Did you ever wonder where the logos and symbols that adorn manufactures automobiles and their auto brochures originated? Below is a history of some of the most famous logos on the market.
Chevrolet- The legend behind the Chevy logo was that Louis Chevrolet saw the shape in a wallpaper pattern in his hotel room during a trip to Paris in 1908. His wife however later debunked that myth when she said that her husband had actually seen a similarly shaped logo in an add in a Sunday supplement and liked it so much he decided to expand on it.
Mercedes Benz- The Mercedes Benz logo "a three pointed star" first appeared in a letter written by Gottlieb Daimler to his wife in 1872. Daimler used a three pointed star to mark the location on a map of his family's new home in Deutz, Germany. His sons later adopted the symbol as the Mercedes Benz logo starting in 1910. Today the Mercedes Benz logo is commonly known to symbolize the use of the company's engines on land, air, and sea.
Maserati- This logo was derived from the statue of Neptune by the Maserati brothers. The statue was located in the central square of Bologna, Italy, where Maserati was originally headquartered. The actual logo was sketched by Mario Maserati, an artist, who also was the only brother never actively involved in the engineering and design of their cars.
Toyota- In 1936 company founder Kiichiro Toyoda ran a contest for ideas for a new Toyoda logo. Out of 20,000 entries the winner was a design of katakana characters that signified a sense of speed. Later the company changed the name from "Toyoda" to "Toyota"because it was more esthetically pleasing and because the number of strokes it took to write it was eight, which in Japan is a lucky number meaning increasing prosperity.
Ferrari- The prancing horse first appeared on airplanes flown by Francesco Baracca, a pilot and war hero in World War I. Baracca died before the war ended but in 1923 the company founder Enzo Ferrari met Francesco's parents who suggested he use their sons prancing horse badge on his cars to pay homage to Francesco. Enzo later added a yellow background which is the official color of his home town of Modena Italy and redesigned the horse's tail to point upward.
Smart Car-The name was actually two words combined. "Swatch" which is a Swiss watch company and partner in the early stages of the company. Mercedes which is the company's current custodian picked the "art" portion of the name. Together the acronym "smart" was born. The logo "C" stands for compact and an arrow to signify forward thinking.
