Josephus I had ALWAYS heard that AUDI was an acronym for Auto Union Deutschland Ingolstadt, but Google told me that you are indeed correct.
Next you’re going to tell us that DKW isn’t an acronym for Das Kleine Wunder.
And then there’s FIAT whose best (cleanest) acronym is Fix It Again Tony. The other one has to do with Italian Automotive Trash.
From 1950 through 1956, the top line Nash was the Ambassador and the lower line was the Statesman.
Not to Europeans; the Passat is a warm wind. Sort of like the Santa Anna winds blowing into California.
It may sound like the name of a laxative to you if you’re not used to the Passat winds. Other VW models are the Scirocco, a hot wind from Africa, and the Golf called after the Gulfstream which warms Western Europe.
Actually, gramatically speaking, the name should have been “Millenium”, rather than the actual name for that vehicle, namely, the “Millenia”. How can a vehicle have a plural name?
If everyone used Mazda’a standard for selecting model names, then we would have some model names that sound like the names of sports teams, like:
The Ford Explorers
The Chevrolet Impalas
The Dodge Diplomats
The Subaru Legacies
The Mercury Mariners (Hmmm…I guess that one is taken already)
and, if you want to get really ridiculous–
The Chrysler Towns and Countries
I know this has little to do with this post,how about GMs stealth fighter styling on certain high end vehicles(maybe they should have started an F-series)-Kevin
Volkswagen gets my vote for either names that defy common logic or difficult to pronounce:
Back in the 1930’s, Studebaker had a model called the Rockne, named after the famous Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. Studebaker was manufactured in South Bend, Indiana where Notre Dame is located.
both those words have lost their meanings, connotative and denotative.
In the US, we don’t truck in such finery any more–
gone down the pathway of the fiacre, and the latter-day puffer-bellies.
How about Edsil?
Actually, the name was, Edsel.
While this is not your garden-variety car name, it was named for Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, so I suppose that it sounded good to the family.
Anyway, the car might have sold well despite the name, if it had not turned people off with its unattractive styling. The grill was variously compared to a horse collar, a toilet seat, and to a certain part of the female anatomy.
Also, since Ford decided to “cheap-out” on its production, it went down the same assembly line as various Ford and Mercury models, and actually resulted in slowing down the line because there were too many trim variations to be able to handle efficiently. Additionally, the push-button transmission controls in the steering wheel hub proved to be very troublesome, thereby aggravating those who did buy the car.
To top it off, a lot of their cars were named after winds (Golf, Passat, Scirocco. They’ve stopped, because Tiguan is a combination of Tiger and Iguana. But what is a Routan?
Actually, gramatically speaking, the name should have been “Millenium”, rather than the actual name for that vehicle, namely, the “Millenia”. How can a vehicle have a plural name?
Well, there’s the Kia Spectra, for one. What do you call >1 Spectra (or Prius)?
Incidentally, does Toyota Prius derive its name from the same place that medical terms such as priapism do? If so, that would make it among the worst, easily.
If not…it’s still a pretty lousy name for inspiring the mental connection.
I was watching Let’s Make A Deal, and the game was to spell “Routan” to win the car. The contestant couldn’t do it. I am now convinced that the VW Routan is the worst-named car. Wayne Brady didn’t even know how to say it. Is it “Ru-tahn” or “Roo-tawn?”
The Honda Elephant, er, Element.
If they had named it after some element in particular, it should have complemented the styling of the car and underscored its grace and charm. Hence Osmium: if you want to make heavy, ugly bricks, use it, 'cause it’s the densest.
We have the Honda Element. We hAd the Saturn Ion. How about a Chevrolet Electron, a Buick Neutron or a Ford Proton?
And the Dodge Neon, Chevy Cobalt, and all the Mercuries. Can’t think of any others (or find any on Google.)
We have the Honda Element. We hAd the Saturn Ion. How about a Chevrolet Electron, a Buick Neutron or a Ford Proton
Well, the Ford Fusion is along those lines…
Some of the old time names are horrible (Charade, Le Car, Festiva, etc.) but most of the newer ones are as bad or worse.
Buick Rendevous, Aveo, Diamante, and Lumina for a few and Nissan takes the cake IMO. Their list of models (Maxima, Altima, Sentra, Xterra, etc.) sound like a casting call for a low budget Japanese Godzilla flick.
Chrysler Crossfire. I was horrified the first time I saw the name on one (driven by my eye doctor-she must be doing pretty well). I can’t help but think of other names in the same theme. How about Chrysler Collateral Damage? Or, Chrysler Drive-By?
gremlin