 91 1.
One of the newest 91 1 s is the G T3.
lt's designed with one mission in mind.
The GT3 is a track tooI. It's the uItimate track-day weapon.
NARRATOR: The G T3 is designed for the growing number of car enthusiasts
who race their cars on closed tracks.
The thrill of owning your own street-legal racing car
will cost you $ 1 1 2,000.
The G T3's six-cylinder engine delivers 435 horsepower.
lt catapults the G T3 from 0 to 1 00 kilometres per hour in 4. 1 seconds,
taking it to a top speed of 31 2 kilometres per hour.
PREUNINGER: lt feels more like a race car than a street-going car.
ActuaIIy, it's a race car with a street-IegaI tag on it.
NARRATOR: Since 1 964, every 91 1 ever built
has been made in Porsche's mega factory in Stuttgart, Germany.
The factory consists of several industrial buildings
that are linked together.
The car's body shell gets its colour in the paint shop.
The 91 1 's famous flat six-cylinder engine
is built in the engine assembly building.
Leatherwork for the car's interior is handcrafted in the upholstery shop.
Finally, all the pieces come together
in the vehicle assembly building with its 1 1 7 assembly stations.
The factory builds all 1 6 models of the 91 1,
plus two Porsche Boxster models on the same assembly line.
INTERPRETER: Every day we build approximately 40 Boxsters
and about 1 1 0 Porsche 91 1 s.
NARRATOR: The 91 1 's body begins in the body shell assembly building.
Outside the body shop, stamped steel body panels are standing by.
lnside, 1 05 robots, along with teams of skilled welders,
fuse the car's frame together.
The frame is made of three sub-assemblies..
the front compartment, the mid floor pan, and the rear compartment.
Each sub-assembly is welded together from stamped steel parts.
One welder spot-welds the front compartment of the frame.
While another works on the rear compartment.
The front compartment is then sent off to be joined with the rear compartment.
When the mid floor pan is added, clamps hold the three pieces in place.
Then a robot welds them together, making them one.
A team of human welders places a shield between them
to protect against sparks and glare.
They reinforce the job, welding seams robots cannot reach.
At this point, every 91 1 frame on the line is identical.
But all that changes at the geometry station...
..where the various model rear-side panels are welded onto the vehicle.
Here, the car becomes a hard top or a convertible cabriolet.
Since this car is destined to be a hard top,
robots ensure it gets a roof.
When the welding is done, another group of robots attacks the frame,
this time not to weld but to pierce it.
Hundreds of rivets and screw holes will allow technicians
to attach components to the body later in the assembly process.
Next, robots select doors... and weld door hinges to the frame.
Almost 5,000 welds later, the robotic work is done in the body shop.
Now workers place the metal body panels
that give the 91 1 its unmistakeable front shape.
lt starts with the front quarter panels.
And at the next station, the luggage-compartment cover or bonnet.
Now the body shell is complete.
Even in this raw form,
the body has the iconic shape of the classic Porsche 91 1.
A shape that has been world famous for more than 40 years.
MAN: When the 91 1 was launched for the first time in 1 964,
the design was aImost shocking or you couId say
very much ahead of the time.
NARRATOR: ln that time, the Porsche 91 1 has seen evolution in its design
but never revolution.
There may be no other car that has changed so little in appearance
during the course of several decades.
lt may surprise some to learn that this high-end sports car's beginnings
can be traced to another famous but much more humble car.
The origins of the Porsche 91 1 's iconic shape and design
can be sourced to a more modest vehicle.
The Volkswagen Beetle.
And the brilliance of a man named Ferdinand Porsche.
Ferdinand Porsche was very much ahead of his time. He was a technicaI genius.
NARRATOR: Ferdinand Porsche was a self-taught automotive designer
and engineer.
ln 1 900, at the age of 25,
he had designed the world's first hybrid petrol/electric car
for an Austrian company.
He also spent more than a decade designing cars for Mercedes.
