BMW
After the end of World War I in 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty. To remain in business, BMW produced farm equipment, household items and railway brakes. In 1922, former major shareholder Camillo Castiglioni purchased the rights to the name BMW, which led to the company descended from Rapp Motorenwerke being renamed Süddeutsche Bremse AG (known today as Knorr-Bremse). Castiglioni was also an investor in another aircraft company, called "Bayerische Flugzeugwerke", which he renamed BMW.The disused factory of Bayerische Flugzeugwerke was re-opened to produce engines for buses, trucks, farm equipment and pumps, under the brand name BMW. BMW's corporate history considers the founding date of Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (7 March 1916) to be the birth of the company.
When Rover Met BMW
When Rover Met BMW is a 5-part documentary series produced by the BBC in 1996. German motor company BMW had bought Rover in 1994 and the series follows the sometimes fraught relationship between the two. Episode one, "Don't Mention The War", covers the launch of the Rover 200, analyses the press coverage this generated and also shows the reaction to BMW's appointment of a new chairman for Rover. The title of the first episode is a Basil Fawlty quote from the comedy series Fawlty Towers. By the final episode, "Undercover Operations", Rover's chief executive, John Towers, has resigned and BMW have reshuffled the Rover board.