What's in a "car" name

I thought about VW. Used to be simple VW Type 1-4. Now there's:

CC, what the heck is a CC?

Toureg, what a stupid name. Unless you are in to vague words.

Routan, Crazy name for a Chrysler mini-van. Talk about badge engineering.

Remember Vanagon? Who thought that up. What's the matter with Van or wagon?

Scirroco was a nice name and is coming back. Similar meaning to Toureg but rolls of the tongue better.

Like I said in the first post. Pick a convention and stick to it.

 

Yeah look at Ford's Fox models. The designer's name gets referenced all over the WWW when it comes to Fairmont, Futura, Zephyr (old Lincoln name), Baby LTD, Baby Marquis, Cougar (1982), Capri, Mustang, even a TBird model.

Glad they didn't steal my version: Zorro III Phaeton.

 

I liked how, for a while, Mercury was all about The Sign of the Cat...Bobcat, Lynx, Cougar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofaCGy-wVV0
(Gawd, she was beautiful!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3Lmhh90f7k&feature=related
(ignore the eggheads after the ad! they are idiots)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2qrR3krSj0&feature=related
Cheryl Tiegs?

I think if Mercury wanted to target-market a personal luxury car to older women, Cougar would still be great! They could still use Ms. Tiegs!

David :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

I was told that Ford was wondering why the vehicle didn't sell in Mexico.

 

A friend of mine and I have had similar discussions. I'm glad others ponder this as well.

I remember a few years ago when FoMoCo went to the F-names for the Fords and the M-names for the Mercury's. The FiveHundred was an example of trying to revive an old name...although I don't remember any "FiveHundred's" (spelled out, I mean). I thought that was wierd. The Montego was another example. Nobody like them, it seemed and I remember reading how Ford felt that more people trusted the Taurus/Sable names...so they renamed the FiveHundred/Montego and supposedly, they sold better, as people "trusted" them more.

I am all for bringing back some cool names, but I think that the manufacturers need to really consider whether the new car really honors the old name...and is not just another 4-dr car that is wasting a good name.

I've been a Buick guy for quite some time and Buick had some good/classy names for their cars...but recently, Buick has gone in some other direction. The names LeSabre, Regal, Century, Park Avenue, Electra, Skylark, Skyhawk, etc. have served Buick well for so long and then they go to LaCrosse (which I understand is a risque term in Canada ) and Lucerne (which is a brand of milk and dairy products, at least in my area) and on completely different cars, at that. The LaCrosse replaced the Century/Regal and the Lucerne replaced the LeSabre/Park Avenue. I can sort of understand why Buick wanted to consolidate the very similar car lines, but in a couple years' time, they completely replace their lineup AND their names...I just don't think that people were ready for that...I think it has hurt Buick...in America, at least. In China, Buick is the sign of wealth...right up there with Cadillac. And in China, Buick is still selling the Park Avenue (but not as we know it) and the Regal. They are wildly popular there and if Buick were to have brought them here (especially under their well-known names), I have heard on a GM-owners forum, that they would have been probably more accepted than Buick's current lineup. The Regal is coming back in 2011, but I'm afraid it might be too-little-too-late.

I think it goes to show how manufacturers need to be careful with their names for their vehicles...it can really have an impact on their sales.

 

Name pondering.....

Always liked the name "Invicta". Conjured up images of a futuristic car.....

'Wildcat' should be a high-performance Cougar, not a Buick (although Buick Wildcats were quite nice...) And speaking of Cougar, I still think there's room in the Mercury showroom for a new Mustang-based upmarket sporty Cougar.

Never did like Pontiac's switch to numeric names. With names like 'Catalina' and 'Bonneville', how could you mess with that?

Don't understand the reason Dodge dropped 'Dodge' from it's Dodge Ram pickups. The general public is still gonna say "It's a Dodge Ram 2500" to the question, "What kind of pick=up you own?"

Chrysler needs to 'fill out' it's '300' lineup by adding names -
Newport - base model
(Not too fond of the 'Windsor' name. Seems too old. Maybe they can come up with something better...)
"Laguna".?........maybe Chevy has said good bye to this one after 35 years...
"Palm Beach".....?

 

From what I've heard (so this means don’t take this as gospel) Chrysler decided to split the trucks off into their own company as it where. They are still under the Chrysler or "Dodge" Umbrella. But this way, if something (else) goes south with MOPAR and it looks like they will go under, the truck line "RAM" can be sold off, or remain the only line operated as its own entity.
The Truck line seems to be the most viable line they have right now, one of the main reason's they've been able to keep their head above water.

 

My dad had a beautiful Wildcat convertible (red with white leather). I was minutes away from being born on the leather interior at 120 mph on the Autobahn. Dad screaming "NOT ON THE LEATHER!!!" is all my mother really remembers about her trip to the hospital that day.

I'm liking the Cougar a'la Mustang idea. I'm also liking the Newport et.al. names for the 300's lineup. Great ideas.

 

the jeeps are still selling but, with whatever sadistic bastard designed the new wrangler at the helm...its gonna die too! POWER WINDOWS AND NAV IN A WRANGLER!!!!!!HARUMPH!!!!!


my 1993 YJ wrangler had a CD player I put in, it had a windshield that could be lowered in 5 min (yes i know a CJ w/s can be lowered with a twist of 2 knobs...but the new one takes 45 min!) and a carpet that could be removed in 2 min. the interior was factory weatherproofed!....POWER WINDOWS!!!!

 

I belive it and have driven the "other" Dodge...Sterling. Nice trucks for the heavy duty range, still a bit to "new" the the scene IMO to be rated for long term durability though. How ever, a Sterling IS a Dodge. Just a better crature confort optioned heavy duty work horse.

 

That sounds like a very wise business decision to me. By splitting RAM off into its own entity, they are creating a "lifeboat" for themselves should things take a turn for the worse with Dodge.

 

So far I've been a prophet about various things. Back in January 09 I predicted that GM and Chrysler would be in bankruptcy by June 09..TRUE.

I predicted that Ford would never take a government loan...TRUE.

I also predicted that Saturn would die...TRUE but I did not predict that we'd lose Pontiac and I was sure that either Chevy or GMC trucks would die leaving only one truck brand. I also thought that for sure Hummer was a gonner.

My newest prediction is this...Chrysler will survive with Fiat. I also think that the Chrysler brand will make it and Dodge and RAM will too along with Jeep. But, Dodge will only survive as long as Challenger and Charger continue. Once those models are gone so goes Dodge. The Fiat models will be badged as Chryslers for the most part I think. Dodge will remain as the "hot rod" brand. As such I think Dodge will get the Fiat 500 Abarth model. Quite the mini hot rod I understand. If I was running things the Charger would have gotten a new front style a LONG time ago.

My predictions for 2011 and beyond.

 

The 300 and Charger are getting major mid-cycle redos for 2011. From what I've seen of the Charger, it's gonna look pretty sharp. Think 1968 Charger, only with 4-doors. Will have that same long extended coke bottle line going from the rear wheel arch forward to the front fender. Like this:

 

They have A LOT of redesign work to do if they want to capture the essence of what the Charger name represented.

 

uhhh, you'll take a used one....Bucco. they killed it 2 years ago...and the 7.3 was replaced by the 6.0 in '04

CC= Comfort Coupe....i know... its a four door!
dont forget toureg! nothing like naming a 4x4 after a nomadic north african tribe!
and the "thing" which actually has a numeric designation..

i cant remeber the last time i saw a lynx!