[croonneck]

these are the men who i hava a lot of respect for:
1.Giovanni Battista "Pinin" Farina and his son Sergio Pininfarina
2.Ratan Tata
3.Henry Ford
4.Enzo Ferrari

[gowda79]

Sanjay Gandhi - For Maruti(People's Car)
Ratan Tata - For Tata(For all cars)
Schumi, Raikko, Massa, Todt, Bari (For Ferrari)

[devil_in_flesh]

Ratan Tata, Kimmi, Jeremy Clarkson

[vintagepoint5]

I respected the people who were early contributors in British Car industry:

Herbert Austin - For introducing Austin cars (very popular in India also beside other countries)
William Robert Morris - For Morris Cars
William Hillman, Coatalen, Rootes Brothers and more..

Luxury Cars:
Rolls, Royce, Bentley

[Nikhilb2008]

Especially after the launch of the 1 lakh car, Ratan Tata again.

[bond_bhai]

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

I salute Dr. Rahoon Wind, Indo-American inventor and yogi. Dr. Wind was a serious yogan and, naturally, a vegetarian. In 1911, the early days of the automobile, he got tired of eating flying insects while touring the American countryside in his neo-Ford. He decided to place a barrier in his vehicle to stop the bugs from hitting him in the mouth and going down his gullet, an intolerable situation for a vegetarian yogi. His first attempts were wildly unsuccessful. His first barrier was mounted behind the back seat. This stopped no bugs and Dr. Wind correctly surmised that the barrier should be placed in front of the driver. His second attempt was only partly successful. This barrier stopped bugs but it was impossible to see the road ahead through the solid oak tree wood that comprised the barrier. Several near fatal accidents sparked Dr. Wind's keen intellect and he quickly grasped the idea that the barrier should be transparent so that the driver could see obstacles in his path. After several more attempts Dr. Rahoon tried mounting a glass barrier in front of the driver. And the rest, as they say, is history. Hats off in salute to the intrepid Dr. Wind inventor of the first Wind-shield.

Nice one! Can you post the source please? I did a bit of googling for "Dr. Rahoon Wind" but didn't get any information. Wikipedia doesn't mention anything about Wind shield Invention either. All i got was a Windshield Wiper inventor (Mary Anderson is credited for this invention, Btw). I am sorry if this sounds offensive, but is this really true?

[narayan]

defenitly RATAN TATA all the way - one lakh car is not just opening up the car market for many indians, but making a lot of automakers rethink what they have been doing all these years when they were cluelesss how to reduce costs further

[madhukar_n]

TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA TATA !!! (Ratan Tata btw... )

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

I salute Dr. Rahoon Wind, Indo-American inventor and yogi. Dr. Wind was a serious yogan and, naturally, a vegetarian. In 1911, the early days of the automobile, he got tired of eating flying insects while touring the American countryside in his neo-Ford. He decided to place a barrier in his vehicle to stop the bugs from hitting him in the mouth and going down his gullet, an intolerable situation for a vegetarian yogi. His first attempts were wildly unsuccessful. His first barrier was mounted behind the back seat. This stopped no bugs and Dr. Wind correctly surmised that the barrier should be placed in front of the driver. His second attempt was only partly successful. This barrier stopped bugs but it was impossible to see the road ahead through the solid oak tree wood that comprised the barrier. Several near fatal accidents sparked Dr. Wind's keen intellect and he quickly grasped the idea that the barrier should be transparent so that the driver could see obstacles in his path. After several more attempts Dr. Rahoon tried mounting a glass barrier in front of the driver. And the rest, as they say, is history. Hats off in salute to the intrepid Dr. Wind inventor of the first Wind-shield.

20202020
Rajan

[v1p3r]

Dan, just saw it. That's freakin hilarious!

[doomsday]

Surprising how come I never noticed this thread before on t-bhp. Anyways, better late than never, here goes:

Soichiro Honda
Keiichi Tsuchiya aka dori kin
Tiff Needell
Vicky B Henderson
Ayrton Senna
Mick Doohan
Jackie Stewart
Motuharo Kurosawa aka Gan-san
Harriet Ridley
Jeremy Clarkson
John Mcguinness

defenitly RATAN TATA

He definitely thinks Indian, else the 1 LAKH car would have never have happend, he definitely has now gained recognition even in the foreign markets for his feat.

[RPMPKDMFF]

Karl Benz, known as the inventor of the gasoline powered automobile.

Henry Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls, they brought to the world a car beyond luxury and comparison, one that would stand out of the crowd for eternity.

Gottlieb Daimler, one of the pioneers of the Internal Combustion Engine.

Henry Ford, without him we wouldn't have the assembly line as we know it today.

Harley Earl, he did for car design what Henry Ford did for the way of manufacturing. He designed the Corvette and many others.

Will Harley & the Davidson brothers, they brought to the motor industry a legend on two wheels.

[svsantosh]

of course all the 1st time inventors are there on my list... new one has to be Sumant Moolgaokar... the guy who dated to dream TATA can enter into competetive marketing in India..the one who dared that not machines BUT MEN make automobiles...then rest is (not) history....Ratan was his brain child more to say... lets say the future of Indian Auto Scene...I am not a Japnese, Not a American, Not a Italian, I Salute all the Indian Pioneers who dared to Dream to make it BIG in India and in Turn Make INDIA BIG..!!!

[akhilesh51]

Ratan Tata - for dreaming beyond just numbers and more importantly not bowing down to petty politics.

Also he brings Indian automotive industry to world map...