Did Lamborghini "blow" it with the Reventón?
by Jonathon Ramsey on Sep 12th 2007 at 9:58AM 
Click on the above photo for more hi-res pics of the Blown Tire Reventón
As many commenters have noted, the Spanish name of the million-euro Lambo, Reventón, is a bit of a surprise. The accent over the 'o' changes the stress, but it apparently doesn't change the meaning of the word in Spanish: blown tire. As one reader wrote, not exactly the right name for a car you plan on driving at 300 KPH. Yes, Reventón was the name of a bull that killed a toreador, like Murcielago was the name of a 19th century bull. But "murcielago" also means "bat" in Spanish, and "espada," also Spanish, means "sword."
In fact, Spanish seems to be the language that comes up most frequently in these delicately-named situations. Nissan made a car called the Moco, which means "snot." Chevrolet made the Nova, which, of course, means "no go." Mitsubishi still sells an SUV called -- not in Spain -- the Pajero, which means "wanker" in the, uh, more literal sense. Then there was the Mazda Laputa, which we can't get into on a family web site. Same goes for the Lexus LF-A, which caused one wide-eyed Spaniard we know to say "They need to change that name."
As other commenters have noted, none of this is really going to matter with a million-euro car that only 20 people will get to buy. But the debate is still fun: if there were a car called "blown tire" in your language -- even if it was named after a championship-winning something-or-other -- would you want it?
Thanks to everyone who brought this to our attention in the comments!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Carlos 9:33AM (9/13/2007)
Reventón is not only Spanish for "blown tire". It's also the meaning of a big party with drugs, girls, alcohol and loud music.
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TheCleaner 10:11AM (9/12/2007)
so why was there controversy with the LF-A, the LF is L-finesse right... sooo...
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AlexP 10:14AM (9/12/2007)
Lambo always blows it.
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Zlimness 10:16AM (9/12/2007)
You're bound to run into some trouble somewhere around the world when naming a car. Any swede here that remember the Honda Fitta? "Fitta" is a common slang for "Vagina" in swedish. The newspapers had a field-day coming up with slogans for that car I tell you. It was renamed Honda Jazz after that.
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Phoebe 10:20AM (9/12/2007)
Call me crazy, but maybe they should just use Italian names for their cars?
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georgejetson 10:33AM (9/12/2007)
Lambos from the Miura onward have (mostly) been named after famous bulls, or with other names taken from bullfighting. (Countach is the famous exception). Bullfighting is a Spanish sport, which means Spanish names.
Phoebe 11:28AM (9/12/2007)
I realize this, georgejetson, but there's nothing wrong with a little change, especially after this faux pas. ;-)
Lucas 10:24AM (9/12/2007)
How could they not know this?
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500 2:14PM (9/12/2007)
Maybe I'm wrong, but I really don't think Lamborghini or any other high-end carmaker needs to worry about Mexican slang. After all, how many Mexicans will be able to afford it?
500 2:15PM (9/12/2007)
Maybe I'm wrong, but I really don't think Lamborghini or any other high-end carmaker needs to worry about Mexican slang. After all, how many Mexicans will be able to afford it?
Lucas 2:17PM (9/12/2007)
The richest man in the world, a MEXICAN?
Ryan 3:18AM (9/13/2007)
hey good job lucas.... the one mexican that has allll the other mexican's money can buy this car. ooh ooh and i bet that money is insanely clean too!! did u realize that he doubled 30billion dollars in 6 months?!?!
im with 500, who freakin cares! if the car looks that freaking good the can name it fanny bandit and itll still be an amazing car! aaaand, its a different language, soooo how about we call it a reventon and not a blown tire(which isnt even a literal translation, so this argument barely works) since thats its name... and not blown tire
Lucas 4:00AM (9/13/2007)
I really don't care... abut rich Mexicans or this car. Just making a point.
Lucas.
PS, it's ugly and over priced.
PPS, There are no Mexicans in Mexico
Andrew 1:03AM (9/14/2007)
The richest man in the world was only born in Mexico both his parents were lebanese. Mexico has nothing to do with bullfighting or the spanish language other than they adopted it from Spain.
Reventon in spanish means explosion - it just happens to be slang for flat tire -
And finally Ferruccio Lamborghini had a spanish friend that told him stories of legendary bullfights - that is the reason for the bull (another reason was that Ferruccio was a taurus) and all of the lambo names connection to bullfighting - its part of lamborghini history
REVENTON is a fitting name to this lamborghini - it continues the connection with bullfighting and its an explosion of design and engineering.
riggs 10:25AM (9/12/2007)
or use latin since italian spanish and french are derived from it :\ also most of the names mentioned werent supposed to be from spanish.
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Claes 11:19AM (9/12/2007)
Don't forget the Honda Fit, which was introduced as the Honda Fitta, before they renamed it to the Honda Jazz. The translation for Fitta in Swedish is Vagina, or more so, Cunt. Being a Swede, I chuckle everytime I see a Honda Jazz.
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Robert 10:28AM (9/12/2007)
At least Mazda is in safe waters, naming their cars with nothing but numbers. Wait a minute. This just in ... apparently "6" means "anus" somewhere in southern Uganda.
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Ryan 3:20AM (9/13/2007)
haha i like u, u make me laugh. cant really go wrong with putting a number after ur name in order to name ur cars. high five my soon to be mazda3.
ANdy 12:37PM (9/13/2007)
naming your car with a number can be bad. 4 in chinese apparently sounds the same as the chinese word 'die' and 14 'sure die'. You're unlikely to see a Mazda4, at least in China.
Murphnation 1:31PM (9/12/2007)
I feel like this car is a slap in the face to motoring enthusiasts and a bigger slap in the face to the people with the money to afford this car. How dumb does Lambo think people are?
"No, No! Don't buy that Bugatti or an airplane! Look, we have a cockpit like an airplane with cool buttons and things that beep and light up! No, our car isn't as fast as the Bugatti but it does cost more AND it has this awesome HUD for driving! Wait, don't walk away...come back!"
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