What car you drive says a lot about you - it's not just the brand or marquee, but how you care and look after your wheels too. As soon as the car was developed in the late 19th Century, the public became fascinated with this speedy mode of personal transport, but it was not until 1913 and the introduction of the Model T that the mass market began to see more and more automobiles on the road and for the first time, was able to buy one themselves. As soon as general consumers could afford a car, then the marketing and sales people realized they had to ensure their product was differentiated from all the rest.
Immediately it was seen that a car which did well on the racing circuits not only attracted fans and followers, but also the generally available models in the range bearing the same marquee also did well. Louis Chevrolet was a famous race car driver in the early 20th Century - a deal was struck to use his name for a range of cars which grew into the car company we know today - Chevrolet.
The marquee became an important symbol of the car itself, especially for race and rally car manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz is one of the most important brands in the market today, as well as in the development of the car itself in historical terms. The Benz marquee is a three pointed star (seen on Mercedes cars today) and represents the use and application of the motor developed by Gottlieb Daimler for use on land, sea and air. Daimler engines bore the design until Mercedes added the wreath (to represent race car victory) and the Mercedes marquee was born.
Rolls Royce emerged as a luxury car builder in the UK, specializing in hand crafted cars and luxurious interiors with elegant design. The marquee is a stylized double-R - not very original but universally recognized, and notable as Rolls Royce have never seriously attempted to sell or market their vehicles based on a race car pedigree. They simply sold to the British aristocracy and became even more successful when the British Royal family selected them for supplying cars for them.
Closer to home, General Motors introduced the Pontiac brand, with a distinctive Indian Chief with headdress, in 1926 (the Indian was dropped in 1956). This brand was to act as a sister marquee to General Motors Oakland Motor Car range of vehicles. The Pontiac name was used earlier than this however, as in 1906 the original company was known as the Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works. Pontiac has been selected as one of the several brands which are being phased out by GM leaving only four remaining brands in the line-up - Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC.
The Italian manufacturers sprang to prominence because of the number of race car victories they enjoyed. All the major manufacturers established racing teams and competed heavily - Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo. The Bugatti has two marques - a stylized "EB" with the E reversed, and the other is a graphical Bugatti inside a red oval. Both of the marques refer to the founder and chief designer - Ettore Bugatti. Ferrari adopted the prancing horse on a yellow background, but also adopted only one color for their cars - Ferrari red. Enzo Ferrari would not produce a car in any other color and so red has become synonymous with Ferrari in much the same way black is synonymous with the Model T Ford.
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