FAMOUS CARS & HORSES
The first cars were known as horseless carriages, but there was little to identify which make was which in the early days. As such, badges and other points of recognition were duly introduced to help distinguish the various marques as they evolved. Without doubt, when it comes to car badges, the prancing horse of Ferrari has to be one of the easiest to recognize, although few realize how this now-famous trademark came into being.

After winning one particular race in 1923, Enzo Ferrari was approached by Count Enrico Baracca, who congratulated the young racer on his sterling drive. Ultimately, Ferrari was befriended by the Baracca family, and the insignia that the Count’s son had used on his WWI fighter plane (a trophy from one particular dogfight with a man proud of his Stuttgart roots) was adopted by him – a Cavallino Rampante, which Ferrari duly placed on a yellow shield (the colour representing the city of Modena), with the Italian flag across the top.

It's ironic that a German coat of arms should come to symbolize an Italian vehicle, but such is life! The same coat of arms does crop up again on a German car, however, albeit in a later design format introduced just before the Second World War. Look closely at the centre of the Porsche badge, and there it is again, Ferry Porsche using the Stuttgart city insignia as a starting point for the crest he designed whilst talking in a restaurant in the early fifties.

Courtesy Bugatti

My favourite of all the car and horse-related design links, though, is that surrounding the Bugatti marque. 

Ettore Bugatti was notoriously passionate about horses, keeping them himself, and often seen wandering around his factory in riding gear. Not satisfied with a simple badge to show his love for our four-legged friends, coming from an artistic family, Ettore used the image of a horseshoe for his signature radiator grille surrounds, while pre-war adverts and catalogues rather fittingly described the exotic Bugatti creations as 'Le Pur-Sang des Automobiles' - wording that translates into English as the thoroughbred of automobiles.

Tomorrow, it's back to horses proper, as Mistoffelees takes to the starting gate for his second race, lining up against 15 other Thoroughbreds in Nagoya. Watch this space...