Au contraire:

https://www.fauxhammer.com/featured/...l-paints-2019/

That's not a profession, it's a religion...

What list?

Surprised you didn’t know Mr. K. For some, he’s a God to them. There have been countless article & interview of him.

Not a historian lol I was the same way. Who cares bout who made it, as long as it drive the way I like, who cares. But when I find out bout designer, engineer, test driver & etc personality, you kinda figure out why they did some design or character of the car the way it is.

There’s no right or wrong for this. I just think, it’s fun to know who help develop the car and their goals/ideas from the car.

Haha I’m far from giving the title “special”. Moto-san deserve that title more. Compared to him, I’m a young grasshopper who thinks know everything. Moto-san is LITERALLY automotive database. He knows not only Japanese automotive, but American, European and even some of small Asian automotive histories all the way down to small random detail specs. I’m very bias, so don’t think I’ll ever become like him... but something to try for... maybe

Booo... I'm much more than that.

In the grand scheme of things his contribution to the automotive world is so insignificant.
Off the top of my head I can name much more influential names such as Gianni Agnelli, Lee Iacocca, Bob Lutz, Zora Arkus Duntov, Ettore Bugatti, Harley Earl, Enzo Ferrari, Ferdinand Piech, Akio Toyoda, Soichiro Honda, etc. Nobody is going to mention Tetsuya tada in the same breath unfortunately.

Like Tcoat already mentioned, he's a great middle man tasked with a fun project to over look. If I was managing minivans I would be hella excited to run the 86 project, especially as a car guy.

Is Toyota better with him? Probably, i'm glad there are still "enthusiasts" in such a progressively boring company as Toyota (as it is now).

I'm no slouch when it comes to motorsports history, especially from the F1/GP/sports racer/rally era from the late 50s until the mid 80s... That said, corporate engineers just aren't terribly memorable people, in the grand scheme of things. Lead engineer for the E30 M3? No idea. Ur-Quattro, Lancia Delta S4, Stratos, Porsche 956/962/959...all landmark cars made famous by legendary drivers who developed them, but no idea who the engineers were...

That's not intended as a slight against them, but rather to point out that a legendary vehicle typically gets developed by great drivers over some time, rather than clever engineers right off the bat....

Now those are names I generally know - except for Gianni Agnelli. Actually had to look him up. I won't remember him lol

Definitely worth remembering, he basically founded the Agnelli/Elkann FIAT dynasty. Some of the wealthiest most influential people in Europe and now that they own Chrysler, the world. Also Ferrari...

He was a fashion icon and a staunch business man.

Famous for wearing his watch over his shirt cuff.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8e/dc...bb46473b8d.jpg

Unlike many I don't really care about Ferrari.

And I certainly don't care about Chrysler or Fiat. :shrug: I just don't think I'll remember his name as it wasn't a "household name" like many of the others you mentioned.

Fair enough, very much a Europe vs America thing.

Very true. I suspect people in Italy will remember names that weren't mentioned in this thread so far at all. Same with basically any other car producing country. Hell I'm sure someone in the world actually remembers who the chief engineer of the Trabant was.