# OJ and the Bronco - is there any other vehicle that has notoriety in this manner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577 "2018-10-06T20:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Catsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c0e974/32.png) [@Catsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsie)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/61 "2018-10-09T11:08:33Z")
The stripped-down cop car of the Blues Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/62 "2018-10-09T15:15:36Z")
The 1920 Chevrolet Frontenac. It crashed in a race, killing Gaston Chevrolet. The Chevrolet is the only product I can think of that was named for a person who was killed while operating it. Also, Buddy Holly’s airplane. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/63 "2018-10-09T17:18:58Z")
Another notorious (and also unknown name) auto high up on my list and probably for a lot of other people in cultural history is the car in which Isadora Duncan was driving (or passenger?) when her scarf got caught in the wheels and violent and spectacular death ensued. I think that unusual death is particularly memorable because an important part of the revolutionary art vision of her dancing–the liberation from classical ballet and strictured female physicality–was always associated in her performances (and based on this in her private life) by billowing loose clothing, specifically scarves flung with joyous abandon. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/64 "2018-10-09T23:17:56Z")
Mercedes-Benz W31. That’s the 6-wheeled German Army staff car that Hitler used in parades. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/65 "2018-10-09T23:47:18Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > While the OP eliminated the DeLorean because of the _Back to the Future_ franchise, I will nominate it anyway - the _second_ thing I think of when I see a DeLorean was John DeLorean’s cocaine bust while trying to raise money to save the company. That’s a real life person and event, so it qualifies. And it was big news at the time, there were [posters](https://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-1042164/vintage-delorean-coke-dealer-poster-back-to-the-future-coca-cola-very-rare-80s.html)and everything. Along those lines, I have a hard time thinking about Tesla Motors without thinking about all the dramas surrounding Elon Musk. Come to think of it, can anyone think of Hughes H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose” flying boat without thinking about what a nutjob Howard Hughes was? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/66 "2018-10-10T00:38:15Z")
I wouldn’t describe him as a “nutjob”, he was a brilliant engineer who suffered from severe mental illness. But yes, the H4 Hercules or “Spruce Goose” (which was not its actual material, but the name stuck) is of course always going to be associated with the drama surrounding Hughes’ personal life; and it was a one-off prototype, not a production aircraft, and it was only ever used one time, so it will always be regarded as more of an ill-fated elaborate overly-ambitious project than for its actual intended purpose. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/67 "2018-10-10T01:44:12Z")
> [@KMS94](#): > > “Ted Kennedy’s Oldsmobile has killed more people than my guns” is a fairly well known phrase. My first reaction when I read this was “Wait, didn’t he drive a VW?” [A parody](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/60/46/02/604602620dc6eb86ed10ec611fef51cd.jpg) has supplanted reality in my brain… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/68 "2018-10-10T01:52:11Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Come to think of it, can anyone think of Hughes H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose” flying boat without thinking about what a nutjob Howard Hughes was? What do you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Brawndo\_with\_Electrolytes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Brawndo\_with\_Electrolytes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brawndo_with_Electrolytes)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/69 "2018-10-10T02:06:57Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I can’t think of any vehicles; but as far commercial products go, I don’t think there is anyone above a certain age who doesn’t think of Jim Jones and the mass suicide in Jonestown when anyone mentions Kool-Aid. Particularly when they say anything about “drinking the Kool-Aid,” since that’s literally the source of that saying. ---
**Author:** ![Brawndo\_with\_Electrolytes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Brawndo\_with\_Electrolytes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brawndo_with_Electrolytes)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/70 "2018-10-10T02:08:36Z")
Hummers. Not because of any notorious event, just because driving one makes you automatically a douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/71 "2018-10-10T03:49:49Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > What do you mean? Howard Hughes had pretty severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and was a recluse for the last ten years of his life. The Wikipedia article about the last years of his life detail it better so I’m not going to transcribe all of it here. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard\_Hughes#Last\_years\_and\_death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes#Last_years_and_death) ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/72 "2018-10-10T14:04:37Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Howard Hughes had pretty severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and was a recluse for the last ten years of his life. The Wikipedia article about the last years of his life detail it better so I’m not going to transcribe all of it here. > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard\_Hughes#Last\_years\_and\_death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes#Last_years_and_death) I don’t know how realistic _The Aviator_ is, but there’s a pretty good scene in it where Hughes, played by Leonardo Di Caprio, is stuck in a bathroom because he doesn’t want to touch the door handle after having washed his hands till they were bloody. He has this moment where he knows he’s losing it, but he can’t do anything about it. Slipping into mental illness slowly must be terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/73 "2018-10-10T14:43:29Z")
IIRC, at the time, they still thought obsessive/compulsive disorder was psychological, rather than neurological or neurochemical, so the medicines available at the time being prescribed were only making matters worse. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/74 "2018-10-10T17:21:27Z")
It’s not something we see in service today, but I’d say the B-29 Superfortress bomber pretty much always brings to mind a couple of notoriously violent events. [Enola Gay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enola_Gay) [Bockscar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bockscar) [Tokyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/75 "2018-10-10T21:22:42Z")
I couldn’t say what role OKC bombing did for Ryder, but the shift to white paint jobs took place about the same time everyone shifted to white paint jobs. A plain white finish is simpler and cheaper. And in this bottom-line driven world in which we live in, cost beats aesthetics. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/76 "2018-10-10T21:48:06Z")
If you visit Dearborn, Mich., you can see and sit in Rosa Parks’s meticulously-restored bus - and I have!: [https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/316872](https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/316872) ---
**Author:** ![bleach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bleach/32/3106_2.png) [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/77 "2018-10-11T04:05:53Z")
These don’t refer to exactly one vehicle but a class of vehicles/individuals: The Pope (recent incarnations) and The Popemobile (all incarnations) In LA we have [Angelyne](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelyne) and her pink Corvette(s) with personalized license plate ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/78 "2018-10-11T16:37:42Z")
> [@Brawndo\_with\_Electrolytes](#): > > Particularly when they say anything about “drinking the Kool-Aid,” since that’s literally the source of that saying. Awesome username/post combo. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577/79 "2018-10-11T17:20:07Z")
Unfortunately enough for Kool-Aid, the actual drink mix used at Jonestown was Flavor Aid. Doesn’t seem to have put them out of business though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-and-the-bronco-is-there-any-other-vehicle-that-has-notoriety-in-this-manner/822577.md?page=3)