1. Emil Jellinek While the name may not ring a bell, the company where he served as a board director is undoubtedly one of the most famous in the world today--Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, or Daimler AG as it is known today, the makers of Mercedes-Benz. In 1900, Jellinek commissioned the company's engineers to make a race car for him. One of his stipulations was that the car be named Daimler-Mercedes after his daughter, Mercedes Jellinek. The car proved to be so successful that the company adopted the Mercedes name as its trademark so that when it merged with Benz & Cie., the new company's cars came to be known as Mercedes-Benz.
2. Henry Ford Anyone who's into cars knows who Henry Ford is. From 1903 to 1918, Ford ran the Ford Motor Company before he turned over the reins to his one and only son, Edsel. Edsel, in turn, acquired Lincoln in 1922, turning it into Ford's luxury car brand. The younger Ford also prevailed upon his father in 1927 to abandon the then-19-year-old Model T in favor of the more modern Model A. Edsel's death in 1943 saw Henry resuming control of the company, but Henry was then 79 years old. Urged by his wife and Edsel’s son, Henry turned over the control of the company to his grandson, Henry Ford II. Although Henry II turned the company into a publicly traded corporation in 1956, his grandfather's machinations years before ensured that the Ford Motor Company would remain a family-controlled company. As of 2010, the Ford family controls 40 percent of the company despite owning less than two percent of it.
3. Enzo Ferrari Before starting his carmaking company, Enzo Ferrari was a race car driver for Alfa Romeo. But with the birth of his son Alfredo in 1932, the elder Ferrari gave up racing and instead concentrated on managing Scuderia Ferrari, his own race team. Groomed to be Enzo's successor, Alfredo took up mechanical engineering but was unable to finish his studies as he was stricken with muscular dystrophy at an early age. His sickness, however, didn't stop him from contributing some of his ideas to his father, like using V6 engines instead of V12 for their race cars. In his honor, after Alfredo (or Dino, as he was fondly called by his father) died in 1956, Enzo badged the non-V12-engined cars of Ferrari as Dinos.
4. Ferdinand Porsche Even before Ferdinand Porsche founded the car company that bears his name, he had already been sharing his mechanical know-how with his son, Ferdinand Anton, or Ferry for short. In 1931, the elder Porsche founded with his son what would eventually become the Porsche of today. Ferry, in turn, had a son, Ferdinand Alexander. From these three generations of Porsches came three of the most famous cars today: the Volkswagen Beetle, the iconic Porsche 356 and the first-generation Porsche 911.
5. Mario AndrettiIn the United States, the Andretti family name is synonymous with motor racing, and that’s because of family patriarch Mario’s success in numerous racing series. Be it Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, Le Mans or even sprint cars, Mario ran it, maybe even won a race or two, or in some cases even became the overall champion. Though not as successful as his father in Formula 1, Michael Andretti carved a name for himself in the Champ Car series, winning the 1991 season and finishing in second place overall five times. Mario's other son, Jeff, also raced in the Champ Car series for five years, with his best season coming in 1991 where he finished 15th overall.
6. Rolf SchumacherBesides working as a bricklayer, Rolf Schumacher also operated a kart track in Kerpen, Germany. Seeing how his son Michael, at the age of four, took to the sport like a fish to water, Rolf fitted his pedal kart with a small motorcycle engine only for the son to promptly crash it. Michael soon mastered operating karts that he won his first kart championship at the age of six. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
7. Nelson PiquetWith three Formula 1 world championships to his name, Nelson Piquet is one of the most successful Formula 1 drivers outside of the sport, having invested the fortune he made in racing through various business ventures. Thanks to his wealth, he was able to finance his son's (Nelson Jr.) interest in motorsports by creating his own team for the latter in different racing series from the South American Formula 3 to GP2--a practice that continued until just before the younger Piquet was tapped by the Renault Formula 1 team to partner Fernando Alonso for the 2007 to 2009 seasons.
8. Anthony HamiltonAnthony Hamilton worked hard to fund his son Lewis's racing career. One time, he even held three different jobs just so he could buy a used go-kart that cost nearly as much as the family's monthly income. The elder Hamilton's sacrifice didn't go to waste as Lewis soon won races and championships. At the age of 10, Lewis bumped into McLaren boss Ron Dennis at an event and promptly told him that he wanted to race for his team. Three years later, Dennis called the Hamilton household, saying that he'd sponsor Lewis's racing career. At the age of 22, during the 2007 season, Lewis Hamilton finally got his wish to drive for Dennis.
9. Pocholo RamirezIf the Americans have the Andrettis, we have the Ramirez family, which was once headed by the late Pocholo Ramirez. Though Pocholo was a late bloomer in motor racing--getting started in karting at 30 before moving to formula racing by the time he was 41 years old--he never let his age get the best of him as he continuously trumped much younger drivers in practically every racing series he competed in. His love for cars trickled down to his children Kookie, Georges, Louie, Michelle and Miguel, who, at one point in their lives, competed professionally in the Philippine racing scene. Today, if they aren't directly involved in the motoring scene serving as driving consultants or instructors, they serve as ambassadors to their father's legacy. Except for Kookie, that is, who passed away shortly after his father did.
10. Tom StockingerWe all know Marlon Stockinger for being not just the first Filipino but also the first Asian driver to win a Formula race in Monaco just very recently. Marlon's success wouldn't have been possible without the support of his dad, Tom Stockinger. A racing enthusiast himself, Tom got Marlon started in motor racing at the age of nine. Later, when teens his age were thinking of what university to go to, Marlon decided to skip all that and concentrate on his motorsports career instead. While most dads would've gone ballistic at such an idea, Tom supported Marlon fully to the point of being a sponsor for Marlon's team, even if it meant the younger Stockinger would spend most of his time in Europe instead of being with his loved ones in the Philippines.