By the 1 930s, Ferdinand Porsche had formed his own company
designing cars for other manufacturers.
He sold the German government on his dream of a small, simple car
that would be affordable to the masses.
That car eventually became the Volkswagen Beetle.
After World War ll, Ferdinand Porsche's son, Ferry Porsche,
took control of the company.
Ferry Porsche wanted a sports car not for the general public
but for his own driving pleasure.
A post-war shortage of parts forced Ferry Porsche
to use components from the Volkswagen Beetle.
The rear-mounted, air-cooled, four-cylinder engine,
the gearbox and the suspension.
Ferry Porsche modified everything to make it more sporty.
NARRATOR.. The car that emerged in 1 948 was the Porsche 356.
More than 75,000 were made over the course of 1 5 years.
lt was the first sports car to bear the Porsche name.
ln the late 1 950s, Ferry Porsche wanted a new sports car.
This time he insisted on a more powerful six-cylinder engine.
For the new car's physical design,
Ferry Porsche turned to his oldest son, known as Butzi Porsche.
He reaIised the perfect successor of the Porsche 356
because he uses the cIassic design Iine of the car,
but he moved it in a very forward way.
NARRATOR: The result was presented in 1 963 and eventually was called the 91 1.
Over the course of four decades, the design was updated just five times,
resulting in six generations of 91 1 s.
I think the design carries on because Porsche aIways understood very weII
what you have to do to bring the 91 1 design language into the future.
NARRATOR.. Now the unpainted body shells,
descended from the first 91 1 s built in 1 964,
are ready to leave the body shop to be painted.
The trouble is, the body shop and the paint shop
have a four-lane road separating them.
So how does the body shell move from the body shop to the paint shop?
A bridge.
This bridge is going over one of the most used streets in Stuttgart.
NARRATOR: lt takes about half an hour for a body shell
to travel 86 metres over the bridge to the paint shop.
The paint shop's first step is a car wash that removes dirt and grease.
Bodies are then blow-dried to remove any lingering dust.
Once the surface is clinically clean...
..it heads into a paint bath containing 60 cubic metres of paint.
The bath holds an anticorrosion paint called cathodic dip primer.
The cathodic dip primer is electrically charged positive.
The metal carrier that holds the car carries a negative charge.
As the car is submerged, the carrier agitates the car,
making sure the positively charged paint
is drawn to every part of the negatively charged body.
When the car emerges from the bath,
the bond of the paint is so strong
that excess paint can be washed off with water.
Now the car heads into a dryer for 30 minutes
to cure the cathodic dipped paint.
A single speck of dust can ruin a paint job,
which is why technicians dust the body before the primer coat.
The interior of the car is primed by human painters.
The exterior is where the robots take over.
The primer is electrically charged positive.
As the robots atomise the paint into the air,
the paint is attracted to the car's negatively charged surface.
lt may look like the colour coat, but it's not.
The primer can be one of five colours..
white, light grey, dark grey, yellow or red.
The selected primer colour is the closest match to the colour coat.
With the primer complete,
the car heads into the 1 70-degree-Celsius dryer for 30 minutes.
Now it's time for the car to get its colour coat.
INTERPRETER: The most popular colours for a Porsche are black, white, red.
NARRATOR.. Porsche offers 1 2 standard colours, plus nine premium colours.
But for a fee, Porsche will custom paint your car any colour you want.
Because of the number of colours offered by the factory,
the colour coat is painted by hand.
ln all, four to five litres of paint are applied, depending on the colour.
With the colour coat complete,
the 91 1 heads into a 1 60-degree-Celsius dryer to cure the paint.
The final layer is a solvent-based clear coat.
The clear coat is painted by robots
because the same clear coat is used for every car.
The robot is also programmed to open the doors of the car
and coat the interior surfaces.
The paint shop's final job
is putting the Porsche logo on the vehicle's bonnet.
ln all, it takes eight hours
for a 91 1 to enter the paint shop as a steel shell and exit a painted car.
