Topic: Car Names

[Carnut]

Pretty sure Allan will know that Siata 1;  think he was joking...!

[Allan L]

Pretty sure Allan will know that Siata 1;  think he was joking...!

Well, yes probably.
So many of our friends on this site write such good English as their second language that we native speakers sometimes forget ourselves.
It is however quite common for car manufacturers to select a name that they think makes sense, only to find some language in which it is a great embarrassment. Some of those have been covered in this thread already, but there are many, many more.

[Carnut]

Pretty sure Allan will know that Siata 1;  think he was joking...!

Well, yes probably.
So many of our friends on this site write such good English as their second language that we native speakers sometimes forget ourselves.
It is however quite common for car manufacturers to select a name that they think makes sense, only to find some language in which it is a great embarrassment. Some of those have been covered in this thread already, but there are many, many more.

Yes, I left out those with names that are embarrassing in a different language - that could be a whole thread of its own (c.f. I believe your 'Shogun' example actually means 'penis' in some language or other - Spanish perhaps; or was it 'Pajero', which is why they had to change it?)

[Tom_I]

Pajero means 'wanker' in Spanish. The vehicle is called the Mitsubishi Montero for Spanish-speaking markets, but for some reason Shogun for the UK. Maybe 'Montero' looks too much like 'Montego'...

[als15]

The list of ridicolous names is long...
The Nissan Pivo for sure is not liked by East-Europe police: never drive when you drink!

And luckily Fiat chose "Seicento" instead of another proposal from marketing: "Curva" sounds good in Italian, but being produced in Poland... 
It would habe been the biggest competitor of Mazda Laputa in Spain... As attractive as the Honda Fitta in Norway or the Opel Ascona in Portugal...

WTF! (citating a recent Cadillac prototype)

[Otto Puzzell]

Cadillac didn't propose that. It was a design content entry by an outside designer. The name (and the ridiculousness of the entire premise) was a stunt to get him some press.

Since it still gets talked about three years later, it seems his stunt worked. 

[fyreline]

The French had some interesting names too, like the Citroen DS conjuring up images of Goddesses, or the Renault Fregate (who but the French could get away with calling a car after a ship?

...As in "Corvette" . . . which was the original working name of the car that became the Renault Dauphine!

[als15]

Cadillac didn't propose that. It was a design content entry by an outside designer. The name (and the ridiculousness of the entire premise) was a stunt to get him some press.

Since it still gets talked about three years later, it seems his stunt worked. 

You are right, but all the others are real indeed... And often mass-production cars... 

Last but not least the Porsche Cajun, that has a quite dangerous similarity in Piedmont's old language with some part of the masculine reproductive apparatus... Turin will be full of them... with the risk of confusing the car with its dirvers... 

[als15]

Another great one just seen a few hours ago in Geneva: Tata Manza.
Once again, a wannabe-bestseller in Italy: the female of cattle! 

[RayTheRat]

The French had some interesting names too, like the Citroen DS conjuring up images of Goddesses, or the Renault Fregate (who but the French could get away with calling a car after a ship?

...As in "Corvette" . . . which was the original working name of the car that became the Renault Dauphine!

I wondered if I'd see that mentioned...and there's that little Chevrolet thing...  How about PT Cruiser?  A double winner there: PT as in PT Boat and Cruiser as in class of warship.  

Caravelle was used by Renault and Plymouth.

There was a 1909 Zachow-Besserdich 'Battleship', a 4wd car manufactured in Wisconsin and then the Miller 'Submarine" which is just an absolutely knockout car for 1917.

Torpedo or Siluro as a body style is kinda self-explanatory, as is barchetta & skiff.

If one wanted to include names for race cars, then that would open the field up to just about anything: Dreadnought (that was actually a pre-WWI armored vehicle), Destroyer, Man-of-war and so on.

This list could probably be extended indefinitely, especially if one decided to branch off into aircraft names.

But I'd wager that the most commonly used ship-type name is that of the famous Chinese sailing ship, the junk.  I've owned more of those than I care to think about.    Matter of fact, I have a couple of 'em now.

RtR

[grobmotorix]

Well, Iīm just waiting of the re-birth of the name "Krisenauto" ("crisis car"), that has debuted in Berlin in 1921...

My favourite car name is the german 1929 "Vorweg Motorhund", which means  the "Ahead motor dog"...

[Wendax]

Just imagine the Motorhund chasing this bike:

(Why? Because it is the Neander Motorkatze (motor cat).  )

[cmetisse]

Interesting discussion !

Talking about stupid names, let's not forget Goggomobil. But microcars are a class of its own for everything, including ill-advised name choices !

For brands of "true cars", I think one of the latest example was the Renault Latitude. What do they were thinking of ??
The 2010 Paris Motorshow was only opened since 15 minutes that the joke with "platitude" was running among the journalists... Such a well deserved name for such a awfully bland and pointless car. 

On Toyota nameplates, does anyone know just why they used so many with a "C" as first letter : Crown, Corolla, Camry, Carina, Corona, Celica, etc... ? Was the Toyota boss in love with the third letter of the alphabet ?

[Carnut]

On Toyota nameplates, does anyone know just why they used so many with a "C" as first letter : Crown, Corolla, Camry, Carina, Corona, Celica, etc... ? Was the Toyota boss in love with the third letter of the alphabet ?

They may well have decided it was a theme which just sounded good.
There are precedents like Vauxhall liking model names beginning with 'V': Velox, Viva, Victor, Ventora, Viscount etc.
Trouble is, they always end up running out of suitable ones and have to either resort to stupid-sound names or switch tactics and hope no-one notices...

[GrahamClayton]

The Subaru Legacy is known as a Subaru Liberty in Australia because the veterans' assistance organisation is named Legacy Australia.

