The 21mph, electric engine, 3 hp Porsche - PHOTO+VIDEO

But this vehicle, resembling a wooden crate on wheels, was the first car ever designed by the founder of Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, when he was 22 years old in 1898.The model, released more than 30 years before the Porsche brand was founded in 1931, was recently discovered in an Austrian garage, where it had remained untouched since 1902.The P1 model, short for ‘Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton model’, has now been put on permanent display at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany.Mr Porsche designed the model for car maker Jacob Lohner.According to Automobile magazine, the model weighed 287 lbs, had wooden wheels and, with a 12-speed control unit, could make speeds of up to 21mph when in overdrive mode.The P1, with a 1,100-lb battery pack, also had an impressive electric range of 49 miles.The model even managed to win a 40km (25-mile) race between electric vehicles in Berlin in 1899 – by a margin of 18 minutes. More than half of the competitors failed to cross the finish line.The vehicle was one of the first to be registered in Austria, according to Porsche, and took to the streets of Vienna in June 1898.Another unique feature of the model at the time was that, because of its alternating vehicle body, it could be used in summer and winter.The P1 model will be unveiled to the public this weekend to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Porsche Museum.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az