Sitting in the permanent Hindhead holdup I thought about the names the manufacturers give to their products.. Vauxhall had a thing about alliteration some time ago,-Cavalier, Calibra, Corsa, etc. I always thought that they missed the boat with the Nova and Astra- the Nova could have been the Casanova, but the Astra marketed as the Castrati may have had problems!
Also, I felt that the Matra Rancho should have been the Matra 'Macho'.
Finally, BL could have saved a few pence with the Metro City by replacing the first two letters with an 'A'..
Any suggestions for further name changes?
Peter.
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Can't improve on French pronounced MR2, which is "merde"!
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I heard that Rolls Royce ditched the name 'Silver Mist' because someone pointed out that 'mist' in German means 'manure'(polite way of saying it!) can any German speaker confirm this?
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Ja,
Just as the Clairol 'Mist Stick' was dropped...
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Apparently, the Nova was renamed for the UK because it was thought Corsa = coarser, whereas No Va in Spanish = no go. Obviously decided to save having different badges for the later car!
Toyota obviously don't mind as the MR2 is sold in France without a name change despite the French pronunciation (phonetically) being em er deux = sh*tty.
I'll get in the old joke here about the cancelled Austin luxury model - the Tatious.
Regards
John
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My neighbours have a Vauxhall "Frank" (Sintra) and consequently their new Corsa is known as Nancy!
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Who can forget the Colt "Starion", the British name allegedly taken over the phone from Japan!
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I heard a rumour that the next small Vauxhall is to be named the Vauxhall Viva. Is it true? If so, GM must be hoping that buyers have short memories (and don't talk to their parents).
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......or the sporty version of the Honda Swipe that was going to be named the "R Swipe" but they thought better and called it the "Swipe R"
Boom Boom - bring on Jimmy Tarbrush.
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One of the motoring mags some time ago had something about the Nissan Shogun having to be renamed to Shogun from Pajero in some markets. Pajero in those markets was "@!#$" from what I understand. This sums up the people who drive these things for normal every day use. Farmers, utility workers etc., who HAVE to go off the beaten track do not qualify of course.
Bill
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Sorry Martyn,
Profuse appologies I have now corrected my post so maybe people will be able to make the connection.
One of the motoring mags some time ago had something about the Nissan Shogun having to be renamed to Shogun from Pajero in some markets. Pajero in those
markets was "W***er" from what I understand. This sums up the people who drive these things for normal every day use. Farmers, utility workers etc., who HAVE to
go off the beaten track do not qualify of course.
Bill
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Bill,
Asterisks are banned - no matter how well u disguise the word. In fact, u were better off first time around.
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I remember being told by someone who went on a tour of the Vauxhall factory that the Vivas came down the production line with the bodies flexing from side to side: until the rear window was installed.
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Nothing to do with car names, I'm afraid - but amusing all the same
Back in the eighties Commodore couldn't market their "Pet" micro computer because, in French, the name meant:
Eff, Aye, Are, Tea (I'm trying to comply with Martyn's request not to asterisks, of course).
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Silly me, I should have said that they couldn't market it in France.
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I liked Jeremy Clarksons comment on the Ford Ka when he wondered whether Ford would have the balls to launch a sports model and call it the "Ka Si".
Andy S, the Japanese are famous for their transposition of "R" and "L", hence the Starion. A friend of mine called Rabia had terrible trouble when she moved to Tokyo.
Colin
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Speaking of people with unfortunate names how about the poor guy on the closing credits from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Must be his real name, surely no one would deliberately pick Thomas W***er.
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Did you ever drive the Skoda 'Spanking Monthly'?
It didn't sell as well as the Mini 'Mayfair' or the Ford 'Fiesta'...
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