Strange car names....

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Geektastic

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#183966 4-Nov-2015 21:26

OK, I was stuck behind a car today which was called a "Wingroad".

I tried hard to imagine the strategy meeting in Tokyo where they came up with that and concluded that either (a) it means something in Japanese or (b) they all thought it would be funny to confuse the foreigners and have them wonder why they called it that.

Then I thought (was stuck in traffic) about other car names and how odd they actually are. Such as

Fiesta
Escort
Zephyr
Cortina
Wish
Fit
Jazz
Accord
Pajero (esp in Spanish)
Leon

Just some examples. If you think about it outside the context of familiarity, they are actually all very odd things to call a car.

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#1421211 4-Nov-2015 21:31

Jimny
Huayra

Mark

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#1421213 4-Nov-2015 21:34

I had a Isuzu MU (Mysterious Utility) for a number of years, strange name, mini tank of a vehicle.

I find the Nissan Z "Fairlady" to be a weird name for quite a good car.

scuwp

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#1421214 4-Nov-2015 21:36

"Emina" always got me chuckling. I have the mind of a 10 year old....

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

MikeB4

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#1421220 4-Nov-2015 21:41

scuwp: "Emina" always got me chuckling. I have the mind of a 10 year old....

Same with me

Sideface

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#1421223 4-Nov-2015 21:43

Manufactures need to consider the meaning of their model names in other languages.

For example, the Chevrolet Nova was a sales disaster in Mexico and Spain, where "Nova" means "it doesn't go"

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lurker

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#1421236 4-Nov-2015 22:02

How about the Ford Probe... I think you're meant to drive it into things

davidcole

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#1421240 4-Nov-2015 22:09

The new Subaru levorg

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shk292

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#1421260 4-Nov-2015 22:31

I like the Toyota MR2, pronounced emmerdeux in French, meaning sh1tty

Or the Mitsu Starion, which (according to Clarkson) was meant to be the Stallion, except the senior Mitsu executive pronounced it wrong and nobody had the nerve to correct him

sdav

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#1421291 4-Nov-2015 23:25

Bongowagon...

jarledb

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#1421293 4-Nov-2015 23:39

They were about to launch Honda Fitta in Scandinavia. Its slang for the female genitalia in both norwegian and swedish :D

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JoshWright

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#1421295 4-Nov-2015 23:41

There's the 'Toyota ISIS' and 'Toyota Voxy'... ahh the Japanese Domestic Market. Hell, there's even a car named 'Daihatsu Naked'

freitasm

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#1421297 4-Nov-2015 23:50

Sideface: Manufactures need to consider the meaning of their model names in other languages.

For example, the Chevrolet Nova was a sales disaster in Mexico and Spain, where "Nova" means "it doesn't go"

Actually "No va" but when spoken quickly it sounds as "Nova".

Like Pinto, which in Portuguese is the word for chick (as in birds) but also a slang for "dick". In Spanish it's a spotted animal.

Fiesta means "party" so not a big deal. Cortina means curtains in Portuguese and Spanish.

Zephyr is a wind, so the name could be related to its speed or agility.

Japanese in general have the weird names... MU is certainly strange.

There is the VW Rabbit (Golf brand in the USA) and the VW Bora (replaced with Jetta later in 2005). Those are strange names...

Aredwood

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#1421302 5-Nov-2015 00:39

Geektastic: OK, I was stuck behind a car today which was called a "Wingroad".

I tried hard to imagine the strategy meeting in Tokyo where they came up with that and concluded that either (a) it means something in Japanese or (b) they all thought it would be funny to confuse the foreigners and have them wonder why they called it that.

Then I thought (was stuck in traffic) about other car names and how odd they actually are. Such as

Fiesta
Escort
Zephyr
Cortina
Wish
Fit
Jazz
Accord
Pajero (esp in Spanish)
Leon

Just some examples. If you think about it outside the context of familiarity, they are actually all very odd things to call a car.