The Meaning Behind Major Car Nameplates and Model Names

 

Picking a Name for a Car is a Career on its Own.

    Each automaker has an entire department dedicated to selecting the ideal name for the ideal vehicle. A competitive car might become an expensive failure if something goes wrong with it. The nameplate is crucial in creating the image of a car. If the marketing team in Wolfsburg offers the new Volkswagen Golf a name that in English sounds like a crude insult, it might not sell as well as the model it replaces.

       In the same vein, we find it impossible to imagine BMW introducing the Charlotte as a replacement for the 4 Series. Nevertheless, putting heritage aside, Giulia matches Alfa Romeo's 3 Series competitor considerably better than G20t4D would. Join us as we investigate the significance (or, in some cases, lack of significance) of some of the industry’s enigmatic nameplates.

Alfa Romeo MiTo

    Alfa Romeo had two reasons for selecting the moniker MiTo. The hatchback was created in Milan and put together in Turin, which the Italians refer to as Torino. Second, the Italian term for myth is mito. Alfa Romeo had great expectations for its entry-level car that competes with the Mini.

    The Tourist Trophy, an event conducted yearly on the Isle of Man, inspired Audi to name the TT. Even though the German company has never mass-produced a motorcycle or participated in the TT with one, the competition is nevertheless a part of its (complex) history.

Audi TT

    In the 1930s, DKW, one of the businesses that came together to establish Audi, produced racing bikes. Its motorcycle won the TT in 1938. During the 1954 TT, NSU motorcycles claimed the top four positions in the 250cc class.

    The initials first appeared in 1960 on a moped and in 1965 on a sportier version of the Prinz. When Audi unveiled the TT concept at the 1995 Frankfurt auto show, it paid homage to the lengthy and successful racing careers of the Prinz TT and TTS. As a result of these predecessor vehicles, Audi has the right to use the TT moniker.

Bentley Bentayga

    The Canary Islands' highest mountain inspired Bentley to name its first SUV. On the island of Gran Canaria, Roque Bentayga stares down towards the community of Tejeda. The British company gave no explanation for why it picked this specific rock formation, although it's probably because Bentley Bentayga has a great ring to it. Ford and Bentley had already claimed Everest, so Kanchenjunga wouldn't have quite the same impact.

    Today, the Bentayga faces competition from the Cullinan, a Rolls-Royce SUV named after a giant diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905.

Chevrolet Camaro

    When Chevrolet released the Camaro in 1967, most of its cars wore a name that started with the letter C. The branding team in charge of finding a name for project Panther allegedly made a list of 2000 words that start with a C, including a few that they made up. Camaro was one of them.

    Though it has a Spanish ring to it, the name Camaro doesn’t mean anything in any language. Chevrolet famously told journalists who attended the car’s launch that a Camaro is a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.

Dodge Challenger/Charger/Durango SRT

    Dodge uses the SRT suffix to denote its most powerful cars. It’s on the Hellcat V8-powered variants of the Charger and the Challenger (pictured) and on the hot-rodded Durango, a family-friendly SUV capable of a 12.9-second quarter-mile. SRT – which got promoted to a standalone brand for the 2013 and 2014 model years – stands for street and racing technology.

    While the Hellcat emblem depicts what looks like a cat sent from hell, Dodge borrowed the name from a fighter plane the US Navy used during World War II.

                                Ferrari GTC4Lusso

    Deciphering the Ferrari GTC4Lusso’s name requires breaking it down into three pieces. GTC is a tribute to classic Ferrari models, including the 330 GTC presented at the 1966 Geneva motor show. The number four signals its status as a four-seater while lusso means luxury in Italian. If you see a T at the end, it’s an indication that power comes from the smaller, twin-turbocharged V8 engine rather than the mighty V12.

Lamborghini’s fighting bulls

    Lamborghini has a long history of naming its cars after fighting bulls. Aventador was a bull that earned an award for its outstanding courage in 1993. And, while Huracan sounds like the Spanish word for a hurricane, it’s also the name of a fighting bull. This one was fought in 1879. The Urus never fought in a ring; it was an impressively large species of bull that became extinct in the 17th century.

Ford likes the bulls, too. Taurus, the second sign of the zodiac, is represented by a bull.

Mazda MX-5 Miata

    MX-5 is the international designation for Mazda’s popular roadster. It’s an acronym that stands for Mazda Experimental project number five. Miata – the name given to the convertible on the North American market – is derived from an old German word that means “reward.”

    Whether the Miata rewards buyers by delivering an engaging driving experience or whether it’s a reward for motorists who worked hard for it is open to interpretation.

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