# Why are cars named after small Western towns and not big cities? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 3, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805 "2026-09-03T22:37:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/1 "2026-09-03T22:37:35Z")
I can think of the: Sedona Durango Tacoma Tucson Santa Fe But, no Chicago, Houston, Boston, or Washington DC. Although there is a New York-er. And, for that matter, no Biloxi, Portsmouth, or Wheaton. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/2 "2026-09-03T22:44:13Z")
Big cities make you think of traffic, noise, and pollution. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/3 "2026-09-03T22:44:49Z")
All the vehicles you mention are SUVs or pickup trucks. Why are they named for western small towns you ask? Because that’s where the Marlboro Man lives. And that’s the ethos, or the suburban echo of that ethos, that they’re selling. Wide open spaces, do whatever you want, no sissies here. Not so much Tacoma or Tucson, but the other places also call to mind very pretty scenery. That you can go visit or camp or even just drive through in our powerful capable spacious SUVs & pickups. Get yours today! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/4 "2026-09-03T22:55:44Z")
This car is made in New York City. New York City! ---
**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:** [September 3, 2026, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/5 "2026-09-03T22:58:37Z")
There’s the Buick Park Avenue, Subaru Tribeca or the Hyundai Palisade. And the Ferrari California. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/6 "2026-09-03T23:08:29Z")
I don’t think buyers would be lined up to purchase an Oakland, no matter if it was made by Chevrolet or Ferrari. ETA: My parents drove to Walnut Creek when my mom went into labor so my birth certificate didn’t have “Oakland” on it! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/7 "2026-09-03T23:10:16Z")
Big SUVs or pickups are marketed to a rural audience or those who would like to think they aren’t in traffic but out driving the wide open road. Other cars are marketed for other audiences. Fast cars are named Sebring, Daytona, and Le Mans. Luxury cars are named for California towns - Bel Air, Pacifica, Malibu. Most big gas-guzzlers are sold in the U.S. than anything else, so the open road wins. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/8 "2026-09-03T23:13:52Z")
Pontiac - American Indian Chief. Bonneville - salt flats, where it’s OK to see how fast that thing will go. Modern names are kinda Meh. “Elantra” sounds like some pharmaceutical mood elevator. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/9 "2026-09-03T23:16:43Z")
I also suspect that big cities are more recognizable. I won’t say which ones, but I will admit there were a couple I didn’t know were city names before learning about them. So I don’t have any associations with them beyond what the name sounds like. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2026, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/10 "2026-09-03T23:19:22Z")
Pretty soon there will be an automotive/pharma joint venture, involving the Buick Skyrizi and the Ford Rexulti. "I wasn’t _progressing_ fast enough in my Toyota Trintellix, but the supercharged V-8 Rexulti has me on a fast-moving cloud! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/11 "2026-09-03T23:20:05Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Tacoma Man, I have a memory of the residents of Tacoma being mystified at a truck being named for their town, including a comment about it being an industrial town (NB Toyota says it isn’t named for the town) But I can’t find that article. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/12 "2026-09-03T23:22:07Z")
They should have named it Tillicum, just outside of Tacoma. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/13 "2026-09-03T23:23:00Z")
Tacoma is a traditional name for Mt. Rainier. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/14 "2026-09-04T00:06:50Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I don’t think buyers would be lined up to purchase an Oakland There actually used to be a car brand called Oakland. > **[Oakland Motor Car Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Motor_Car_Company)** > > The Oakland Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer and later division of General Motors in operation from 1907 to 1931. Located in Pontiac, Michigan, it was purchased by General Motors in 1909 and continued to produce modestly priced automobiles until 1931 when the brand was dropped in favor of the division's Pontiac brand. The Oakland Motor Company was created by Edward Murphy, who owned the Pontiac Buggy Company, and Alanson Brush, inventor of the single-cylinder Cadillac ... ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/15 "2026-09-04T00:31:53Z")
Bel-Air & Malibu= Part of LA. Torino and Milano are cities in Italy. Lucerne in Switzerland. and there was the Ferrari California and the Chevrolet Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/16 "2026-09-04T01:24:15Z")
Don’t forget the [Kia Telluride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Telluride). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/17 "2026-09-04T01:30:42Z")
This is the first time I’ve ever heard Tacoma, population 219,000 and home to the sixth largest commercial port in America, described as a “small town”. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not so much Tacoma… but the other places also call to mind very pretty scenery. Ahem. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRefW-bkI7tjbTtaOgUgbDKIh8JSfJe_NCIwR2FOvaRUQk82TZOAzt4J1w&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRefW-bkI7tjbTtaOgUgbDKIh8JSfJe_NCIwR2FOvaRUQk82TZOAzt4J1w&s=10) ---
**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:** [September 4, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/18 "2026-09-04T01:36:15Z")
Obviously a composite picture-- They edited out the rain. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/19 "2026-09-04T01:41:28Z")
Hey, it doesn’t rain ALL the time! And I’ll have you know it no longer smells bad, either. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805/20 "2026-09-04T01:51:46Z")
A family I know has two daughters, Sierra and Savanna. I joked (NOT to them!) that if they had a son, they’d obviously name him Jimmy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cars-named-after-small-western-towns-and-not-big-cities/1032805.md?page=2)