Now preparations are underway to build the vehicle's six-cylinder heart.
From the very beginning, since 1 964,
the heart of the Porsche 91 1 has always been a six-cylinder engine.
But not just any six-cylinder engine.
Six-cylinder engines come in three major types.
Some are straight sixes.
The most common six-cylinder engines are V6s.
The Porsche 91 1 has always used an engine known as a flat six-cylinder,
with two rows of three cylinders horizontally opposed to each other.
Porsche believes there is a key advantage to the flat six design
when used in its sports cars.
The biggest advantage of using a fIat six-cyIinder in the Porsche 91 1
is its Iow centre of gravity.
Because it's very small, you can mount it down low in the body.
NARRATOR: The lower centre of gravity contributes to improved handling.
The Iower the centre of gravity is,
the more stabIe the car is at high speeds and the cornering.
NARRATOR: Those famous flat six-cylinder engines
are made in the factory's engine assembly area.
(Man speaks German)
INTERPRETER: ln Stuttgart, we build in total approximately 500 engines per day.
NARRATOR: Every three minutes, the plant completes a flat six engine.
The plant makes more than 20 different versions
of its flat six-cylinder engine,
ranging from 255 to 535 horsepower.
Each version of the flat six-cylinder engine
has many of its own specific parts.
The challenge is getting the right parts to the right place
just in time for the engine's assembly.
So Porsche developed an automated logistics system.
Engine parts are loaded onto a cart.
The cart is then picked up by Porsche's patented driverless transport system.
Carts are programmed to take a specific route to the engine assembly area.
The route takes them over a bridge and into an lift,
where they go down one floor
and deliver the parts to the engine assembly area just in time.
The factory has a total of 21 carts.
Nine of the carts are dedicated to removing completed engines
from the engine assembly area.
The carts take the finished engines back up to the logistics area.
But how do the carts know where to go and which path to take?
(Man speaks German)
INTERPRETER: Every five metres we have magnets embedded in the floor
which are covered by concrete,
and between one five metre distance and the next five metres,
the cart is programmed to find its way.
This, for example, is such a spot.
NARRATOR: Each cart travels 20 kilometres every day
at speeds of over five kilometres per hour.
The people on the floor seem to know how to stay out of the cart's way,
but, just in case, there are safeguards.
(Speaks German)
INTERPRETER: Nothing happens, even though it's carrying a heavy load
and these carts move at quite a high speed.
Nothing can happen because we have a built-in safety system in there.
NARRATOR: For every flat six-cylinder engine made,
there are three parts deliveries to the assembly floor.
The first parts delivery is pushed by hand.
lt contains both halves of the crankcase, the crankshaft and pistons.
Early in the line, pistons are assembled.
Then the first three pistons are carefully put into the crankcase.
Then the crankshaft is placed into one of the crankcase halves.
That first row of pistons is linked to the crankshaft.
Then a robot installs the second half of the crankcase and bolts it on.
Now the partially assembled engine
travels to the main engine assembly line.
Meeting that partially assembled engine, a special carrier called a cross member.
The cross member allows technicians to manoeuvre the engine
for easier assembly.
(Speaks German)
INTERPRETER: You can rotate the engine, lift and lower the engine,
so that the workman always works in an optimal ergonomic position.
NARRATOR: Two stations down,
a technician puts the cross member to work,
flipping the engine on its side
and installing the remaining three piston heads.
The technician cranks the engine
to check the piston linkages with the crankshaft,
ensuring the operation is smooth.
Next, a cylinder head is placed onto one side of the engine.
The cylinder head contains valves
that will let air into the cylinders and take exhaust out.
Technicians put the cross member to work again,
flipping the engine so the other cylinder head can be installed.
Every two minutes and 44 seconds, the engine reaches a new station.
Some stations are manned by human beings.
Others are handled by robots.
(WiII speaks German)
INTERPRETER: Automation makes sense in those places
where many things are repeated.
lf you screw 20 screws into an oil pan,
it's not necessary that one employee screws in 20 screws.
