Zooming In On Car Badges No.2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

In 1913 Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin formed 'Bamford & Martin Ltd', but in 1914 a rebranding of the name occurred and 'Aston Martin' emerged from one of Lionel Martin's successes at the Aston Hill Climb in Buckinghamshire, England. The first Aston Martin was built a year later and the first logo appeared: "A" and "M" were merged in black, inside a black double-line circle. As the company was only interested in producing high-specification luxury models, a more prestigious design appeared in 1927 with its name etched into a double wing. The logo has been refined over the years so there is a British Racing Green background for the name and the double wing has been etched in silver and black, luxurious colours with the wing being a traditional symbol of speed and freedom. The similarity of the Aston Martin logo to the Bentley logo is unlikely to be a coincidence.

This question was shaken but not stirred into the quiz by Phoenix Rising Team member 1nn1

Answer: Buick

Buick was named for its founder, David Dunbar Buick. He was an American born in Scotland and his family's coat of arms was the inspiration to one of Buick's logos, the shield. The shield started with a red background, gold stag, gold cross and a blue and silver diagonal line running from upper left to bottom right of the shield.

In the 1960s and in honor of Buick's three models, LeSabre, Invicta and Electra, the shield changed from one to three. Buick started producing the Skyhawk in 1975 and began using a hawk on its logo. When "Happy" the hawk mascot retired in the 1980s, Buick reverted back to the tri-shield logo.

Buick was the flagship of General Motors when it was first founded in 1908.

Jaknginger's Buick Enclave has a tri-shield logo. It consists of three shields, red, silver and blue. The shields are outlined in silver.

Answer: Neptune's trident

With Maserati being of Italian origin, hopefully, you recognised that Neptune was the only Roman god in that list. The Maserati brothers commenced operations in 1914. Initially, there were seven brothers, however, Carlo, who was a test plot was killed in 1910. One other, Mario, wasn't interested in the car game but it was his contribution to the family's legacy that would endure for decades. You guessed it, it was Mario that put his artistic talents to work and created their vehicle's emblem. First appearing in 1926, along with the brother's first vehicle, the Tipo 26, Mario drew inspiration from the large statue of Neptune that sat in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore. Bologna was the home of the Maserati and it was also the site of their first factory. The factory would later shift to Modena. The trident is supposed to represent Neptune's domination over the seas and the oceans of the world and Maserati's dominance over all that is in between.

Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 decided to take a stab at this question. He has never owned a trident but has had vehicles with three dents in them (often more).

Answer: Signs of the Zodiac

Abarth is the racing arm of Fiat. and the car badges are adorned by a scorpion. The scorpion is the zodiac sign of founder Carlo Abarth. The badge also displays the colours of the Italian flag, and the background is the red of the national racing colours of Italy.

Lamborghini is an Italian supercar which carries the badge depicting a bull. As well as representing the car's power, it also depicts Feruccio Lamborghini's astrological sign of Taurus. In 1962 he visited a ranch in Spain, that bred Miura bulls, used in bull fighting, which also inspired the design.

Although she wouldn't turn her nose up at an Abarth, smpdit has always been a little in love with a Lamborghini, it has just never been in her stars.

Answer: Aircraft propeller

Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) was originally Rapp Motorenwerke which was an aircraft engine manufacturer. The Rapp company was renamed in 1917 and a logo was developed. Historically, the logo started from Rapp's black circular company logo then add some BMW flair! They divided the circle in quadrants of blue and white representing the Bavarian flag.

In 1929, a BMW ad for its new aircraft engine pictured an airplane with a rotating propeller. The letters BMW could plainly be seen in the propeller. It was not until 1942 that BMW used an airplane propeller as an ad prop again with BMW emblazoned on the whirring propeller. So although it didn't start with a propeller in 1917, because the company actually used the propeller in later years and continued the use of airplane ads in the 1940s, the propeller is considered to be the original circle on the longstanding logo.

BMW started as an aircraft engine manufacturer, then began building motorcycles in the 1920s after WWI. The company built its first automobiles in 1928.

This question flew to life by jaknginger.

Answer: Guard tower

As the manufacturer was named after one of the architectural marvels of the world, it is appropriate that one of the Great Wall's famous guard towers has been utilised as the company's logo. It symbolizes power and growth. The image is three dimensional which gives it sharpness and a sense of dynamism while its silver grey colouring keeps it modern.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who often claims that he is one of the architectural marvels of the world.

Answer: False

Look closely you will see that there are eleven feathers on the right wing and only ten on the left. Why? The best that I could find is that designer, Frederick Gordon Crosby, a professional artist, had forgers in mind when he created it, and hoped they wouldn't notice. The wings, however, were used for two reasons; the first was to link the vehicle to the company's heritage, which was a manufacturer of aircraft parts when it was first built. It was only after World War I was over that they saw the potential for greater growth in the luxury car market. The second was a nod to Walter Bentley's "dream of reaching the skies". The colour scheme used is an important part of the badge as well. White defines the purity of the brand, black is elegance and silver is for sophistication and creativity.

This question was bent into shape by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Boat

'Rover' means 'wanderer' or 'seafarer' so it seems reasonable to include a Viking longboat prow, head on, as the logo as a nod to the most famous seafarers.

Lada's badge features a sideways boat with sails. 'Lada' is Russian for a small river-going boat and the badge bears some resemblance to a stylised Viking longboat.

smpdit steered this question into place.

Answer: Infiniti

A lemniscate is a figure-eight shaped curve. Infiniti, the luxury division of Nissan established in 1989, adopted as its emblem a stylized version of the infinity symbol (a figure eight on its side). It features two central lines meeting at a point inside a horizontal oblong, symbolizing a highway leading to the infinite horizon. It also represents Mount Fuji, Japan's highest mountain, at once calling to mind the company's national origin and signifying the pinnacle of quality.

This question was designed and manufactured by Phoenix Rising member JCSon.

Answer: Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. In 2014, Mitsubishi Motors was the sixth biggest Japanese automobile manufacturer and the 16th in the world. In 2016, Nissan became the majority stockholder of Mitsubishi and therefore became a member of the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

The company's name was derived from two Japanese words: "mitsu" meaning 'three' and 'hishi' meaning a diamond. The three rhombuses meet at a single point to form the Mitsubishi logo, which is known as the "three diamonds" emblem. The logo symbolizes "integrity, reliability and success". According to the manufacturer's website these are "three important traits that help Mitsubishi gain credibility and the trust of its thousands of customers".


This question was written by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who is a bit of a rough diamond, that certainly does not sparkle.