Friday 28th March 2003

Identity Crisis

Choosing the name for a new car in becoming increasingly difficult

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[Alex]

Excellent article! (Almost) had me laughing out loud!

[Podie]

Missed some of the great cock-ups though... like, Nova ("no go" in Spanish).

The Renault Feugo... apparently it means "shit" in some language...

MR2... M R Deux in French... sounds like merde! (shit)

Citroen launching the BX TRD (turd) over here... only to quickly make it the TZD...!

Mitsubishi Starion... rumour has it, it was a dodgy translation of "Stallion" (doubt it's true, but worth a giggle)

[beano500]

Yamaha TDM 850 (tedium)

[.Mark]

And the Pajero (sp?) means W*nker in Spannish by all accounts.
BTW know how Datsun got their name?
Well they lined up a whole batch of new models and took the MD to see them.
He walked along the row point at each one saying:-
"Dat's un 'orrible one, Dat's un 'orrible one......"

[Ev_]

The MR2 is (was?) called the MR Coupe in France (for the reasons mentioned), and the Nova one is an urban myth: although "no va" literally translates to "it doesn't go", "nova" is more likely to be interpreted as "new".

[plotloss]

VW Sharan Carat - what were they thinking.

Skoda Felicia - unreleased saloon version called the Cunniling

VW Toerag

and my all time favourite:

The Nissan Cedric.

Matt.

[Nacnud]

The names also can also be the exact opposite to reality.
Fiesta Popular - lowest spec and not at all popular
Astra Merit - doesn't have any
Metro Surf - don't get wet as the sunroof leaks

[Podie]

The way some Alfa's are listed in magazines... eg.. the Ti Twin Spark... as noted by What Car? comes out as "TiTS"

[danger mouse]

I agree, brilliant article, nice punch line.

My favourite oriental "misinterpritation", or rather "mispronounciation" was the very manly Mitsubishi Starion...

...say it in a faux Japanise accent and all becomes horribley clear.


Mouse

[danger mouse]

...Oh bollox, Podie beat me to it!

Rats! Still my favourite one though.

Pop Quiz: Name the Character from Nieghbours who used to drive one.

[Podie]

danger mouse said: Pop Quiz: Name the Character from Nieghbours who used to drive one.

Paul

[Alex]

One of my old runabouts sitting on my drive is officially an "Alfa Romeo 33 16V Quadrifoglio Verde Permanent 4".

[danger mouse]

...I suppose I'll post again...

The Fiat Strada was known in Italy as the Ritmo(rythm), but this did export the South America too well due to a namesake brand of sanitry towel.

Mitsubishi had to change the Pajero to Shogun in the same market as in S.America it is slang for w@nker.

Niether story explains why they were called what they were in the British domestic market though.

[danger mouse]

Podie said:

danger mouse said: Pop Quiz: Name the Character from Nieghbours who used to drive one.

Paul

Come on Podie, you can do better than that....

...and for bonus points: In what British TV series does the same actor currently(I think) "star"?

[danger mouse]

plotloss said: Skoda Felicia - unreleased saloon version called the Cunniling



Matt.

Skoda (L)Fabia

[mrsd]

Honda HRV known in Japan as "High Rider Vehicle Jet Feed Joy Machine" (naturally known to Honda garages here as the HRT)

Nissan Murano - does it shatter if you hit something ?

Pagani Zonda must have seemed a good idea at the time (just wanted an excuse to use the cool gif )

[Ev_]

"Alfa Romeo 33 16V Quadrifoglio Verde Permanent 4"...

I think I ordered that in Pizza Express last night...

[gnomesmith]

Podie said:
The Renault Feugo... apparently it means "shit" in some language

I knew it meant fire but not shit, perhaps after a good curry the two converge!

Brabham Racing cars were originally known as Motor Racing Developments (MRD), Ron thought it might harm French sales.

Ford Corsair was to be called Caprino until they discovered that it meant Goat's Shit.

Rolls were to produce a car called Silver Mist, Bodo will explain why they dropped the name hoping they would sell some cars in Germany.

[smeagol]

I still think ford made a classic blunder with the Probe. In the USA a probe is something that's shot into space in the UK its something that's shoved up your @rse.

[gnomesmith]

If thats what you like who are we to critisise?