A robot can do that. That doesn't achieve any added value.
But if you have complex assembly procedures, you need the employee.
NARRATOR: About two thirds of the way through the line,
every engine goes through what's known as a cold test.
Here the engine is electrically cranked and turned.
lts linkages and systems are checked by computer.
After the test, the intake manifold is installed.
The engine will breathe in its air through these plastic tubes.
The engine exhales through the exhaust manifold,
the last major part installed.
One in every hundred engines is plucked from the line for a hot test,
in which the engine is fired up with petrol.
lt's taken about six hours to build the flat six engine from start to finish.
At the end of the line,
completed engines are taken away by the driverless transport carts
and delivered to a holding area.
They'll eventually be taken to the main assembly line
and married to the vehicle's body.
At Porsche's mega factory in Stuttgart, Germany,
the assembly line puts together 1 6 different models of the 91 1.
Each 91 1 will spend about 1 5 hours moving down the line.
The line has 1 1 7 assembly stations.
Workers at each station have just over five minutes to complete their tasks
before the next car moves into place.
But as they work, the line does not stop.
(Man speaks German)
INTERPRETER: The line is moving continuously
so the technicians can keep working and don't have to stop during the feed.
NARRATOR: Now a painted body shell enters the main assembly line.
Station one.
The 91 1 's new paint job is protected with pads.
Then the doors come off to allow easier access to the inside of the car
throughout the assembly process.
At station two, technicians snake wiring through the car,
laying down the network for the electrical system.
Station six.
The first upholstered item is put in the car, the cockpit,
which includes the leather dash.
At Porsche, leather begins as tanned cow hides in the upholstery shop.
The basic 91 1 has 40 upholstered pieces,
including the dash, door panels and seats.
lt takes six hides to upholster an average 91 1.
Hides are laid out on a machine
that automatically cuts the pieces to be upholstered,
while avoiding flaws in the leather.
The machine uses a powerful waterjet to cut the leather.
The pressure coming out of the nozzle is 3,000 bar,
about 30 times the pressure of a power washer used to clean buildings.
The machine is done and now the pieces are collected.
The first workers to get their hands on the cut leather are the sewers,
who stitch pieces together.
Next, a robot sprays the stitched leather with glue.
Then a craftsperson has the painstaking task
of fitting the leather to the dashboard frame.
Heat makes the leather more pliable and workable.
lt also keeps the glue tacky.
The first challenge is fitting the seam in the frame's groove.
Then the leather has to be stretched over the top of the dash.
Once the fit is right, he trims the excess leather with a knife...
..and rounds the remaining material under the dash.
A little pressure with a sand-filled weight smoothes out any ripples
and completes the job an hour after it began.
The upholstered dashboards are sent to a pre-assembly area,
just a few yards from the main assembly line.
Here, they are built up into full cockpit assemblies,
including gauges and steering columns.
Once assembled, the cockpit is the first upholstered piece installed on the car.
Six assembly stations are complete.
The car'sjourney down the line isjust beginning,
with the most challenging assembly processes ahead.
Porsche's mega 91 1 factory in Stuttgart, Germany,
has 1 1 7 assembly stations.
Down the line, at station 1 8,
the assembly area's only robot installs the windscreen.
First, it applies glue to the inside of the glass.
This robot works in the dark because of its infrared sensors,
which help it position the windscreen to tolerances within half a millimetre.
Station 30.
lf the 91 1 coming down the line is a G T3,
this is where technicians install the prominent rear wing.
Aeroplanes use wings to create lift, enabling the aircraft to fly.
The G T3's wing is angled to do the opposite,
to keep the car on the ground.
The faster a car goes, the more Iift it creates,
and we have to overcome that Iift and push the car down on the street again,
because that's what makes the car controIIabIe.
NARRATOR: Just a few stations down the line, station 34,
the name of the 91 1 model is spelled out for the world to see.
