Cars That Saved Their Companies From Disappearing

Fortunately, some intelligent guys were creative and wise enough to understand the automotive world and what customers need. Now, check out some of the most important vehicles that saved their brands  from the claws of bankruptcy.

BMW 700 - Yep, long ago, before the days of colossal kidney grilles, social media hate, and M cars, BMW was quite the ordinary manufacturer. In the late 1950s, the German company was struggling after some poor-selling models like the 501, 503, or the 507.

But, in 1959, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW revealed the 700 models, which used a rear-mounted 697 cc parallel-twin engine inspired by BMW motorcycles. In addition, it used a monocoque structure, making it way better to drive. BMW went on to sell almost 188,000 models before production ended in 1965. It's crazy to think that without the 700, BMW would not be a thing today.

Porsche Boxster - Many of you might say that the Cayenne was the savior of the Stuttgart automaker. However, Porsche would have never been able to build the Cayenne if it hadn't been for the small Boxster.

Currently, Porsche is the most profitable brand in the Volkswagen group. It goes so far that if there's a chip shortage, the production of Golf and Tiguan are stopped to ensure that there are enough semiconductors for Porsches models. However, back in the 1990s, Porsche was in the mud.

The iconic 911 was a slow sell, and their entry-level models like the 944 weren't precisely strong sellers either. To stay alive, they even build performance vehicles for competing brands, the most known being the Audi RS2 Avant and the Mercedes-Benz 500E.

Porsche needed a Messiah and needed one fast. And it came straight from Heaven. An affordable roadster that draws inspiration from legendary models like the 550 spider and the 356 cabriolet, with many parts shared with 911. Together with an improved production line, Porsche finally managed to cut the production costs of its operation.

At the same time, the Boxster offered you everything you would expect from a Porsche, performance, handling and build quality. All these improvements saved the German brand a lot of money, which was later invested into developing Porsche's most successful model ever, the Cayenne.

Bentley Continental GT - Before 2003, Bentley was selling around 1,000 cars a year. Volkswagen bought the British brand to save it from disappearing. After a few years, VW came up with the Continental GT, a twin-turbo 6.0-liter W12-engined car with a sleek coupe look. Before the car was launched, 3,000 customers had already put down deposits for the new Bentley.

Remember when I said the British automaker was selling around 1,000 cars a year? Well, in its first year alone, the GT increased Bentley sales to almost 7.000 units. With a total of 40,000 models leaving the production line, we could say that VW saved Bentley and made it the successful brand today.

Lamborghini Gallardo - Before being owned by VW, Lamborghini was a company that always had some problems. After just nine years, Ferruccio Lamborghini sold the majority of the company.

Since 1972, six different owners had tried and failed to make the brand profitable. In 1997, before the German takeover, Lamborghini was selling the least amount of cars in the past 30 years.

But, when Volkswagen came in, it was an immediate turnaround. They first introduced a new flagship model, the Murcielago. It was not an entry-level supercar, so VW knew it wouldn't be a big moneymaker. That role was reserved for the V10 Gallardo, a smaller, more affordable supercar.

In its first year alone, Lambo sold 900 of them, an instant record for the brand. By the end of its ten years of production life, no less than 14,022 Lamborghini Gallardos were sold, which is more than all the others Lamborghinis that went before it combined.

This is the first part of a list that includes iconic cars that saved historic car brands from dissolving. Stay tuned for the second part!