There was a time when cars had sensible, even romantic names. Who would be ashamed, cruising the country lanes in a sleek Riley Path finder? Or, if you wanted something with a bit of zip, hop into a Wolseley Hornet. There was the Hillman Minx, Singer Vogue and the Fords Zephyr, Zodiac, Cortina and Capri. How about the Humber Super Snipe? My first car was a Hillman Husky, which lived up to its name by moulting rust everywhere and barking manically through its leaking exhaust. But it was a car with character, with a name you could believe in. A glance through the current batch of available models shows we have lost all of that. The Nissan Qashqai? CitroeĢn Xsara, Fiat DobloĢ, Hyundai Ioniq? Itās as if the marketing people at the car manufacturers got a load of Scrabble tiles and went with whatever made-up word was in front of themā¦
Thatās pretty much what they do, I think. Find a word that sort of sounds inspiring or something.
Ideally they want to have words that donāt mean much - and certainly donāt mean something unfortunate - in any major language.
I remember when GM changed the name of the Nova, because of what it means in Spanish.
Or indeed Toyota with the MR2 in France.
Both of my children have had vehicles named after them, they were born first! My son in lawās challenger is called the Hellcat and has a huge fanged feline emblazoned on the side.
Maybe not the Citroen Xsara, it went out of production in 2006 
At least Aston Martin still gives its cars good names - Vantage, Vanquish, Victor, Vulcan and Valkyrieā:sunglasses:
That must be how thereās a car called a Duster. Ridiculous in name, ridiculous in nature.
I assumed the name refers to the long coat worn in the days of the Wild West.
Rather than the cleaning apparatus.
Was the Ford Focus a result of a long evenings meeting when they failed to reach agreement so it got its name after the āFocusā meeting?
Also known as the Quashcow after its huge sales.
Given the part Rolls Royce aero engines played in causing damage in Germany in the Second World War, they were probably wise to reconsider their new modelās proposed name of Silver Mist.
It eventually emerged as the Silver Shadow.
A Skoda Yeti. Where did they dream that one up, I can only envisage a large,hairy, angry being hiding in mountains. Susquatch would have been better
The Mitsubishi Charisma, nothing could have been further from the truth.
The Mitsubishi anything would have been unwelcome if you served in the Far East in WW2.
BTW @Porridge I may be naive, but my translator says nova in Spanish means nova. An exploding star or something. 
And the Mitsubishi Starrion, the Coltās bigger brother.
Yes, it was supposed to be called Stallionā¦ An issue with Japanese mis-pronouncement.
Channeling the spirit of RenĆ© Magritte: 'Ce nāest pas un Morris Mini Minor Traveller.
This looks more like the second-hand Morris Minor Traveller I had, but it turned out to be a classic rust bucket. I had a flat tyre, jacked up the car and watched as the car slowly descended back down to ground level! Luckily there was a really good welder just up the road.
A good runner. On holiday across France, I had an engine water leak and used a French coin and some āglueā and tape to seal a hole. Continued holiday without further problems.
I see that Travellers, in excellent condition, are very expensive. This one is for sale at Ā£30,000 in Canterbury!
I hated the Minis from the off, after driving one I found the wheel arch too close to the throttle pedal, I expect I would have liked even less the LHD version which might have dangerously impeded access to the clutch though.
I assume that one is straight off the line, no reg and holes in the wings awaiting the mirrors, but also a strange thing, although RHD, the wipers appear to be set for LHD. 
A friend was supplied with one when he got a job as a salesman for Plumrose and I was impressed with the efficiency of the seat belts, yes it had seatbelts fitted. Doubting how good they were he drove us down the road at some speed, both belted up tightly, and then did an emergency stop. Admittedly I was expecting it but didnāt expect them to be so good.
Didnāt change my mind as to whether I preferred to risk not wearing one, will never feel comfortable doing that. 
