It's pretty obvious what the Volkwagen logo is (a V over a W in a blue background, sorounded by a circle). It's origin is rather mundane though. The logo was the result of an office competition to see come up with a logo. The winner of the competition (who won 50 Marks for his troubles) was an engineer named Franz Reimspiess (the same man who perfected the engine for the Beetle in the 1930's).
From a nice design, concept, and logo orientated website
http://cartype.com/page.cfm?id=2226&alph=ALL&dec=ALL
