Thirty-four years ago today, what is arguably the ultimate tagline in the automotive world was first registered in the United States. On May 31, 1983, German car maker Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (“Bavarian Motor Works,” or “BMW” for short) was granted U.S. Registration No. 1240182 for the mark THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE for “automobiles.” Debuting in 1975, the slogan quickly gained worldwide fame and became synonymous with BMW’s brand identity, helping to sell a generation’s worth of cars. While opinions may differ as to whether BMW actually makes the ultimate driving machines, it is beyond dispute that THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE has been one of the most successful advertising slogans in the history of the automobile. The famous tagline is still in use today, and Registration No. 1240182 remains in force.

By Zanitycomau (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.