# Stupidest NAME for any Car **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331 "2003-12-21T17:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/41 "2003-12-22T13:39:31Z")
But on the other hand, who could resist a Datsun (or Nissan) Sunny? You just couldn’t drive a car with such a happy name to a place like the dentist, or divorce court. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/42 "2003-12-22T14:00:24Z")
My mom told me (I odon’t know if it was true) that Ford decided to market a car specifically to women. The name of tis car? The Probe. That just makes me think of the gynocologist. Really. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/43 "2003-12-22T14:11:22Z")
I drive a Toyota ECHO. Yes, that’s right, not an Echo, an ECHO. Why is it all caps? Does it stand for something? Does it feel the need to draw extra attention to itself? Is it trolling the highways because it can’t participate in message boards? It is a mystery to me. ---
**Author:** ![crawford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cab0a1/32.png) [@crawford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crawford)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/44 "2003-12-22T14:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hyjyljyj \* > **VW, the company which owns Rolls-Royce Motorcars** BMW owns Rolls-Royce. VW owns Bentley. But _ **TOUAREG** _ still gets my vote as stupidest name. ---
**Author:** ![FriendRob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@FriendRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendRob)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/45 "2003-12-22T17:23:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Early Out \* > \*\*Let’s not forget the _Daihatsu Charade_, which only pretends to be a car. \*\* That gets my vote too. However, **Cedric** is amazingly bad, too, and **Sublight’s** entries are unbeleivable! **Mazda: Bongo Friendee??** Where are those names from? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/46 "2003-12-22T20:20:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clayton\_e \* > \*\*The Aztec. Once a group of Native Americans living peacefully with nature in the southwest… Now a gas guzzling SUV. \*\* Not to mention one of the ugliest cars in existence. Even worse is the greenish booger-colored one I saw outside CVS one day. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/47 "2003-12-22T20:29:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jmizzou \* > \*\*The [VW Phaeton](http://www.thephaeton.co.uk/). In Greek mythology, [Phaeton](http://www.hipark.austin.isd.tenet.edu/mythology/phaeton.html) was the sun god’s son, and foolishly asked Daddy if he could drive the Sun for a day. Of course, he couldn’t control it, and managed to scorch quite a bit of land before being killed by Zeus. > > A rash decision, loss of control, and _death_. What an image for a car. \*\* The VW Phaeton is meant to be their top-of-the-line luxury offering, and there’s a vague association of the name _Phaeton_ and luxury transport. That’s probably because the model name _phaeton_ was used for several cars now considered classic, like the Duesenberg Phaeton. Earlier, in the days of horse-powered transportation, a _phaeton_ was a type of carriage. In much the same way the name “brougham”–another type of horse-drawn vehicle–was used on some American sedans in the 60s and 70s. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/48 "2003-12-22T21:13:39Z")
My first car was a Charade! HEY! Okay, well, it was a pretty goofy name in retrospect. And an amusingly tiny car. But it was MINE. ---
**Author:** ![VivaEuropa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@VivaEuropa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VivaEuropa)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/49 "2003-12-22T21:26:59Z")
Maybe a tad off topic, but: A really great driving game is to add the word “anal” to the name of a car. I read this somewhere and have done it constantly in my mind every since. This works especially well for SUVs, but is hillarious no matter what. Some of my favorites: Anal Rodeo Anal Dynasty Anal Explorer ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/50 "2003-12-22T22:15:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cazzle \* > \*\*But on the other hand, who could resist a Datsun (or Nissan) Sunny? You just couldn’t drive a car with such a happy name to a place like the dentist, or divorce court. 🙂 \*\* IIRC, the 280 ZX was going to be called “Bluebird.” Seems Datsun/Nissan has a thing for cheery names. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/51 "2003-12-22T22:27:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by VivaEuropa \* > \*\*Anal Rodeo > Anal Dynasty > Anal Explorer \*\* Brilliant. Was this inspired by the Ford Probe? How about: Anal Tahoe Anal XL-7 Anal Pacifica Anal F-150 Anal RX-330 Anal ML-320 Anal X5 Yea. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/52 "2003-12-23T01:15:12Z")
Well okay then, how about Anal Gremlin 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/53 "2003-12-23T02:27:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*IIRC, the 280 ZX was going to be called “Bluebird.” Seems Datsun/Nissan has a thing for cheery names. \*\* Actually, that’s the name they use for it outside the US. Another good one from Nissan is their non-US name for the Z: **Nissan Fairlady**. ---
**Author:** ![Oat1957](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Oat1957](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oat1957)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/54 "2003-12-23T02:54:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oat1957 \* > \*\*Pinto. Why name a car after a bean. \*\* Sigh… It should have been: Why name a car after a bean? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/55 "2003-12-23T03:03:23Z")
Does Nissan waqnt us to theink the XTerra is out of this world? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![PalJuicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@PalJuicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PalJuicy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/56 "2003-12-23T12:22:39Z")
Kia “Sportage” gets on my nerves. Toyota “Rav 4” is annoying as well. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/57 "2003-12-23T12:34:11Z")
“Sportage” makes me think of Pauly Shore, and that’s _not_ good… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/58 "2003-12-23T13:11:28Z")
More GM corporate namebabble: Chevy [Epica](http://www.gmcanada.com/english/vehicles/chevrolet/epica/epic_overview.html) and [Optra](http://www.gmcanada.com/english/vehicles/chevrolet/optra/optr_overview.html). Namewise, you’re not doing a good job of getting past ‘bland’ here. And it still looks like you’re trying to catch up to Honda. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/59 "2003-12-23T13:45:00Z")
The Ford Prefect. How can you name you car after a figure from THGTTG? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331/60 "2003-12-23T13:50:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragon Phoenix \* > \*\*The Ford Prefect. How can you name you car after a figure from THGTTG? \*\* Actually, [http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/Ford\_Prefect\_(HHG)](http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/Ford_Prefect_(HHG)) > [@](#): > > The fictional character Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is named after the Ford Prefect car, although author Douglas Adams later observed that the joke was lost on U.S. audiences who assumed it was a joke on “perfect”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-name-for-any-car/220331.md?page=4)