Special guides hold the letters in place so they can be stuck onto the car.
Every car moving down the line is destined to be different.
Each is built for a specific customer order,
with a unique set of options.
That means different cars need different parts.
Like the engine line,
the main assembly line also uses a driverless transport system
to bring parts to stations just when they're needed.
But these carts use a visual tracking system
to follow a black stripe on the floor.
The problem is, the line is constantly moving,
threatening to leave the cart and its parts behind.
The solution is simple, to link the carts to the moving line.
Two stations down, at station 55...
Two of those parts on a cart are the radiators.
The 91 1 's two radiators are installed in front of the car.
Hoses cycle coolant to the rear, where the engine will be located.
The engine that those radiators will cool arrives on the assembly floor
near the halfway point on the line.
Technicians connect the engine and transmission to a pre-assembly
that also includes the suspension, brakes and axles.
lt's all in advance of the most dramatic moment on the line,
the marriage of the power train and body.
The Porsche 91 1 is famous for both its iconic shape
and its rear-mounted flat six-cylinder engine.
Now, at Porsche's mega factory in Stuttgart, Germany,
that body and engine are about to come together midway down the assembly line,
at station 61.
The joining of the body and power train assembly is called a marriage.
lt's a major moment on the line.
The entire car that's been built up coming down the line
is now bolted to the suspension and power train.
Even so, it's like any other station on the line.
Technicians must accomplish the task in about five minutes.
The 91 1 's engine is in place, although many would say in an unusual place.
lt's one of the few cars made today with an engine mounted in the rear.
PREUNINGER: The main advantage of having an engine in the rear of the car
is the traction.
Because the engine sits right on top of the driven wheeI,
it gives you a Iot of traction so you can put a Iot of power to the street
without having to fear for wheel spins, which is not efficient.
NARRATOR: Back on the line at station 77.
The 91 1 may have left the body shop almost 1 7 hours ago,
but it's only now that the body is finished
by adding the bumpers, front and rear.
Technicians also add the tail-lights.
Station 83.
Signs the end of the line is nearing
as fluids for air conditioning, brakes and power steering are added.
But if the end is near, the car will need its wheels and tyres.
They're at station 98.
Tyres are fitted to the wheels just before installation.
All five lug nuts are torqued at once.
Unless it's a 91 1 G T3. lts wheels use a special centre lock.
The centre-lock system is used on racing cars
because it allows for faster tyre changes.
Porsche is the first company that offers the centre-Iock wheeI
on a street-IegaI car.
NARRATOR: The factory uses a special tool
just to torque the centre locks on G T3 wheels.
With wheels in place, the cars seem ready to roll, but not quite.
At the next station down, station 99,
the hard tops get their rear side window.
Something the 91 1 has had since 1 964.
lf the car heading into station 1 03 is a cabriolet,
it's still missing one crucial piece, the soft top.
The 91 1 cabriolet's soft top opens and closes in just 20 seconds.
The end of the line is approaching.
Station 1 1 0.
The doors that came off at the very beginning of the line
now get put back on.
And at station 1 1 3, workers install the last major parts, the upholstered seats.
Now the car is fuelled with more than 1 8 litres of petrol.
Then it's started for the first time.
The first roll test simulates a bumpy road.
Then another roll test takes the car up to speeds of 1 20 kilometres per hour.
The final inspection takes about two hours.
Then the cars leave the factory.
A transporter will now take them to a shipping depot
where they'll eventually end up at dealerships around the world.
For more than 40 years,
Porsche's Stuttgart factory has been turning out cars with this iconic shape.
Just as the 91 1 has evolved,
so have the factory's manufacturing processes.
But if workers from the past could see almost half a century into the future,
they might be surprised to find today's workers building a car
that looks remarkably similar.
Any generation of workers on the production line
can take pride knowing they have built
one of the world's most famous sports cars
more than 40 years running.
Porsche's factory in Stuttgart, Germany, is a mega factory.