The History of Supercar Names and Logos - Part Two

Jaguar

Jaguar cars were rebranded in 1945 from the Swallow Sidecar Company who started in 1922 in Blackpool in the North East of England. Unfortunately for the company, they used the initials ‘SS’ for their cars which took on a whole different connotation during World War II. To avoid the negative connotations of using SS, the company took the name of one of their most successful cars, the SS Jaguar 2.5 deciding this helped convey speed and power, the qualities they wanted for the main company brand.

The new Jaguar Ltd car manufacturer used a leaping Jaguar as their main logo to emphasise the dynamic qualities of their cars. In the 1980s Jaguar also introduced a face on ‘growler’ logo to use alongside the main logo. This used a snarling, more aggressive icon to use on the grills of supercars.

Maserati

Maserati is another manufacturer named after the founder, in this case Alfieri Maserati, along with his brothers Ettore and Ernesto who formed the company Bologna in 1914. Originally just focusing on parts such as spark plugs, they didn’t produce their first car, the Tipo until 1926. The Tipo was a 1.5 racing model which Maserati used in local motorsport events. Building on the great successes they had during these early events, they went on to produce winning cars throughout the 1930s.

The trident used on the logo was chosen because in Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore sits the Fountain of Neptune, a famous local landmark. The Maserati brothers wanted to symbolise Neptune’s strength and fortitude and reference their hometown. The logo was conceived and designed by another brother, Mario Maserati, who has very little to do with the automotive company having studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan to become a painter.

McLaren

The McLaren supercars were developed in 1992, long after the McLaren founder Bruce McLaren had died in a testing accident at Goodwood in 1970. Predominantly a F1 team until the introduction of the road cars, McLaren are now one of the leading supercar manufacturers in the UK, known for their cutting edge technology and innovation.

Bruce McLaren was originally from New Zealand, so the early racing cars had a kiwi on the badge. In 1980, McLaren merged with Project Four, a racing team owned and operated by Ron Dennis. Project Four Racing were sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes and their red and white colour scheme heavily influenced the new brand adopted by the new organisation. In 1997 McLaren introduced the ‘speedmark’ symbol and produced a bespoke typeface to use as a logo. Recently, the F1 team have moved away from the red and white and returned to an orange, which was used by Bruce McLaren on his early racing cars.

Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz has a story that goes back to the very first combustion engines, with Karl Benz widely thought of as being the first to put what we would recognise as an internal combustion engine into a car. The early companies involved were DMG (Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft) founded in 1890 and Benz & Cie founded in 1883. The Mercedes name was actually originally a DMG car model and was then used as the main brand when DMG and Benz merged in 1926.

In 1926, the newly formed Daimler-Benz AG manufacturing company advanced the Mercedes-Benz brand and developed the 3 point star logo we see today. The star was originally a symbol used by Daimler, supposedly inspired by a drawing on a postcard sent from the father of the Daimler founders marking their home. It was chosen as the brand identity to symbolise the brand’s commitment to producing high quality products for land, sea and air and was positioned within a wreath circle, which was originally part of the first Benz logo.

Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche founded Porsche in Stuttgart, Germany in 1931 but they didn’t produce their first car, the Porsche 356, until after the war in 1948. Ferdinand Porsche has a well documented and controversial war record including membership of the Nazi party and as an officer in the Schutzstaffel (commonly known as the SS). Fortunately for Porsche, his expertise in automotive engineering was considered valuable and talented engineers and industrialists were seen as crucial to the effort in rebuilding the German post war economy.

As Porsche began to become a success, there was the need to introduce a logo which would represent the brand. In 1952 Porsche unveiled their now iconic shield design. A customer had originally set up a competition to design the new logo, but none of the entries were deemed good enough. Instead, an Austrian car importer based in the US, Max Hoffman suggested to Ferry Porsche, the son of Ferdinand Porsche, during a dinner to celebrate the success of the 356 in the US that they consider using a logo that reflected the company's roots. Porsche drew inspiration from the Stuttgart city seal and the flag of Württemberg-Baden, the newly formed state in which Stuttgart resided. The flag is itself a blend of the red stripe on a golden field from Baden and the three deer antlers from Württemberg and was combined with the rearing horse, from the Stuttgart city seal, representative of the city’s history as a centre of horse breeding from the mediaeval period.

Range Rover

Rover was a UK manufacturer producing family cars dating back to 1878 until their merger with British Leyland in 1967 which brought many struggling UK car companies under one organisation. Despite the chaotic nature of the UK car industry at the time, Rover introduced the first Range Rover in 1970, a development of their brutal but brilliant off-road vehicle, the Land Rover. The Land Rover was often seen as a tool rather than an aspirational car but by introducing the Range Rover to a more middle class customer wanting a luxury SUV, they started a whole new market in and of itself.

Years of underinvestment and systemic problems plagued the UK car industry throughout the 70s and 80s and the Rover Group was eventually acquired by British Aerospace in 1988 in the hope the move would secure British jobs and exploit the success of the Range Rover. However, the now named MG Rover Group was then sold to BMW in 1994 who then sold Ford the Land Rover and Range Rover brands.

MG Rover itself, after being sold to BMW and then a UK investment consortium, would eventually go into administration in 2005.

The Land Rover and Range Rover brands, with help and investment from Ford would go from strength to strength until their sale to the Tata Group in 2008, who also acquired the Jaguar brand and formed Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

The simple Land Rover logo was designed to present the brand as a no nonsense, no frills serious vehicle. The text can be seen in combination with a zig-zag line designed to represent the different road and off-road terrains the cars excel with. It has gone through various refinements, but still retains this core simplicity.

Rolls Royce

One of the bastions of luxury supercars was formed in 1904 when Charles Rolls and Henry Royce teamed up to produce high quality cars. Rolls, a car dealer and aviator and Royce, a talented engineer and manufacturer were perfectly suited and quickly gained acclaim for their cars' superior engineering and reliability.

Rolls Royce famously have two icons to symbolise their brand, their double R logo and the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. The main logo has always included the double R in some form. The very first logo included a lioness for bravery, a seahorse and wings and an early image of the Spirit of Ecstacy.

The Spirit of Ecstacy was the result of a competition won by British sculptor Charles Sykes to produce a unique mascot to adorn the best Rolls Royce cars. Spirit is a graceful, ethereal figure capturing the elegance of the brand. It was originally called ‘The Whisperer’, the mascot became an icon in its own right and is sought after by collectors the world over.