BMW
Founded in Munich to make aircraft engines; motorcycles from 1923 and cars from 1928. The kidney grille came in 1933.
Bayerische Motoren Werke grew out of the aero-engine industry around Munich. When the Treaty of Versailles banned German aero-engine production the company turned to motorcycles, and its first car was a licence-built British small car.
The BMW 328 of 1936 was a light, fast sports car that won many races. After the war the company was saved by the little Isetta bubble car and then by the mid-sized cars of the 1960s, which laid the foundations of today's BMW.
The round blue-and-white logo and the split kidney grille.