Ferdinand Porsche and Rabe formed a unified entity. With their enormous technical understanding and economically orientated individual motivation of the Porsche employees they succeeded, as a result of their unique, symbiotic partnership, in making the leap from small design office to successful company. With humour and enthusiasm Rabe pushed interest in solving technical problems into the foreground, which helped him raise team spirit. In his managerial role he assumed substantial responsibility for the continued existence of the company during difficult times.

In 1913 he joined Austro Daimler as a seventeen year old and where, by 1919, he had become departmental manager and chief designer. Rabe participated substantially in the development of the Austro Daimler hill-climbing racing car, the ADR.

At Porsche the diligent Rabe, who sat tirelessly at his drawing board, distributed as development manager the numbers of the projects. (rabe führte die entwicklungs-registerliste und gab jedem projekt nummer und namen) Rabe had a tendency towards superstition, which was expressed from the start, in the first development contract. He gave the first contract, from Wanderer, the number seven, in order, on one hand, to win the trust of the customer and, on the other, to make the most of the magical powers of the number seven for the company. Indeed he had a similar motive for jumping development number thirteen.

Within the company he was fondly known as “Father Rabe”, as he directed his warm-hearted personality towards employees and family members equally.

Rabe was awarded the position of honorary senator at the Stuttgart Institute of Technology and was a leading member of the Society for the Research of the Internal Combustion Engine in Frankfurt.

From an official file from post-war Austria it emerged, that Rabe had wanted to become a partner in Porsche – a wish which was not fulfilled.

He remained at Porsche as a consultant until shortly before his death in 1968.