We found several large vehicle manufacturers worked their way up the ladder before building cars and trucks. In the case of Hyundai, they were a large infrastructure company that built almost everything that floated or stayed on the ground before they built cars.

Some manufacturers built large stationary systems and even ships before they ever tried their luck with passenger cars, while others built home and work convenience items. It's interesting to see how this evolution came about.

10 Chevrolet - High-Performance Ford Model-T Cylinder Head Conversions

Courtesy Hemmings Motor News

The Chevrolet brothers actually started by selling Frontenac cylinder heads for the Model T Ford, which effectively added 1/3 more power to the engine as well as making the car much more reliable by moving the heat away from the water jacket and block by moving the valve train to an overhead position away from a side-valve arrangement.

Courtesy Simianatis

Prior to Frontenac, Louis Chevrolet did some development work for Buick and the proto-genesis for General Motors however the first car branded in his name was a design he didn't like, and he divorced himself from the design and company.

9 Honda - Piston Rings And Motorcycles

Courtesy immobilliario

Most people know that Soichiro Honda started selling small motorcycles before selling sub-compact cars, however actually Mr. Honda developed a series of more efficient piston rings he thought would be better for Toyota models.

Courtesy Bike Bandit

His company, Tōkai Seiki, had some success with some of their models but was partially damaged during bombing in WWII, and the remains were sold to Toyota and later called Seiki. Other tellers of the story said his design never really caught on, but we've seen Seiki brand parts, so we'll assume he crossed the Rubicon.

8 BMW - Aircraft

Courtesy Ride Apart

Known as Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works, this was largely an airplane manufacturing and motorcycle firm before they ever sold cars. BMW has really been involved in Aerospace significantly for a long time, and they did use that technology and manufacturing practices in the post-war Isetta, which was really a scooter drivetrain mounted inside an airplane cockpit in terms of how it was built.

Courtesy IZOOM

Their motorcycles were all their own design and were highly copied and sold under various private labels in other countries, due to being reliable and numerous after WWII.

7 Lamborghini - Tractors

Courtesy Wikipedia

This company, called Lamborghini trattori, was largely responsible for designing efficient tractors for farming. Lamborghini automotori didn't start making cars until the early 1960s while it was making tractors from 1948 onward.

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Courtesy Mediaservant

Even more confusing is another company that isn't related to either called "Lambordini" that makes large size air compressors made for commercial applications also makes agrarian equipment.

6 Vauxhall - Shipbuilding And Powerplants

Courtesy Vauxpedia

This company should have stayed making pumps, marine engines, and cranes. Like all British companies that evolved into badge engineering companies, they haven't actually made anything in years. It's not that they don't know how, it was swallowed up by the

Courtesy Vauxhall Hisotry

British banking system and before Leyland bought up all the small British manufacturers in the mid-1970s, it did make its own models with staggered on into the early 1990s, and after that, it simply became a private label for other brands as it floundered. It became a part of General Motors of Europe and was later sold to a holding company. Its history dates back to actually making products since 1857.

5 Peugeot - Coffee Grinders

Courtesy Tornoto Star

This is an under-rated brand that has a long history and it actually started in the early part of the 19th century, a few years after the French Revolution ended. Starting with coffee makers and moving on to bicycles, this brand has soldiered on until the present.

Courtesy Hemswell Antique Centres

Peugeot bicycles were considered to be among the best quality competition bicycles and were well respected. Their cars are pretty well-built as well, but you have to understand French styling, which doesn't suit everyone. They have a long and successful history in racing as well.

4 Hyundai - Infrastructure Systems And Equipment

Courtesy Crane Trader

Long before Hyundai started selling the British designed Hyundai Pony, the company was a civil works company that also considered itself an engineering company. It was involved in large scale commercial construction, selling of skilled labor, building cranes, shipbuilding, electronics, marine/fire insurance, and even had a chain of department stores.

RELATED: 2021 Hyundai Palisade: Here’s What We Know So Far

Curtesy Dreamstime

It didn't actually start selling cars until around 1975, as part of the Hyundai group. It has also been involved in education and infrastructure and it had one former CEO named Lee Myung-bak who later became the Prime Minister of South Korea.

3 Suzuki - Looms

Courtesy Pinterest

What started as a weaving loom company evolved into a motorcycle company that later started making cars. Their engines started as bicycle clip-on motors, went up the food chain unto single cylinder low powered powerplants, and later on multi-cylinder set-ups. Their cars and motorcycles have always had an emphasis on being efficient and high revving gasoline designs.

Courtesy Rev.ie

Save for a couple of American market cruiser cycles, their engines have always been high revving. They have never produced a diesel engine domestically. Surprisingly their small cars are quite crash-worthy. Outboard boat motors have also been a big part of their business.

2 Saab - Aircraft

Courtesy Pinterest

What started as an aerospace company later diverged into making cars, and after that divested from automobiles but stayed with commercial trucks and parts. Svenska Aeroplan AB, started making cars due to a shortage of postwar private cars in Northern Europe.

Courtesy Pinterest

They also ventured into early commercial computers during the 1950s, as well as they stayed in commercial and military aviation. The company has largely become a land warfare equipment supply company as well as part of a logistics supply company after the year 2010.

1 Opel - Sewing Machines

Courtesy Pinterest

What started as a sewing machine manufacturer by Adam Opel in 1862 diverged into bicycles by the mid-1880s and started automobile production back in 1899. For a long time, it was part of General Motors of Europe but was sold off in 2017.

Courtesy YouTube

Currently, it's owned by a holding company called Stellantis which also owns Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA (French pronunciation: ​[ɡʁup pe ɛs a]; also known as the PSA Group in English; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) is a French multinational manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel, and Vauxhall brands.

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