It was the same with Volvo some years back. They ran a TV ad in which a Volvo estate car was seen racing through the desert and in the distance was a black streak, clearly supposed to be Thrust SSC. Volvo (and it's owners Ford) put sod all into the Thrust project and had absolutely nothing to do with it whatsoever. It sickened me to see them trading on the reflected glory and sheer guts of others. There is a great bit at the end of Richard Noble's book on SSC (and to which I incidentally commend to any self respecting petrolhead) where he lambasts these chikensh**t arseholes.
<rant mode ON>
Yes. Being an (anorak) fan of the Land speed Record, a personal supportor of Thrust SSC, and friends with some of the SSC team, that Volvo ad really stuck in my craw.
When Thrust 2 ran at Black Rock in 1983, the majority of the money raised was through corporate sponsorship.
However, when Thrust SSC came along, the accountants with the bloated expense accounts kept well away. You just have to look at the (lack of) corporate logos on the surfaces of SSC.
In '83 the team lived in hotels close to Black Rock, in '97 they dossed town in spare rooms or camped in the desert.
When the sh*t hit the fan in 1997 and there was no money in the budget to fly SSC to Reno in the heavy lift Antonov, the SSC Supportors rasied the money to buy the fuel by simply pledging money. A tenner here, fifty there, the money was raised in 48 hours.
The sceptics thought the sound barrier couldn't be broken in a twin engined, rear wheel steered monster.
When 763 mph came along, those same people jumped on the band wagon of their success.
f**k Volvo.
<rant mode OFF>
I'm off to lie down in a dark room now.