Author Topic: Monday Rant: Bad Car Names (Read 9021 times)

Autos_Editor · « **on:** June 23, 2014, 06:28:35 am »

Simon Hill gets crossed (xD) up by the automotive name game and winds up with a Gran Coup of a headache.

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sailor723 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 23, 2014, 07:35:03 am »

How about a Suzuki Grand Vitera? ....I keep thinking "Grand Viagra"

KD · « **Reply #2 on:** June 23, 2014, 08:09:27 am »

How about BMW Z4 sDrive35is.

I'd feel like a dick rattling that one off...

.

dkaz · « **Reply #3 on:** June 23, 2014, 08:22:21 am »

1986 Honda Civic WAGOVAN!

mixmanmash · « **Reply #4 on:** June 23, 2014, 08:45:03 am »

I quote " The Pagani Huayra (pronounced: wai-rah) is an Italian mid-engined sports carproduced by Pagani. It is named after Wayra Tata, which means "God of the winds" in Quechua, the official language of the Inca Empire."

So that's how you pronounce it and yes it does have a meaning.

I agree that the alphanumeric soup that BMW and Infiniti have now are meaningless and confusing, as is Lincoln's pure alphabet soup.

Great_Big_Abyss · « **Reply #5 on:** June 23, 2014, 09:08:14 am »

Quote from: mixmanmash on June 23, 2014, 08:45:03 am

I agree that the alphanumeric soup that BMW and Infiniti have now are meaningless and confusing, as is Lincoln's pure alphabet soup.

That, and the fact that they seem to be applying the "M" moniker to just about all their vehicles. It must drive the actual M3/M5 owners crazy to see the vaunted nameplate diluted like this!

Silverjesus · « **Reply #6 on:** June 23, 2014, 10:18:40 am »

Quote from: Autos_Editor on June 23, 2014, 06:28:35 am

Simon Hill gets crossed (xD) up by the automotive name game and winds up with a Gran Coup of a headache.

Read More...

Initially the luxury brands got it right with their short number and letter names. Easy to remember and did not offend anyone.

Now that there are so many models and they have to combine numbers and letters, it ends up being confusing and makes my appreciate my old Ford Probe GT

Fobroader · « **Reply #7 on:** June 23, 2014, 10:22:16 am »

The one thats driven me up the wall has always been the VW Eos.......I dont know why, but it sounds like birth control or one of those products where women are riding horses down the beach and laughing. $:-\$ Infinity and Lincoln, yeah, they took a bowl of alphagetti and tossed it a wall, I can't even begin to decipher them. BMW, they are a lost cause, when they stopped including the actual displacement in their badging.

OliverD · « **Reply #8 on:** June 23, 2014, 10:23:22 am »

Oh great, more pointless bitching about naming conventions.

Quote from: Great_Big_Abyss on June 23, 2014, 09:08:14 am

That, and the fact that they seem to be applying the "M" moniker to just about all their vehicles. It must drive the actual M3/M5 owners crazy to see the vaunted nameplate diluted like this!

Those owners should get over themselves.

Anyways, if we're going to talk about bad car names, we can't ignore the Mazda Bongo Friendee:

dkaz · « **Reply #9 on:** June 23, 2014, 11:11:14 am »

Japanese Engrish is

Quote from: OliverD on June 23, 2014, 10:23:22 am

Oh great, more pointless bitching about naming conventions.

Quote from: Great_Big_Abyss on June 23, 2014, 09:08:14 am
That, and the fact that they seem to be applying the "M" moniker to just about all their vehicles. It must drive the actual M3/M5 owners crazy to see the vaunted nameplate diluted like this!

Those owners should get over themselves.

Anyways, if we're going to talk about bad car names, we can't ignore the Mazda Bongo Friendee:

Haters, I love Japanese Engrish!

tooscoops · « **Reply #10 on:** June 23, 2014, 11:15:22 am »

i used to have a real nice newfie that would come in to my office and tell me "all da nu tings cummi dow tha road"... i hated to laugh, but he came up with the best names... mainly because he couldn't read, but insisted on getting car mags. so he could get an idea of a name, then finish it however he liked...

the crossfire mentioned?.. it was a crossfighter... and the dodge caliper... the chrysler seabird was a nice one... my favourite was probably the pit cruiser.

anyways... some crazy names back in the day like the dodge la femme... really limits your potential buyers there! my favourite growing up was my buddies pontiac goose. it was of course a pontiac 6000SE, but we didn't know that, so it became the goose.

mixmanmash · « **Reply #11 on:** June 23, 2014, 11:22:26 am »

Quote from: DKaz on June 23, 2014, 11:11:14 am

Japanese Engrish is
Quote from: OliverD on June 23, 2014, 10:23:22 am
Oh great, more pointless bitching about naming conventions.

