Interesting example, with BMW. Might some say that the Carrera went this same route? Glory . . . lean years . . . glory (if the Cal 1887 is what I think it will be)?

But help me think of a couple that went down, have never come back to their glory, and are still being produced . . . Teac tape recorders? What else?

Jeff

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: BMW is a good example of a company that started small, making aero
: engines. Their first big dip saw them effectively surviving by
: making pneumatic brakes under licence, with the market for aero
: engines and German ones at that having been hit by WWI.

: Motorcycles came along in 1924, rapidly proving a big success. Then
: in the late 20s, they branched out by manufacturing Austin
: Sevens under licence from Austin in the UK as Dixis. Increasing
: German input saw them develop a strong range of sporting cars
: and winning the Mille Miglia with the 328.

: This was then punctuated by WWII and a ban on manufacturing cars
: and motorbikes that BMW this time survived by making bicycles
: and kitchen utensils. Yes, they kept going by making pots and
: pans!

: When car production resumed, they were stuck with large and
: expensive models from 501 to 507 and these didn't provide enough
: volume, so again they went a licencing route and also built
: Isettas - so a range consisting of bubble cars and sporting
: saloons, coupés and convertibles with straight sixes and V8s.
: Not really a sustainable model and they came within a hair's
: breadth of being merged with Daimler Benz in 1959. It would
: hardly have been a merger of equals and unlikely to have
: sustained the BMW brand alongside Mercedes, so probably would
: have been the end of the story.

: The turnaround came with the "Neue Klasse" models
: introduced from 1962. Volume increased more or less annually
: from then on and now BMW are one of the leading
: "premium" manufacturers and also one of the most
: profitable. A couple of wrong turns along the way, like the
: acquisition of Rover, but it's been pretty much up since the
: 60s.