Car Logo Story

Infiniti is the luxury division of automaker Nissan. In order to develop US luxury car market, Nissan began to produce the Infiniti luxury line of cars in 1989; it received a shaky start due to the marketing missteps that emphasized nature and "the art of Zen" instead of focusing on the automobile itself.

As a turnaround, Nissan adjusted its marketing plan with a better advertising campaign that focused on vehicles' luxury appointment and performance. Now, Infiniti has become one of the most popular luxury cars in the world.

The Infiniti logo is simple, abstract and meaningful. It is derived from the symbol for infinity; not surprisingly, the Infiniti people's pursuit for real luxury car experience and high level custom satisfaction is infinite. The ellipse curve symbols for an infinite road to produce better car and the whole world; the triangle top in the middle suggest Mt. Fuji which tells where they come from, and their efforts to pursue for the summit.

Another Japanese brand. It is the luxury vehicle division of Honda. The brand has been available in the North America since 1986. My favorite Acura model is 2012 Acura MDX; it has a handsome profile, especially the header; the clear sense of line and the sharp logo, really handsome!

Acura is derived from Latin "acu" which means accurate. At the very beginning, Acura introduced under the slogan, "Acura. Precision Crafted Performance." It had a name, but didn't have a logo; as business developed, it was time to provide the visual presence to the slogan; in order to catch up with the slogan, caliper was adopted as the logo original, because caliper is the measure tool of engineer which symbolizes accuracy. Everyone was satisfied with the design except for the leader-Soichiro Honda. He proposed that just like logo H represent for Honda, Acura should be represented by shape A logo; so he add a little "-" in the caliper. Thus, the shape of caliper didn't change, and it is also a capital letter-A. It suggests the accurate spirit of Acura.

@ is a common character in our life, and interestingly, if you change letter a to a capital one in @, it is the logo of Acura.

BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (English: Bavarian Motor Works). BMW is a world famous car manufacturer that produces automobile, motorcycle and engine.

To understand BMW logo, you have to know something about Bavaria at first. Located in the southeast of Germany, Bavaria is a one of the oldest states of Europe. Previously, Bavaria was a kingdom, so it has its own national flag-the blue and white panel flag. The designer took inspiration from Bavaria flag, he chose blue and white as the colors and placed at the center of the BMW logo to symbolize Bavaria State, the company name was placed in a black circle. Not until the late 1920s was the logo had a new interpretation as a rotating propeller, it represents the company started as an aircraft engine manufacturing firm; the colors also suggest sky and cloud, which refers to the long history of the brand.

Everyone recognize the three pointed star, but not everyone familiar with the stories behind the logo.

The company was founded by life-long business partners Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Mercédès--a Spanish girl's name meaning 'grace'-- is the name of Maybach's elder daughter, while the Benz came as a result of a merger with Benz & Cie in 1926.

The Mercedes-Benz logo consists of a simple depiction of a three-pointed star. The three-pointed star was supposed to symbolize Daimler's ambition of universal motorization - "on land, on water and in the air"

Porsche is the car brand that so many people dream about. It is a German holding company that focused on sports cars and SUVs.

The Porsche badge is essentially the coat of arms of the city of Stuttgart, which was built on the site of a stud farm, hence the horse. Stuttgart has had horses in its coat of arms in varying designs since the 14th century. Through the use of the steed and the word 'Stuttgart', the team at Porsche was giving a clear sign of the bond they felt with the town in which they were based; so there is a black horse in the middle of the logo. The antlers and red-and-black stripes are part of the arms of the Kingdom of Wurttemberg. The whole logo looks like an ancient shield which symbolizes the history of the brand.

Ferrari is one of my favorite car brands. Every time I saw a red Ferrari rush over the line in F1, the prancing horse appeared in my mind. Enzo Ferrari told the story of the prancing horse logo just once:

"The horse was painted on the fuselage of the fighter plane of Francesco Baracca - a heroic airman of the First World War. In '23, I met count Enrico Baracca, the hero's father, and then his mother, Countess Paulina, who said to me one day, 'Ferrari, put my son's prancing horse on your cars. It will bring you good luck'. The horse was, and still is, black, and I added the canary yellow background which is the color of Modena."- ENZO FERRARI

The prancing horse means speed, passion, courage and victory.

Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. Like many of the car logos, Maserati is the name of the founder. Rodolfo Maserati and his wife produced seven sons between 1881 and 1898, 5 brothers were all involved with automobiles; the only Maserati brother that wasn't particularly passionate for cars and engineering, Mario, was the one that created the Maserati logo. Mario is a painter; he took inspiration from of traditional symbol of Bologna-Neptune's trident; basing its design on the Neptune's statue at Bologna's Piazza Maggiore, he composed the logo by a red trident above a blue base, which symbolizes the vast power of Neptune. After more than 70 years' development, Maserati is the brand of excellence, eternity and honor.

Bentley is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley. Bentley shares some similarities with BMW; it also produced aircraft engine during World War I.

Bentley logo is design according to the first letter of the name-B; and the B has a pair of wings. Just like a flying eagle, the logo symbolizes powerful force. It is the perfect combination of noble, classic and comfort.

Every car has a logo, and every logo has its own story and meaning. The above 8 car logos are my favorite ones; each of them left deep impression in my memory. The logo maker extracts the best features of car and combines them with its history; that's why those classic works not only tell who they are, but also where they come from and what they can do.