Forbes picks Best, Worst and Weirdest car names
Comparing inappropriate car naming to McDonald's practice of calling its cheeseburgers "Royal" in France, Forbes magazine has come up with a list of the best, worst and weirdest car monikers. The editors at Forbes combed through the automotive encyclopedias and picked out a couple dozen vehicles that are noteworthy for their names, both good, bad, and just plain weird. While we have mixed feelings about non-automotive publications stepping on our turf, the list is entertaining. The "best" list includes mostly American icons. The "worst" list is broken into fake names and misguided euphemisms like the McDonald's "Royals." Americans again dominate. For the "weird," they turned to Japan, naturally. While we didn't find any particularly offensive inclusions or exclusions, we just know that most of you will have some additional suggestions. Like immediately putting the Naked on the "best" list. Here are a few items from each list.
Check out the complete list after the jump if you don't like slide shows, and then please discuss.
[Source: Forbes]
Best
- Chevrolet Corvette
- Dodge Ram and Viper
- Ford Explorer
- Lamborghini Diablo
- Chevrolet Lumina
- Oldsmobile Alero
- Pontiac Aztek
- Saturn Vue
- Buick LeSabre
- Chevrolet Celebrity
- Dodge Coronet
- Lincoln Versailles
- Daihatsu Motor Naked
- Honda Life Dunk
- Isuzu GIGA 20 Light Dump
- Mazda Motor Bongo
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bryan 5:49PM (12/19/2006)
what dreet cam up with those lame-ass names?
Reply
lalaland 6:12PM (12/19/2006)
Yawn. This story happens every year, some reporter realizing he has an editor breathing down his neck and has to write something. It's just like the stories that say how smart a car company is that their hot car ended up in some hot movie (why doesn't anyone write about the times when some hot car ends up in some dumb movie? Its only the successes they write about.). This Forbes guy didn't even get the best names available, which I'm sure my fellow bloggers will quicky fill in after me...if they aren't already asleep.
Reply
chuck goolsbee 6:30PM (12/19/2006)
#2... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
--chuck
;)
Reply
riverhead 6:32PM (12/19/2006)
Quite right #2. The writer is also mistaking bad cars for bad names. Lumina, Alero, Aztek and Vue aren't bad names, they're just bad cars. Aztek is a worse name than Xterra? Lumina and Alero are worse names than Accord? Vue is a worse name than RAV4? It makes no sense.
Reply
Bill Maher is an Idiot 12:47AM (12/20/2006)
#2 is right--the Chevette is nowhere in sight.
Reply
tim 7:01PM (12/19/2006)
it's in vogue to make fun of american cars. "automotive journalist" (an oxymoron) is a great name applied to a bad job, but you won't hear many of those guys talking about THAT.
celica? cvcc? altima? montero? those are good, right?
Reply
Ben 11:36PM (12/19/2006)
How were these left off the list?
Best: Enzo Ferrari
worst: Pontiac Grand Prix, Grand Am, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, etc.
Reply
om2la 7:20PM (12/19/2006)
A couple of thoughts...
What's with adding the word "motor" after the name of a Japanese car company to make it sound weirder?
They missed an opportunity with the Bongo. Wasn't there a variant caled the Bongo Friendee?
"Ram" is a good name? Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but to me a ram is a sheep.
"Naked" is definitely in the wrong category: it rocks.
It's just too easy and too lazy to make fun of Japanese marketing and old GM sedans. Forbes just doesn't get suto journalism.
Reply
om2la 7:25PM (12/19/2006)
"Forbes just doesn't get suto journalism"
I don't blame them, because I don't get it it either. I think I meant "auto journalism"
Oh, and speaking as a non American who worshipped from afar as a kid, I always thought Buick was on to something good with Electra and Wildcat.
Reply
Kansei 9:23PM (12/19/2006)
The Bongo van/truck isn't that bad of a name.
clearly these idiots didn't research much. If they wanted to pick a Mazda, pick the Mazda Scrum Wagon
http://www.scrum-wagon.mazda.co.jp/
Reply
Jay 7:47PM (12/19/2006)
Gee, I dunno...I kinda liked my Lumina. Stupid name, but the car wasn't too bad. Hey, at least GM put two-piston calipers on the front! Can't be all that bad, can it?
Reply
bepsf 8:32PM (12/19/2006)
Vue is a good name - so was Aztec (tho the car sucked)
Coronet and LeSabre were appropriate names when the models premiered back in the 50's...
How 'bout some fun names?
Nissan Sunny California
Mitsubishi Minica Lettuce
Mitsubishi Toppo BJ
Nissan Serena
Nissan B-210 Honey Bee
Daihatsu Fellow Max
Daihatsu Applause
Daihatus Charade Social
Roewe Rong Wei
Ford Probe
Saab Sonnet
And a few for the "Lack of Imagination" files:
Chevy II (two)
Ford Mustang II (two)
Ford LTD II (two)
Trooper II (two...)
AMC AMX
Lincoln Mark LT
Reply
John P. 8:38PM (12/19/2006)
The Nissan Fair Lady has to be up there.
Reply
SherbornSean 8:51PM (12/19/2006)
Forbes is the king of lame lists that require no real journalistic research.
Reply
John P. 8:53PM (12/19/2006)
12: yep. It seems a couple guys and gals that probably don't even own cars sat around over lunch in Manhattan and thought up whatever came to the top of their heads.
Reply
Tjodleiv 8:55PM (12/19/2006)
Honda Jazz was supposed to be called Fita. Guess what that mean in some european languages.
Reply
SherbornSean 8:59PM (12/19/2006)
BEPSF has more car knowledge in his pinky than the entire staff at Forbes.
Reply
Ben Dure 9:01PM (12/19/2006)
If you're going to publish an article on weird car names the least you can do is pick cars that are sold in the same market(s) and from the same epoch !
It probably doesn't hurt to do a bit of research either. Astre ... that's French for 'the stars'. A word that complements well it's corporate sister of the time 'Vega'. I wonder what he thinks of the Opel Astra !
Finally, the 'Royale' reference to the 1/4 pounder is somewhat of a cliché.
Reply
Paul 9:19PM (12/19/2006)
In all seriousness, I think that Jetta is one of the best names on the market, in that it makes a small sedan from VW sound fun, which is really important. I think Lincoln's MK_ trend of naming things is a horrible idea. And Acura's trend of making every single model some forgettable series of letters isn't a great idea either.
But, the thing is, all it really comes down to is the car underneath. Corvette is, honestly, a horrible name for a car, but since it has so much history, it's a name that everyone knows. Same thing with an M3...not a memorable name, but decades of memorable cars more than make up for it.
Reply
Bill 10:12PM (12/19/2006)
Well, there's always the Yugo but usually you didn't go.
My Lumina LS is 12 years old with 77,000 city miles and keeps going and going so it isn't that bad.
And as one of the best, where's the Dodge Charger? I always envisioned a U.S. Army Calvary charge and the Charger certainly 'took' it to everything from NASCAR to the street.
The best? Well, you knew what a Buick Roadmaster was. To me, that name said it all!
And while I'm at it, who (or how many) at Forbes came up with this? Was it someone(s) old enough to have some automotive credentials that count? Heck, were they even driving in the '50s or '60s?
Bill
Reply