obscure BMW's ...little quiz

peasant

Here's one (well two actually:D ) for all you Beemer nuts out there:

The 1600 GT



The 3000 V8


Who can name the manufacturer from which these designs were bought (or rather taken over) and who can show a picture of the car(s) that said manufacturer was famous for?

Have fun googling

Owen

Glas was the company, and Frua designs penned the car. The first car Pietro Frua designed that he was famous for was the Fiat 1100.



Of course, if you want a photo of what made Glas famous, here's the Goggomobil :

peasant

That was quick !!

Here's another "Goggo"



The Glas factory, btw, was situated in Dingolfing. That place name should ring a few bells with the beemer afficionados.

Seth Brundle

right then, another few BMW Qs:
1. Who designed the BMW roundel logo?
2. What other company used a similar logo and why?

(reminds me of the quizzes that used to be on here - aah the good old days!!)

peasant

1) no idea

2) this one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frazer_Nash

or that one?

Initially using spare parts, the Eisenach plant continues to build BMW cars for Soviet use, but in 1951 the brand name Eisenacher Motorenwerke (EMW) is introduced. A Soviet joint-stock company called Awtowelo is set up as backer. The factory is nationalised in 1952, and from 1955 it starts production of the 'Wartburg' car brand.

MercMad

Mmm there was also the long established link between BMW and Bristol cars, which made airplanes hence the propellor badge !





......sorry about the sizes !

Seth Brundle

Any takers on Q1?

Peasant is correct on #2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobilwerk_Eisenach & http://www.bmw-werk-eisenach.de/eisenach/index.html?s10&home.htm& (in Deutsch so I have no idea of what it says)

@Merc - not sure but wasn't the Bristol link later on in the company's career? That is a lovely looking 328 there!

TomMc

Bristol acquired the 326 -328 designs in war reparations immediately after WW2. The Bristol 400 resulted around '47 or thereabouts and of course the 401 - 403 from there ... one of the most beautiful Bristols of all time.

peasant

kbannon wrote:

Any takers on Q1?

All I could find so far is a four page pdf (in german) disclaiming the "propeller" myth and saying instead that it simply shows the Bavarian colours blue and white.

It doesn't say though, who exactly designed it ...in 1917 !!

http://www.markenlexikon.com/d_texte/triebel_bmw_logo.pdf

G Luxel

The Glas I600 GT was also built in South Africa.

The design of the blue and white roundel Propeller badge denotes the company's roots in the aircraft industry and has adorned every car since I928.
The company originally produced aircraft engines in Munich and then engines for motorcycles. Eisenach-based Dixi was purchased by them in I928. The first car produced was a licenced copy of the English Austin 7.
In I959 the Quandt brothers purchased a large stake in the company as it was in financial turmoil. Their step father was :mad: Josef Goebbels, Propaganda minister in the Nazi regime....

unkel

kbannon wrote:

Any takers on Q1?

That's a trick question!

I don't think there is an answer except for the official BMW - it was the Bavarian colours vs the legendary airplane propeller against a clear sky

One thing I do know is that BMW never produced an actual aircraft propeller

peasant wrote:

All I could find so far is a four page pdf (in german)

Here's the full article, peasant. A bit more German reading for ya

BTW, how come you understand German?

Seth Brundle

Not a trick Q. I'll leave it here for another while!

Cmar-Ireland

Just want to say that the 3000 V8 is a fantastic looking car....

Seth Brundle

Apparently Franz Josef Popp, chairman of BMWs board of management from 1922 to 1942 designed the logo. It was regestered as a trademark during 1st world war in its original form on 5th October 1917.

unkel

I had a hunch it was either himself or more likely, Rapp, but couldn't find any backup for it

Any link, k?

Seth Brundle

Not really - I was asked years ago and I went around a number of sources asking and this was what was told to me.

unkel

The propeller theory is a myth not started until 1929 :eek:

http://onfinite.com/libraries/849427/2db.jpg
http://onfinite.com/libraries/849428/fec.jpg
http://onfinite.com/libraries/849429/459.jpg
http://onfinite.com/libraries/849430/47e.jpg

So looks like the official BMW story about the Bavarian colours (inverted because of trade mark rules) holds

Doesn't answer who came up with that idea though! Popp was not a German, but an Austrian, so how likely is it that he came up with the idea of the Bavarian flag?

Seth Brundle

When they started making planes in WWI they used the Bavarian colours (Blue & White). This was incorporated into the logo
Im also led to believe that the pic above is from 1917 rather than over a decade later (but I know sweet FA about planes!).

This page also agrees with the WWI idea:

The image has its origins in World War I, when the Bavarian Luftwaffe flew planes painted in Bayern blue and white, affording the pilot a view through his propellor of blue and white segments. This inspired the stylized design.

unkel

kbannon wrote:

Im also led to believe that the pic above is from 1917 rather than over a decade later (but I know sweet FA about planes!)

My knowledge of planes is also non-existent, but the article in my previous post, which seems authoritative, dates the plane as 1929 and specifies the publication the pic was in first

Seems like a bit of advertising spin from BMW at the time