# Cars named after geological features **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281 "2025-10-25T17:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/1 "2025-10-25T17:44:53Z")
Another weird list. Looking for cars named after geological features, not just geographical. So far I have: Chrysler Pacifica Several companies made Atlantic or Atlantique cars GMC Sierra Pontiac Bonneville (the salt flats) GMC Denali Pontiac Catalina (Is an island both geological and geographical?) All the other ones I can come with are just location names. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/2 "2025-10-25T17:50:57Z")
GMC Canyon. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/3 "2025-10-25T18:29:32Z")
[deleted] Sorry…was geographical, but not a feature. [reminder to self: read, _comprehend_, respond.] ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/4 "2025-10-25T19:26:59Z")
The Mercury Mountaineer, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/5 "2025-10-25T19:34:29Z")
Toyota Highlander? Subaru Outback? Both can refer to specific areas (though pretty large areas in Scotland and Australia, respectively), but can also be more general. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/6 "2025-10-25T19:48:15Z")
The Volkswagen Golf, not named after the sport, but the geographical structure. Do winds count? Then also the VW Passat, Scirocco and Bora, all named after winds. ETA: in hindsight, I see that winds don’t count, they are meteorological phenomena. I confused “geological features” with “things you learned in geography class”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/7 "2025-10-25T19:53:23Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Another weird list. Looking for cars named after geological features, not just geographical. So far I have: > > Chrysler Pacifica > > Several companies made Atlantic or Atlantique cars Aren’t the Atlantic and the Pacific place names, not geological features? Geologic features would be things like mountains, cliffs, canyons, etc. That said, there’s the Canyonero (though fictional; it was in The Simpsons) or the Oldsmobile Delta 88. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/8 "2025-10-25T19:55:34Z")
Oh, got another one, the Ford Taunus. Taunus is a region in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/9 "2025-10-25T19:58:40Z")
Seat named seventeen car models after Spanish cities or towns: Seat Ronda (a town in Andalucía), Seat León, Seat Toledo, Seat Ibiza, Seat Málaga, Seat Marbella, Seat Córdoba, Seat Inca (a town in the Isle of Mallorca), Seat Alhambra (in Granada), Seat Arosa (after the town Villagarcía de Arosa in the province Pontevedra), Seat Altea (in Alicante), Seat Arona (in the Island of Teneriffe), Seat Tarraco (the Roman name of Tarragona). **[Source](https://web.motoreto.com/las-localidades-que-dan-nombre-a-los-modelos-de-seat/)**. Yes, those are more geography than geology, but geography takes place in or on top of geology, so there is that. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/10 "2025-10-25T20:14:31Z")
GMC Terrain. Great SUV. My wife drives one. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/11 "2025-10-25T20:27:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Aren’t the Atlantic and the Pacific place names, not geological features? Geologic features would be things like mountains, cliffs, canyons, etc. I would also question whether the Chrysler Pacifica is named after the Pacific Ocean, or the city of Pacifica, California. If it’s the latter then it would be just a location name, not a feature. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/12 "2025-10-25T20:30:22Z")
Honda Ridgeline ---
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/13 "2025-10-25T20:32:06Z")
Lincoln Continental, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/14 "2025-10-25T21:04:31Z")
Would El Camino count? Nissan Frontier? Toyota Tundra! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/15 "2025-10-25T21:07:45Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The Volkswagen Golf, not named after the sport, but the geographical structure. ??? The game and the verb meaning to play the game are all I see in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/16 "2025-10-25T21:11:38Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > ??? > > The game and the verb meaning to play the game are all I see in the dictionary. Sorry, “Golf” means “gulf” in German. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/17 "2025-10-25T21:46:30Z")
GMC Acadia and Yukon Chevy Tahoe Toyota Sequoia, although technically that’s a tree ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/18 "2025-10-25T22:29:45Z")
Ford Equator and Territory, both marketed in China I think. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/19 "2025-10-25T23:24:31Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Chevy Tahoe How did I miss this??? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281/20 "2025-10-25T23:31:02Z")
Isn’t there some sort of car named “Mesa”? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cars-named-after-geological-features/1024281.md?page=2)