How did Lamborghini get started?

Ferruccio Lamborghini, a major Italian tractor manufacturer, loved luxury cars. He owned quite a few brands such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Mercedes Benz, but his most beloved cars were Ferraris. He purchased several of them over his lifetime despite a slight dissatisfaction with them. He thought they were just track cars repurposed for the road and found them inelegant.

After having the clutch on his latest Ferrari fixed one too many times, Lamborghini brought his complaints straight to Enzo Ferrari himself. Enzo Ferrari, a man known for his arrogance, told Ferrucio that the problem was not with the car but rather with the 'farmer'.

After being insulted, Ferruccio was furious and at that moment decided to show Enzo how he should build sport cars. Ferrucio went back to his factory, had his Ferrari's clutch dismantled and realized that the clutch manufacturer was the same who supplied the clutches for his tractors. In his warehouse he found a spare part which he thought suitable, and when it was installed the problem was solved. That gave him the inspiration to start his own car line to rival Ferrari’s.

Had Enzo Ferrari a little less pride and a little more awareness of his customer base, the popular Lamborghini brand may never have existed. Instead, his arrogance lead an influential and resourceful customer turn from a loyal fan into a rabid rival.

Something about German cars

Mercedes-Benz

Founded in 1926 by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler after the merging of their car companies, Daimler-Motored-Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie. The name "Mercedes" came about in 1900 when a wealthy European businessman named Emil Jellinek wanted a faster car with new engine and to be named after his 10-year-old daughter’s name, Mercedes Jellink. The three-pointed stars represent their dominance on land, sea and air.

BMW

BMW or Bavarian Motor Works was founded in 1913 by Karl Friedrich Rapp, an aircraft engine manufacturer and Gustav Otto, a German aircraft manufacturer .Some believed that their logo represents a Bavarian flag which has blue and white cases while others believed that it represents white propeller blades against a blue sky (during World War I, BMW was a major supplier of airplane engines).

Audi

Founded in 1910 by German engineer August Horch, who used to work for Karl Benz. The name came from a son of his business partner, Franz Fikentscher. "Audi" in Latin means "listen", which is "Horch" in German (Horch was August's former company). The four interlinked rings logo represents four car makers Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer when they merged to form Auto Union in 1932.

Volkswagen

Founded in 1937, Volkswagen (German for "People’s Car") was originally a proposal from Adolf Hitler to Ferdinand Porsche, the car designer to design a car that can fit 5 people and deliver speed of 100km/h (62mph). He instructed that the car should look like a May beetle. Later it was found out that Hitler transformed the car into a war vehicle that carries 3 men, a machine gun and ammunition. It was only after the war in 1946 that the Volkswagen finally became the “Peoples Car” after the British took over.

Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche founded Porsche in 1931. Interestingly, he was the engineer for the first Volkswagen created, hence the first Porsche made used machinery from the Volkswagen Beetle. The first model was launched in 1938 and 10 years later the second Porsche was released, the 356. The end of the war saw Porsche participating in motor racing which proved to be highly successful. 1963 saw the launch of the Porsche 911, the most well known model, which is still in production today due to its success by the public and on the race track. The idea for the Porsche emblem came from the founder's son, Ferry Porsche. The 6 antlers in the logo date from the province emblem of Baden-Württemberg.

Images from: http://www.instantshift.com/2010/02/25/22-corporate-brand-logo-evolution-of-automobile-groups/

Why Toyota and not Toyoda?

Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan's largest car maker was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda but ever wonder why the company was named Toyota and not Toyoda?

Back in 1936, in anticipation for the launch for the Model AA, which was Toyota's first passenger car, Toyoda held a public competition to establish a new symbol mark to promote its vehicles. The company indicated that the new design should convey the feeling of speed. Twenty-seven thousand entrants answered the call and submitted their ideas to Toyoda. The winning design led to a change in the name of the automobiles and plants from "Toyoda" to "Toyota." The name change made the Japanese lettering more streamlined and was also chosen because the number of strokes to write Toyota in Japanese (eight) was thought to bring luck and prosperity. The sound of the word "Toyota" was also deemed more appealing.

Source: http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/traditions/nov_dec_04.html