[grobmotorix]

Talking about stupid names, let's not forget Goggomobil. But microcars are a class of its own for everything, including ill-advised name choices !

Well, "Goggo" was the pet name/name of endearment for Hans Glasīgrandson Andreas Glas.
It is an explanation, but itīs still strange...

Another small car name story:

the very first pony car Ford Mustand was not allowed to be sold under this name in Germany.

The companies Krupp and Kreidler had the right to use this name for their trucks and motorcycles.
So officially the Mustang was christianed "T5" in Germany - everybody has used the name "Mustang nevertheless..

[Quiller]

Then there's the pronunciation problem.
Obviously Hyundai is an attempt to write a Korean name so that we can say it, but has it two syllables or three? In other words do you pronounce "yu" as one sound (as in Yugoslavia) or two - and if two is the "Hy" bit spoken as in "hyperbole" or as in "hymn"?

Mercifully we no longer have to work out how to pronounce "daewoo" - it's "chevrolet" hereabouts now.

I did ask Hyundai about this once. I believe it's meant to be pronounced 'hee-oon-deh' - so neither 'hun-day' (as in the USA) or 'high-oon-die' (as in UK). Apparently, to Korean ears, the latter pronunciation sounds a bit like 'dead dog'

[grobmotorix]

In Germany they call it "Hee-oon-die"..., and still nobody knows how to pronounce "Ssangyong"...

[Allemano]

I remember my father always pronounced Abarth as Ab|art (German Abart = variety, but also adj. abartig = perverted) He didn't know that it's the company's name, but reckoned it's some kind of special (Abart) part.. (what it is in fact)

[Allan L]

Apparently, to Korean ears, the latter pronunciation sounds a bit like 'dead dog'

a.k.a. "lunch"

[RayTheRat]

Did I just read this whole thing and not see the Chevy Nova mentioned?  The story that it wasn't marketed as such in Spanish-speaking countries is as old as the hills and completely wrong, but it keeps popping up.  I've been on a Chevy Nova mailing list for what seems like centuries (well, only parts of 2 of 'em) and some FNG comes on the list about every other month and starts off with putting his foot in his mouth by stating such.  For those who don't know, the incorrect notion that "Nova" means "doesn't go" is like the stories of the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, the yeti.

I'm very partial to Chevrolets (like KnightFan, although I only feel saddened  by their abandonment of the RWD platform and recycling of names to insipid front-driver tuna cans...not actively resentful  ) and I miss the day when BelAir, Biscayne and Impala meant something...although I never totally understood the naming of station wagons: Brookwood, Kingswood, Driftwood, Firewood, Wormwood...etc.  The only cars they've left unmolested are the Camaro and Corvette...although they tried real hard to kill 'em both off in the 70s and early 70s.

The car I had trouble (and still do) comprehending the naming convention on is Studebaker.  It was ok when Champion meant 6-cylinder and Commander meant 8, but then there was a Dictator in there (who didn't survive the war) and then they started adding sub-models: "Studebaker Champion Regal Starliner" and "Studebaker Commander Regal Starlight Coupe" and "Studebaker Commander State Starliner Coupe".  More than once I've imagined a new salesman coming to work and being handed a 4-pound book of model and sub-model names and hearing, "we'll have a test on this tomorrow morning" whereupon he either goes home and shoots himself in despair or applies for a job in ladies' lingerie at Montgomery Wards the next morning.

But if ya really wanna go nuts, there's Packard.  Year, Series, Chassis, Body, (all numbers), then the Model and perhaps coachbuilder's name.  I asked a friend what the ID was on his 33 straight-8 rumble-seat roadster and he said, "I'll have to go home and look it up."  LOL!  And this is a sharp guy!  He emailed me later to tell me that it was a Tenth Series 1933 Packard 1004 659 Super Eight Coupe Roadster by Deitrich.  Maybe the suicides of salesmen started in the 30s, rather than the 50s.   

What's in a name?  More than meets the eye, apparently.

RtR

[Allan L]

Don't know if it helps, Ray, but in England there is a seriously large cemetery at Brookwood.

[Carnut]

Don't know if it helps, Ray, but in England there is a seriously large cemetaery at Brookwood.

And of course Wormwood is a particularly well-known prison (Wormwood Scrubs of course for non-UK residents!)

[Tom_I]

Then there's the pronunciation problem.
Obviously Hyundai is an attempt to write a Korean name so that we can say it, but has it two syllables or three? In other words do you pronounce "yu" as one sound (as in Yugoslavia) or two - and if two is the "Hy" bit spoken as in "hyperbole" or as in "hymn"?

Mercifully we no longer have to work out how to pronounce "daewoo" - it's "chevrolet" hereabouts now.

I did ask Hyundai about this once. I believe it's meant to be pronounced 'hee-oon-deh' - so neither 'hun-day' (as in the USA) or 'high-oon-die' (as in UK). Apparently, to Korean ears, the latter pronunciation sounds a bit like 'dead dog'

Hyundai ran some television ads in the UK a few years back, trying to educate us on how to pronounce the name. Apparently it's supposed to be only two syllables, pronounced approximately "hyon-day", but with the 'd' softened slightly.

But they soon gave up, and reverted to "high-un-die" in their adverts.

I haven't been able to find any of the old ads online, but here's a Korean speaker to put us all right!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0UovyM8Ni0

[DeAutogids]

I was always told that we have the name Lada as in one of the Scandinavian countries VAZ was not a good name.
In Finland, nobody bought the Fiat Uno (apprently it is something like fool).
Fiat did it more often too, as the Croma failed in the Netherlands as Croma over here is a brand of butter and who likes a greasy car?
Rolls-Royce found out, at least so the story goes, that introducing the Silver Mist would cause controversy in Germany, as it would mean Silver Excraments over there.