Thread Starter
#1
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.
Drive Safe,
350Z
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.
Drive Safe,
350Z