# car names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 9, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084 "2003-05-09T11:46:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tanja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@tanja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanja)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/1 "2003-05-09T11:46:38Z")
Dear Cecil, Sienna is a city (or, rather, a town) in Italy. So Japanese haven’t come down THAT low. ---
**Author:** ![Tarantula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e274bd/32.png) [@Tarantula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarantula)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/2 "2003-05-09T12:47:14Z")
“Siena” - with one “N” is a city in Italy. “Sienna” is a town in Poland. The Japanese haven’t come so low that they can’t tell Poland from Italy - so in that sense you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![tanja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@tanja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanja)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/3 "2003-05-09T12:59:27Z")
[http://www.kolacki.com/Sienna.htm](http://www.kolacki.com/Sienna.htm) just one of the examples. as long as I’ve noticed, we speak English in here, kiddo. ---
**Author:** ![Tarantula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e274bd/32.png) [@Tarantula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarantula)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/4 "2003-05-09T13:08:41Z")
No offence meant. Still - I think Bob Kolacki (whoever he is) could do without making up translations of place names. Check [Expedia.co.uk](http://Expedia.co.uk) - the map people. They list two towns for “Sienna” - both in Poland. They also list two for “Siena” - but the other one is in Ghana. Sorry - “Sienna” is still Poland. :@) ---
**Author:** ![dbmacg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dbmacg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbmacg)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/5 "2003-05-09T13:12:08Z")
A note on ‘GTO’ There used to be a car racing class called ‘Grand Touring’, and the Ferrari GTO was one car that was approved for that racing class. The English word for Omologato is ‘Homologated’, or ‘agreed upon’. Pontiac swiped the name, but their cars could never live up to what the name GTO meant, and were never part of that racing class. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/6 "2003-05-11T14:10:19Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the Straight Dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in thy post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link: [Why do car makers come up with so many meaningless car names? (03-Dec-1982)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_189.html) * * * moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)» ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/7 "2003-05-11T14:22:00Z")
The strangest name I ever heard of was the Holden Monaro in australia. Monaro was an aboriginal slang term for womans breast. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/8 "2003-05-11T19:04:56Z")
Wasn’t there a 70’s japanese car sold in the UK as the Datsun/Nissan Cecil? ---
**Author:** ![aviddiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aviddiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aviddiva)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/9 "2003-05-11T20:47:48Z")
My favorite has always been the Plymouth Reliant. It sounds pretty good until you realize that ‘reliant’ means “having or exhibiting reliance; dependent.” [(dictionary.com)](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=reliant) ---
**Author:** ![tanja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@tanja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanja)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/10 "2003-05-12T05:33:23Z")
ok, hands up, white flag and guilty expresion: i was wrong ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-names/174084/11 "2003-05-12T22:13:15Z")
Reliant Energy - think they meant _Reliable_?