BMW: The Fighter Engine Company That Was Banned From Building Engines — So It Built Cars

Everyone thinks the BMW badge is a spinning propeller. It's not. But the real story is stranger: BMW was born as a World War One fighter-engine company, got banned by law from building engines after the Treaty of Versailles, reinvented itself as a motorcycle maker and then a carmaker, got invited back into aircraft engines under the Nazi regime, and was banned again after World War Two. This is how a company forbidden twice from its own purpose became one of the most valuable car brands on earth. What you'll learn in this video: Why BMW's very first product wasn't a car, it was a high-altitude fighter engine The engineering philosophy behind the BMW IIIa that let it out-breathe every rival at altitude How the Treaty of Versailles legally outlawed BMW's entire business overnight Why BMW's second product was a motorcycle, the R32, and what it has in common with a WWI aircraft engine The uncomfortable truth about BMW's use of forced labor during World War Two How BMW nearly got sold to Mercedes-Benz in 1959, and who stopped it The true origin of BMW's roundel, and why the propeller myth exists at all Machine Titans covers the engineering history behind the machines that shaped the last century. If you like documentaries about the companies and engineers history forgot, subscribe for more. #BMW #BMWHistory #CarHistory #AviationHistory #EngineeringHistory #Documentary #AutomotiveHistory #WW1History #WW2History