OT - Talking Cars Tuesday - Car Names

Submitted by JeepinBen on

So I'm putting this thread up early because I'm traveling for work tomorrow, so this will have to roll into Tuesday.

So, Everyone's favorite Boxer/Physicist Neil Degrasse Tyson put together a list of 33 cosmic car names http://thenewswheel.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-puts-together-list-of-33-cosmic-car-names/

What names are your favorite for cars? So many today are numerical crap, especially the Germans who now use numbers that don't mean ANYTHING (A BMW 330i used to mean it was a 3 series with a 3.0L engine. The Mercedes C350 was a C class with a 3.5L engine. Now the BMW 328i has a 2.0L and the C43 AMG has a 3.0L. Dammit guys...)

What vehicle names and numbers hold a special place in your car-heart? Why?

Wolfman

May 2nd, 2016 at 7:52 PM ^

Actually liked those two cars as well. When they had something that stood out from their usual offerings, they didn't hesitate to let you know. Actually saves a lot of time when shopping for used cars. Towne Car and Grand Marquis are two more I liked, but Grand Marquis will be a thing of the past once these are off the road. Think I'll keep this one for a bit.

LSAClassOf2000

May 2nd, 2016 at 9:06 PM ^

Speaking of that, didn't the Mercury Zephyr travel down the same line as the Ford Fairmont? Fairmont was a bit misleading, as the name sounds halfway elegant and the Fairmont was....not that at all. 

I had the same problem with the Mercury Lynx, because if you're going to name a car after a cat, it should be cat-like, not Escort-like.

Also, didn't VW name a car Sharan Carat? WTF?

rob f

May 2nd, 2016 at 10:18 PM ^

back when we got married. That car was the worst thing I ever drove, even worse than the Dodge Horizon fastback I owned back in 1980-82. Only thing I liked about the Lynx was that it was a stick-shift, which made it a little more fun to drive that noisy tin can. I think I nicknamed it "missing lynx" because of the crappy 4-banger under the hood.

Can you say "rust-bucket"? I believe she bought it used, it was an'81 or an'82. But by the time we got rid of it (traded it in for a brand-new Mercury Tracer) the floorboards were disintegrating.

Everyone Murders

May 2nd, 2016 at 7:39 PM ^

Had a white Volvo 240 Sedan, in mint condition; used, about 8 years old, but just spotless.  We named it "Moby" b/c obvs.  My wife was about five months pregnant with our first, and got t-boned on Washtenaw in Ann Arbor by an Acura coupe.  The impact destroyed Moby, but my wife and our first-born were fine.

Needless to say, we immediately donned the Acura "Ahab".

(Don't call me "Ishmael", though.)

As far as actual car model names go, I always smiled at the Nova, for Spanish language implications.

ken725

May 2nd, 2016 at 7:46 PM ^

Toyota Chaser and Soarer. Those sound so much cooler than whatever letters and numbers Lexus uses. Same thing applies to Fairlady.

 

Eastwood

May 2nd, 2016 at 8:05 PM ^

We've names our cars for years...
Lacreasha (Chevy cobalt)
Lafawnduh (Ford Fusion)
Charles Benson III (Ford Focus)
Betty White (Ford Escape)
Burt Reynolds (Ford Escape)
Harrison Ford (Ford Focus)
Ford Escape (Katy Holmes)

xtramelanin

May 2nd, 2016 at 8:09 PM ^

Image result for image of chitty chitty bang bang

our fine four-fendered friend.

bang, bang, chitty bang, bang, hi chitty, low chitty (keep singing....)

i see this thread morphing into 'names for cars given by the owners', but i'll pass for now. 

xtramelanin

May 2nd, 2016 at 8:22 PM ^

be a lot of those.

ours would 'the artful dodger' (or simply 'art') for one truck

larry boy or larry the cucumber, super hero - you have to know veggie tales cartoons for kids, larry is the hero and this particular truck is a 1-ton, diesel crew, large and green.

klondike, the monster van - similar photo included, but ours doesn't have the outside piping:

Image result for image of 4x4 15 passenger van

and then there's 'fescie', acronym for 'fancy european sports car', a salvage diesel i bought and fixed up.  runs like a champ and gets 50 mpg.  

JeepinBen

May 2nd, 2016 at 8:16 PM ^

Per Wikipedia:

The word countach (pronounced [kuŋˈtaʃ]) is an exclamation of astonishment in the local dialect (see Piedmontese language),[5] that means "perbacco" or "accidenti" ("Heavens!").

The prototype was introduced to the world at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. Most previous and subsequent Lamborghini car names were associated with bulls and bullfighting.

What Wikipedia doesn't say is that it's often the expression used when someone sees a beautiful woman. The rumor is that the head of Lambo exclaimed "Countach" when he saw a sketch.