The guy who invented bmw

When Rosche retired in , he had helped build most of those icons and taken BMW to Formula 1 twice. I'd tell you more, but I'd rather point you to the work of another man I admire.

The story he wrote holds passages like this:. That stamp is one of technical superiority and personal modesty. Whenever he is complimented on his achievements, his first reaction is usually a sheepish grin and a shrug of the shoulders.

How much horsepower was there? Surer persisted. Mostly due to the thread that seems to run through every machine the brand spit out in the last century. They were honest things, far from perfect but developed around a central philosophy: Create an incredible engine, bolt it to a frame that wants more power than you give, and tweak the whole package to be sharper and more durable than anyone would think. Trust the driver to make proper use of that, and don't water down your work for idiots.

The byproducts were things like DTM cars with license plates, but also an emotional gut-punch that never wavered over decades of evolution. And Rosche indirectly pulled me into this business. For a short while after college, I was a full-time BMW mechanic. That gig taught me many things, chiefly that I was too in love with wrenching to ever do it on a clock. But where do they come from?

Read on as we explain the origin of each nickname and what it all has to do with motorcycle racing. Activate push notifications Innovative mobility, exciting trends for the future and high RPMs: Subscribe now to get notified of new content. Activate Activated Subscription successful. Subscription failed. How does this sound? Automotive Life Motorsports Performance Travel. How beemer gave rise to bimmer. That blue and white? Those are the national colors of the German state of Bavaria , not white propellers on a blue sky or whatever you've heard.

I'm not saying saying it doesn't look incredible when affixed to the nose cone of a propeller, but, again, that's pure marketing fantasy. Draw your own conclusions. After its second-place finish in WWI, Germany was prohibited from producing warplanes and warplane engines, as mandated by the Treaty of Versailles. With its business interests slashed almost all the way down to motorcycles, the company sought to diversify. It was a hit. The Dixi was actually an English Austin.

In America, Bantam built the same car. In Japan it was a Datsun. Austin designed and built the chassis to be used under license around the world, and several companies jumped at the chance to avoid the inherent development costs associated with making a car. That said, BMW's first dealership in Berlin was much, much nicer than its global competitors'.

Yes, this motorcycle is essentially a death trap -- really, how do you dismount in an emergency without decapitating yourself in the process -- but it was aerodynamically slick, and supercharged. In , this thing was capable of But again, the bodywork covered the rider. Go big or don't go home, I guess? This Kamm Coupe named after the father of German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm was decades ahead of its time, aerodynamically. If it looks familiar, that's because Shelby American, Inc.

It's called a Kammback, and plenty of cars today, from Priuses Prii? OK, BMW didn't exactly invent sidecar racing -- the concept of leaning out of a sidecar to improve cornering ability during a race dates almost as far back as the concept of sidecars themselves.

But BMW's riders were evidently born with a serious problem with their amygdalas. Case in point: this nutter's not even wearing facial protection other than goggles. Smelling blood, Mercedes' parent company Daimler-Benz mounted a Gordon Gekko-style hostile takeover attempt. It got Even the lowliest mechanics helped buy back shares. Eventually, a man by the name of Quandt took control; his family still owns a large chunk of the company today. This remains the major skirmish of the intense rivalry between Mercedes and BMW.

BMW and Lambo agreed in the s to build a race car. The Germans were supposed to provide the engine and some suspension bits, and the Italians were slated for the rest of the mid-engined beauty, penned by the incomparable Giugiaro. At the eleventh hour, ostensibly for financial reasons, Lamborghini pulled out in one of the biggest that's what she said moments in corporate history.

Forget the BMW-slash-Lamborghini origin for a second.