# How in the hell do they come up with these stupid car names? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759 "2005-11-19T03:03:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/21 "2005-11-19T09:30:56Z")
> [@J. Gelert](#): > > Camry (what the hell is a camry, anyway? Does it mean anything?) Well… that’s what my Irish/Cajun great uncle calls a camera. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PinkShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/76d3ee/32.png) [@PinkShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/22 "2005-11-19T11:51:26Z")
I thought this was going to be a pit about the new Ford Fusion. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/23 "2005-11-19T12:18:42Z")
**Sunspace** pretty much nailed the reason why they’re named they way they are. Less chance of a negative association, you can brand it however you want, and it’s trademark-able. And in the interest of not being pitted, I’m not admitting to how many of names mentioned so far are my fault. ---
**Author:** ![PerditaX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@PerditaX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PerditaX)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/24 "2005-11-19T12:21:31Z")
I dunno. I’ll still take a car with a name, however odd or meaningless over the letter-and-number-combinations that so many cars have nowadays (RS-300, S-class, 5-series, J-30, etc.) That’s just lack of imagination! And considering how these types of cars are high-end models, you’d think they could afford to pay someone with imagination to give them a real name! As to silly names, I found it amusing a few years ago to find the Shadow, the Mirage, the Charade, and the Stealth all for sale at the same time. What were they trying to say? The cars were actually imaginary? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/25 "2005-11-19T13:30:38Z")
> [@J. Gelert](#): > > Camry (what the hell is a camry, anyway? Does it mean anything?) It’s what granny uses to take photy-graphs at the Grand Old Opry! ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/26 "2005-11-19T14:05:53Z")
Camry is an anagram of “my car”. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/27 "2005-11-19T15:53:39Z")
> [@](#): > > And while we’re on the subject, why the fuck is the Honda Civic called that? If you really MUST know, if it will allow you to sleep better at night… The original Honda Civic(think late 70’s) was called the ‘CVCC’. Quite a crappy name for a car if you ask me. They obviously took ‘CVCC’ and inserted a couple of vowels and made it into the closest thing they could without completely renaming the vehicle. Sam ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/28 "2005-11-19T16:03:10Z")
After looking at Lorinada’s links, Honda says ‘CVCC’ was the engine type. The Honday my cousins had never, ever, had a tag on it that said “CIVIC”. The solitary nameplate was the cvcc branding. :shrug: ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/29 "2005-11-19T16:14:06Z")
I’ve always thought Ford’s “Probe” took the prize for the dumbest model name. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/30 "2005-11-19T16:25:26Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > [Yaris is leather art.](http://www.fao.lv/yaris/) > (Among other things, mostly last names as far as I can determine.) Yaris sounds like a Puerto Rican or Cuban baby name. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/31 "2005-11-19T16:43:47Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > If you really MUST know, if it will allow you to sleep better at night… > > The original Honda Civic(think late 70’s) was called the ‘CVCC’. Quite a crappy name for a car if you ask me. They obviously took ‘CVCC’ and inserted a couple of vowels and made it into the closest thing they could without completely renaming the vehicle. > > Sam Nope, sorry. CVCC was one engine that was available for a Civic. Not all Civics of that era had CVCC engines. CVCC stand for > [@](#): > > C (“Compound”) represented the engine mechanism with two combustion chambers: main and auxiliary. V (“Vortex”) represented the vortex, or swirl, generated in the main chamber. Caused by a jet of flame from the prechamber injected via a nozzle, the vortex had the effect of increasing the speed of engine combustion. CC (“Controlled Combustion”) represented the engine’s ability to properly control the speed of combustion. From [Honda’s history pages](http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1972introducingthecvcc/text05/index.html) CVCC engines were also used in Accords. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/32 "2005-11-19T16:45:51Z")
Toyota also sells models called [Aygo](http://news.auto.cz/?article=3244) and [Avensis](http://www.whatcar.com/VideoRoadTest.asp?vtype=generic&VR=208628). What the heck do those names mean? ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/33 "2005-11-19T17:21:33Z")