Quote from: Great_Big_Abyss on June 23, 2014, 09:08:14 am
That, and the fact that they seem to be applying the "M" moniker to just about all their vehicles. It must drive the actual M3/M5 owners crazy to see the vaunted nameplate diluted like this!

Those owners should get over themselves.

Anyways, if we're going to talk about bad car names, we can't ignore the Mazda Bongo Friendee:

Haters, I love Japanese Engrish!

lol. Yup. Mazda Familia, Nissan FairldayZ, Toyota Soarer.

lebowski · « **Reply #12 on:** June 23, 2014, 11:53:29 am »

The infamous, lost-in-translation Mitsubishi Starion. I can't decide if it's the worst or the greatest car name ever

A quick check on Snopes.com yields questionable veracity, but it's a great story.

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/starion.asp

Blueprint · « **Reply #13 on:** June 23, 2014, 12:11:53 pm »

Quote from: Fobroader on June 23, 2014, 10:22:16 am

The one thats driven me up the wall has always been the VW Eos.......

Eos = Goddess of Dawn, sister to Helios, God of Sun. Meaning: Helios will be an upcoming VW macho convertible SUV.

Scaerio · « **Reply #14 on:** June 23, 2014, 12:18:08 pm »

I see your Bongo Friendee and raise you one Laputa (puta is slang for prostitute in Spanish).

Blueprint · « **Reply #15 on:** June 23, 2014, 12:23:22 pm »

The French / English issue brings more fun ones:

LaCrosse also means "rip-off". Still not a good car name.

Mercury Sand (that's Sable to us)

Protegé had a spelling mistake to sound better in English (should have been "protégé"). Ditto for RendezVous (rendez-vous). It also means "surrender", but more often it's for appointments, such as with a dentist. Very romantic.

Touareg is perfectly fine as it's French in the first place. Don't get me started on Tiguan though.

Chevy Quote (Citation).

The Corvette is forever doomed in French-Canada as it's part of an expression that basically says "big Corvette, small (...) er, Probe", an easy rhyme part of popular culture. Another bad one is associated with Camaro, hence strong Mustang sales to the Quebec gold chain crowd.

Another one that doesn't need translation:

AMC Matador: no bull.

lebowski · « **Reply #16 on:** June 23, 2014, 12:28:05 pm »

Chevy Nova ("No va" in Spanish means "doesn't go")

SailFastSimon · « **Reply #17 on:** June 23, 2014, 12:35:03 pm »

Quote from: lebowski on June 23, 2014, 12:28:05 pm

Chevy Nova ("No va" in Spanish means "doesn't go")

Perhaps they should have called it the Nolee?

OliverD · « **Reply #18 on:** June 23, 2014, 12:41:52 pm »

Quote from: ClarkL on June 23, 2014, 11:30:23 am

Quote from: OliverD on June 23, 2014, 10:23:22 am
Oh great, more pointless bitching about naming conventions.

The worst part was how they went all Clockwork Orange on you and strapped you down, pried your eyelids open and forced you to read it.

Just wasn't expecting to read about alphanumeric names in a "bad car names" article, that's all.

SailFastSimon · « **Reply #19 on:** June 23, 2014, 12:57:24 pm »

Quote from: OliverD on June 23, 2014, 12:41:52 pm

Quote from: ClarkL on June 23, 2014, 11:30:23 am
Quote from: OliverD on June 23, 2014, 10:23:22 am
Oh great, more pointless bitching about naming conventions.

The worst part was how they went all Clockwork Orange on you and strapped you down, pried your eyelids open and forced you to read it.

Just wasn't expecting to read about alphanumeric names in a "bad car names" article, that's all.

Well, if someone named their kid "541 Mstick21g" would you be surprised to see that kid turn up in an article on bad baby names?