Cecil, it ain’t just the Americans who come up with weird or meaningless names for their cars.
I currently live in Japan and something that I’ve noticed is that many of the current names have a Latin-language feel to them. Unfortunately, a great many Japanese do not actually speak Latin languages, particularly, it seems, the executives in charge of naming their vehicles.
Case in point: one of the most popular SUVs in Japan right now is the Mitsubishi Pajero. One of my many roommates in my college days was from Uruguay. I learned some extremely rude South-American Spanish slang from him that included this word (pronounced pah-he-row). It means basically the same thing as “wanker” but it’s a lot more derogatory toward the person’s manhood. To top it off, Mitsubishi also makes a Mini-Pajero.
This has provided me as well as my Brazilian and Peruvian friends with much mirth. Explaining it to our Japanese friends is even more fun.
Ford basically lost it’s way when it stopped naming cars after adult magazines, such as the Escort & Fiesta. I mean the Mondeo - what sort of name is that.
Sanity has since returned to the Ford boardroom, though, with current models such as the Probe selling well.
A really strange name was that of Mitsubishi Starion, a small sports car. Some say that they really wanted to name the car Stallion, but since the japanese language doesn’t make a distinction between r and l, they ended up with Starion!
They might also wanted to combine the words Star and Stallion. I don’t think Mitsubishi has given a definite answer on the subject.
Well, GM’s Buick LaCrosse proved troublesome in the province of Quebec. Apparently, while Canada’s official national sport might come to mind to many, the term refers to masturbation for many French Canadians. I haven’t heard if or what GM has renamed the car for the Quebec market…
Yamaha used to have a bike called the TDM. “Tedium”? Not a good name for a bike. (And Toyota has TRD on some of their vehicles. “Hey, mister! You have turd on your car!”)
So, basically what you’re saying is that a Japanese can wake up in the morning, brush his and/or her teeth with Darkie toothpaste, break his fast on My Pee cereal products, and jump into his Pajero.
For those who don’t know the joke, Douglas Adams once owned a Ford Prefect, and he said it was the worst character that he ever owned. So he named a character after it.
He was also at a resort one time and kept losing his towel. He figured a really together guy would be someone who always knew where his towel was.
For those who don’t know the joke, Douglas Adams once owned a Ford Prefect, and he said it was the worst car that he ever owned. So he named a character after it.
He was also at a resort one time and kept losing his towel. He figured a really together guy would be someone who always knew where his towel was.
And to clarify a little bit more the Ford Prefect was a popular model from the British Ford company (better known, though incorrectly as “English Ford”), made from 1938 to 1959.
Toyota make a neat roadster caled the MR2. In England we pronounce that “em-ar-too”, which is OK if a little meaningless. However in France it doesn’t sell too well, I understand, because they pronounce it something like “em-air-der” which sounds uncomfortably like “merde” if you say it quickly…
And whilst we’re on the subject, in Ben Elton’s satirical novel “Gridlock”, the executives of Global Motors are a little displeased by the name of their company’s new car. An international focus panel has come up with the name “Crapi”. It’s supposed to sound vaguely Italian, with the emphasis on the second syllable (“cra-pee”), but of course the obvious pronounciation is “crappy”.
Does anyone know whether Elton was inspired by ther MR2?