I really don’t mind the nonsensical names. I do like to laugh at names like Outback, Explorer etc. These tend to be used for vehicles whose primary purpose will be taking the kids to school and picking up groceries. Most of them will never be driven off road at all (and a lot of them couldn’t anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/34 "2005-11-19T17:28:25Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > …it’s called the “Aspire”…and I instantly thought “Of course…because it aspires to be a real car someday…” Exactly. Whenever I see one on the road, I think of it saying (in a thin little high-pitched metallic voice: “I aspire to be a car.” Undoubtedly there are vast sums of money being paid to consultants to think up car names - the same sort of people who after much deliberation came up with the (now defunct) tourism slogan: “New Jersey - we’ll win you over”. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/35 "2005-11-19T17:40:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Undoubtedly there are vast sums of money being paid to consultants to think up car names - the same sort of people who after much deliberation came up with the (now defunct) tourism slogan: “New Jersey - we’ll win you over”. :dubious: The poet Marianne Moore wrote a very amusing prose piece about being asked for suggestions for Ford’s new then-in-design-stage model. After offering about a dozen suggestions (some of which, to be honest, were pretty stinky themselves…“The Intelligent Whale”?) Ford went with an in-house suggestion and called it the Edsel. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/36 "2005-11-19T17:40:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > My favorite is the Mitsubishi _Pajero_, marketed as the _Montero_ in any place with a significant Spanish speaking population. _Pajero_ means “jerk-off” in Spanish. ‘Mitsubishi Masturbator’ has a nice ring to it though. > [@Harimad-sol](#): > > > [@RickJay](#): > > > > And what the fuck’s an “Elantra”? > > Some sort of contraceptive, I’d say, if I didn’t know it was a car. Looking at the car, it _could_ be a contraceptive! [quote=J. Gelert Well, Toyota’s used some rather odd car names in the past: Camry (what the hell is a camry, anyway? Does it mean anything?) [/quote] ‘Camry’ is the anglicised pronunciation of the Japanese for ‘little crown’. > [@Rick](#): > > Nope, sorry. CVCC was one engine that was available for a Civic. Not all Civics of that era had CVCC engines. All of the ads I remember seeing when I was a kid said ‘CVCC’. All of these cars I saw had ‘CVCC’ on them. But that’s going from childhood memory, and you’re the Car Guy. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Exactly. Whenever I see one on the road, I think of it saying (in a thin little high-pitched metallic voice: “I aspire to be a car.” Exactly what I think. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/37 "2005-11-19T17:42:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > My favorite is the Mitsubishi _Pajero_, marketed as the _Montero_ in any place with a significant Spanish speaking population. _Pajero_ means “jerk-off” in Spanish. ‘Mitsubishi Masturbator’ has a nice ring to it though. > [@Harimad-sol](#): > > > [@RickJay](#): > > > > And what the fuck’s an “Elantra”? > > Some sort of contraceptive, I’d say, if I didn’t know it was a car. Looking at the car, it _could_ be a contraceptive! > [@J. Gelert](#): > > Well, Toyota’s used some rather odd car names in the past: > > Camry (what the hell is a camry, anyway? Does it mean anything?) ‘Camry’ is the anglicised pronunciation of the Japanese for ‘little crown’. > [@Rick](#): > > Nope, sorry. CVCC was one engine that was available for a Civic. Not all Civics of that era had CVCC engines. All of the ads I remember seeing when I was a kid said ‘CVCC’. All of these cars I saw had ‘CVCC’ on them. But that’s going from childhood memory, and you’re the Car Guy. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Exactly. Whenever I see one on the road, I think of it saying (in a thin little high-pitched metallic voice: “I aspire to be a car.” Exactly what I think. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/38 "2005-11-19T18:00:08Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > My favorite is the Mitsubishi _Pajero_, marketed as the _Montero_ in any place with a significant Spanish speaking population. _Pajero_ means “jerk-off” in Spanish. Don’t forget the Mazda [Laputa](http://www.laputa.mazda.co.jp/), which thankfully is _not_ marketed in Spanish-speaking countries. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/39 "2005-11-19T18:07:52Z")
> [@J. Gelert](#): > > Well, Toyota’s used some rather odd car names in the past: > > Tercel Actually, a tercel is a male falcon, so that one makes some sense. However, in falcons, like most birds of prey, the male is smaller and wimpier than the female, so the name may not quite convey the intended image. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759/40 "2005-11-19T18:27:16Z")
What’s really stupid is when they re-use a car name: [1978 Mercury Zephyr](http://www.postcardpost.com/cr34.jpg) [2006 Lincoln Zephyr](http://www.seriouswheels.com/2006/2006-Lincoln-Zephyr-FA-Flags-1600x1200.htm) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-hell-do-they-come-up-with-these-stupid-car-names/331759.md?page=3)