Actual Meanings of Cars & Bikes Names


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350Z

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Often, petrolheads fondly keep a pet name of the rides they own. Take Singh’s ‘Draco’ or Raj’s ‘Pintu’ for example. Ever wondered what makes auto companies to come up with unique and out of the box names for the vehicles they produce and sell? Shakespeare said, what’s in a name? Well, a lot maybe.

Toyota

Toyota (Called 'Toyoda' in Japanese, it's named after the founder's surname: Kiichiro Toyoda). Their initial trend was to keep 'Crown' as the name of luxury car models. Example:

> Toyota 'Crown'

> Toyota 'Corona' (A latin word for crown)

> Toyota 'Corolla' (Means small crown in latin)

> Toyota 'Camry' (Phonetic translation for 'Kanmuri' in Japanese)

Lamborghini

Renowned sportscar maker, Lamborghini model's names are associated to famous fighting bulls and bull fighting terms:

> Lamborghini 'Diablo' (Name of a famous bull)

> Lamborghini 'Reventón' (Name of a famous bull)

> Lamborghini 'Murciélago' (Name of a famous bull)

> Lamborghini 'Miura' (Name of a fighting bull breed)

> Lamborghini 'Gallardo' (Name of a fighting bull breed)

> Lamborghini 'Estoque' (Name of a bull fighting sword)

> Lamborghini 'Islero' (Named after a bull from 'Miura' breed)

> Lamborghini 'Espada' (Spanish name of a bull fighting sword)

> Lamborghini 'Jarama' (Name of an area famous for bull fighting)

Though Lamborghini 'Countach' is exception. It's a word for astonishment in Piedmontese language.

Mercedes Benz

The ‘Benz’ in Mercedes Benz is a surname of company’s founder, Karl. While ‘Mercedes’ is a sub-brand of their holding company, Daimler. Naming trend of their car series is as mentioned below:

> ‘SL’ Class (Sport Leicht – Means Sport Light)

> ‘E’ Class (Einspritzung – Means fuel injection)

> ‘CL’ Class (Comforf Leicht – Means Comfort Light)

> ‘SLK’ Class: (Sporlich, Leicht und Kurz – Means Sporty, Light & Short)

The digits added as a suffix to the classes denotes engine cubic capacity. Eg: SLK 350 has 3,500CC Engine.

I shall keep adding more names and their meanings as I recall them. Please feel free to share your contribution in this thread too.

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350Z
 
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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

TATA : Sir Name of Jamsed Ji
Bajaj : Sir Name
Suzuki : It's a very common name in Japan, one of my client in Hitachi has name last name as Suzuki.
 
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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

Very informative...was always wondering the meanings of the various classes of Mercs.
 
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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

TATA : Sir Name of Jamsed Ji
Bajaj : Sir Name
Suzuki : It's a very common name in Japan, one of my client in Hitachi has name last name as Suzuki.
Suzuki Motor Co (Parent of Maruti Suzuki) was founded by Michio Suzuki in 1909. In 1954 the name was changed from Suzuki Loom Works to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd.

By the way Maruti is is a Sanskrit word referring to Hanuman, son of Marut, the Hindu Wind God Vayu. Hence the name was chosen for an automobile co.
 
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350Z

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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

TATA : Sir Name of Jamsed Ji
Bajaj : Sir Name
Suzuki : It's a very common name in Japan, one of my client in Hitachi has name last name as Suzuki.
Likewise, Mahindra was earlier known as 'Mahindra & Mohammed' as it was founded by K.C. Mahindra, J.C. Mahindra and Malik Ghulam Mohammed. However, after India's independence, it was renamed as 'Mahindra & Mahindra' since Malik Mohammed emigrated to Pakistan.

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350Z
 
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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

Why not rename thread as Actual Meanings of Cars & bike Names

Yamaha means "mountain leaf".[lol]

Honda — from the family name of its founder, Soichiro Honda (Honda is a common name, with “Hon” meaning root or base, and “da is rice field).

Nissan — the company was earlier known by the name Nippon Sangyo which means “Japanese industry”.
 
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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

Open Class Sport Bike's

YZF R - Yamaha Z[confused] Fourstroke Racing (does any one knows the meaning of Z)

CBR RR - ContraBike Roadster Race Replica.

GSX-R - Gran Sport eXperimental Racer.

Moto GP Bike's

YZF M1 - Yamaha Z[confused] Racing Mission 1

Honda RC213V -
RC = racing prefix for 4-stroke bikes
21 = 21century
3 = 3rd bike
V = V engine

Ducati Desmosedici GPx - Grand Prix x corresponds to the year the bike raced (GP13 for 2013)
 
Thread Starter #12

350Z

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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

Yet another addition: Mahindra Quanto is derived from the word ‘Quantum’.

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350Z
 
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Re: Actual Meanings of Cars' Names

BMW Motorrad

S 1000 RR - Sport cyclinder volume(cc) RaceReplica

HP4 - High Performence 4 cylinders

K - boxer engine

F - ‘Funduro’ concept

RT - Reisetourer (tourer)

GS - Geländesport (off-road sport)

GT - Grand Tourisme

LT - Luxus-Tourer (luxury tourer)

C - Cruiser

CL -Cruiser und Luxus (luxury cruiser)

SS - Supersport

RS - Reisesport (travel sport)

ST - Strasse/strada’ (street)

GS - Gelände/Strasse’ (off-road/on-road)

Ex: K 1200 GT is Boxer engine with 1200cc and its a grand tourer
 
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McLaren

McLaren MP4-12C - McLaren Project 4 12( McLaren's internal Vehicle Performance Index) Carbon

HS - High Sport

LM - Le Mans

McLaren P1 - Position 1 (First Place)
 

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