Names that WIN and names that FAIL

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlexGTV
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Italian names are cheating. You can say anything in Italian and it'll sound sexy.

Cambiocorsa, say, or Integrale or Cinquecento...


Smallhorses
Fail:

MR2 (If you live in France this actually sounds like an AUP violating word for "dog poo"!)
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This made me chuckle... though you would most likely say it ehmer-2 instead of mehr-*.

Smallhorses
Erm... This vicious little bugger is a Cayman:
animal30.gif
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+1. Cayman is an awesome name.

As is Samurai. The comedy is in the car they attached it to... not the name itself.

Laputa is a mythical island in the sky, from Gulliver's travels. Blame the author, not the car-maker...

Or actually... blame most readers for not understanding Swift's wit, for his naming of the male-dominated island is most likely a satirical twist.
 
Really, you can't win harder than having a car called the Suzuki Every Joy Pop Turbo! I mean, I guess that's what they thought... Slap together three rather positive sounding English words and don't forget to add mention it's got a turbo. I won't even bother posting a picture actually. It looks like every other kei van made.

Also, one that I really love, the Toyota Space Cruiser. It's really just a name they gave the MasterAce for the European market. I mean, just look at it, doesn't it make you think of some futuristic unobtainium-powered spacecraft? No? Me neither.
250px-Toyota_Van_1.jpg
 
Jim Prower
WIN:
Nova - It's an exploding star. How can you not call THAT win?
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Thanks. Finally.

Also, Reventon over here in Mexico is a slang term for saying you are having a freaking good party. I mean, REALLY, REALLY FREAKING GOOD. So yeah, it may not sound Lamboesque, but in here the name is absolutelly all kinds of awesome.
 
BRITISH CARS

Win: SPITFIRE
Fail: ALLEGRO


FRENCH CARS:

Win: ID and DS (ID = Idea; Deésse = Goddess)
Fail: Kangoo


GERMAN CARS:

Win: MANTA and SCIROCCO
Fail: JETTA


ITALIAN CARS:

Win: MIURA
Fail: MONDIAL


JAPANESE CARS:

Win: GT ONE
Fail: Skyline
 
Win: Plymouth Fury, Lamborghini Espada, Buick Regal, Imperial, Oldsmobile Toronado, Toyota Soarer, Plymouth Roadrunner/Superbird, Oldsmobile Rocket, Dodge Viper, AMC Rebel, Pontiac Grand Prix, Hyundai Genesis

Fail: Scion, Dodge Polara, VW Rabbit, Buick Lacrosse, Pontiac Sunbird, Buick Lucerne
 
Hm, I'm sure I made a thread like this and it got locked. Oh well never mind. On topic, I must say TVR have probably got it nailed with good names.

Griffith
Cerbera
Chimaera
Tuscan

So on...
 
Win
----
Aileron
Murcielago
Vantage
Vanquish
Caliber
Avenger
Viper
Delica Spacegear
Superamerica
Silvia
Crossfire

Fail
----
Gumpert
MiTo
The correct pronunciation for Gallardo
MP4-12C
Demio
Durango
Neon
Caravan
Stavic
Tribeca
Sharan
Routan
Eclectic
Jimny
 
I'm finding that a LOT of the posts in here are talking about the car, not the name. Remember, think of what the name means, not what the car is.

for example:

AMC Gremlin: Gremlins. Awesome Little troublemakers. That's a win.
AMC Pacer: Pacer. like, Pacemaker? like, Keeping Pace? Or Setting pace? or walking back and forth? The third suggestion might push it over win, but the rest are just FAIL.

One name that FAILED due to timing was the Studebaker Dictator. At the time Stude announced the name, in '27, Italian Dictator Mussolini was quite popular in the States...and then the negative connotations started, thanks to Hitler. Studebaker killed the name in '37.

The car was named "Director" in markets where "Dictator" wasn't well viewed.
 
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I consider WilliamsF1 naming scheme of FWnn (nn is generation number) is quite fail. I used to think that FW is firmware. :boggled: :rolleyes: (FW is actually stands for Frank Williams)

The Ferrari F150(th Italia) - had also a fail name for a while (F150, which caused a stir due to naming conflict with Ford) - altough the failness has been reduced now - with F150th Italia. ;)

(Sorry for bump and F1-ism ;))
 
Win: Turbo, Lancer, Impreza, Vanquish, Kapitän, Viper, Continental, Agera, Silvia, Exige, Evora, Esprit, Elise

Fail: Unimog, Hummer, Miata, Leaf, Aygo, Insight, Supra
 
New Zealand is the land of the Japanese import, which is great if you want to buy JDM spec Skylines, Type Rs etc. But it also means that we get exposed to the worst names that the Japanese car designers come up with.

A Toyota Corolla II Windy for starters, or
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a Toyota Estima Emina Aeras (a name that's just begging to be mispronounced)
154262511_full.jpg


Toyota Funcargo
auction-352909485.htm


Nissan Elgrand Highway Star
159257527_full.jpg


Nissan Homy G
157788578_full.jpg


Mazda Bongo Friendee
158450808_full.jpg
 
NSX. Because, well, you know... N'SeX'.

Also, Lotus Exige and Lamborghini Gallardo (its correct pronunciation, though, isn't believed by some people who I tell).

EDIT: This should be made a poll, but I understand compiling the list of all the conceivably awesome caar names of the past 125 years would be time-consuming.
 
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Win:
Quattroporte
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Cambiocorsa
De Tomaso Pantera
Maserati Bora
Ferrari Testarossa
Ferrari Daytona
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Spyker Aileron
Koenigsegg
Ascari
Most muscle cars (Charger, Superbird, etc.)
Fail
Toyota Solara (in Polish, 'solara' means a girl, usually blonde, who uses way too much make-up and sun beds, girl who can appear on "Snog, Marry, Avoid").
Most Daihatsus
Honda Insight
McLaren MP4-12C (car is a win, name is a fail)
Pagani Who-are-ya
 
Names that rock:

TVR Sagaris, Pagani Zonda, Ford Gran Torino, Chevy Monte Carlo, Maserati Quattroporte, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Plymouth Barracuda, Triumph Spitfire and a few others.

Names that suck:
Ford Probe, Volkswagen Rabbit, McLaren MP4-12C, Pontiac Aztek, Nissan Murano, Toyota Aygo, Dodge Polara among others.
 
Win:
Nissan GT-R
Mercedes SLS AMG
Nissan Skyline
Honda NSX
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Dodge Viper
Nissan Silvia
Ford Mustang
Dodge Challenger
Chevy Camaro
Plymouth Barracuda

Fail:
Kia Picanto
Kia Morning
Ssangyong Rexton
Renault Grand Modus
Dacia Duster
Ssangyong Kyron (ironic, as it sounds like my first name)
Ssangyong Rodius
Reliant Robin
Ford Probe
Nissan Pixo
VW Rabbit
Toyota Prius
Austin Allegro
 
Direct from Richard Hammond's Book "Car Confidential" Here are a few:

Win: Pontiac Firebird, Corvette Stingray, Dodge Charger, Dodge Viper, Plymoth Barracuda, Lamborghini Miura.

Fails: The Life Dunk, The Rocky, The Bongo Friendee, Delica Space Gear, The Grand Chariot and The Big Thumb.

Fails for a reason: The Opel Ascona (Sold Poorly in Galicia, Spain beacuse it sounds like slang for a lady's privates), The Buick LaCrosse (In Quebec, Canada LaCrosse is slang for er... masturbation?)

Below is a picture of the amazing Bongo Friendee :)
bongo_friendee.jpg
 
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Mitsubishi Starion
American PR: Call it...the Stallion
Mitsubishi-san: Ok...we will call it the Starion

Mitsubishi Pajero
Middle East PR: Call it...the Pajero
Euro PR: YOUR a wanker!
Mitsubishi-san: I like Pajero better.
 
Other names that win : Cutlass Supreme, Delta 88 Royale, Buick Roadmaster, Pontiac Grand Ville, Pontiac Grand Prix .

A recent name fail: Audi E-Tron concept. Etron is a french word to describe an ugly person or a big s**t.
 
LIL_KACHING
Other names that win : Cutlass Supreme, Delta 88 Royale, Buick Roadmaster, Pontiac Grand Ville, Pontiac Grand Prix .

A recent name fail: Audi E-Tron concept. Etron is a french word to describe an ugly person or a big s**t.
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LOL

Oh man after I had that mexican food I took a massive E-Tron.
 
The gold list of good names:

Brougham d'Elegance
Ambassador
Pacer (the tag line was fail though - 'You only ride like a Pacer if you're wide like a Pacer' - preempting N. America's love of fast food?💡
Maranello
Brera
Continental
Mulsanne
Town Car
Crown Victoria
Viper
Charger
Challenger
Eldorado
Quattroporte
GranTurismo
Storm
Phantom
Ghost
Spitfire
Cobra
Hornet
Zephyr
Park Avenue
New Yorker
LeBaron

The bad and the ugly:

Chevette
Pinto
Cedric
Exelero
Gremlin
Accord
Caliber
Sky
LaCrosse
Lucurne
Estoque
Neon
Almost anything with numbers/letters (too many to name)
Concepts names too weird to pronounce properly (too many to name)
 
WIN (some strictly due to the name though)

Abarth Zagato
Pontiac Tempest
Chevrolet Apache

Dodge Conquest (although I feel the need to point out the double entendre here. so it could be either way)

On the FAIL side of things I have good news!

nobody (that I could see) has called out the new Dacia Sandero... because that is a seriously retched name for a truly retched automobile.
 
Win: Sunbird (I have one IRL), Sunfire, Samurai, Syclone, Typhoon, etc.

Fail: Roomster (???), most Toyota names, Gremlin (unfortunate coincidence or cruel joke?), Aveo, Neon
 
White & Nerdy
Win: Sunbird (I have one IRL), Sunfire, Samurai, Syclone, Typhoon, etc.

Fail: Roomster (???), most Toyota names, Gremlin (unfortunate coincidence or cruel joke?), Aveo, Neon
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The Gremlin was actually launched on April 1, 1970 - April Fool's day. No joke. Love the car itself, but they really could have picked a better name, so I'd say cruel joke!:):)

But then again, 671,000 people bought one, so I'm not sure who the joke is on!:confused:
 

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