Volkswagen nailed it in the first half of the last century when it decided to name its cute little automotive creation the Beetle. For one thing, it looked like one.
Same with Ford and the Mustang back in the 60s. Okay, so the Mustang doesn’t actually look like a horse, but it has speed and style and a sleek sexiness that makes the moniker work.
The Chevy Corvette? Ditto.
Can’t say that about all cars, I’m afraid. As long as we’ve had ‘em, it seems we’ve also had some mighty curious names.
The latest to leave me scratching my head is the Nissan Qashquai. No idea about that one.
Then there’s Cedric, also from Nissan, a large-ish vehicle introduced several decades ago. But Cedric? The name of the father-in-law of the company CEO, perhaps?
“Would you ever buy a car called Cedric?” I asked the husband.
“Nope,” he said.
“How about Sebastian?” I asked.
“Better,” he said. “But probably not.”
There was also a car named — wait for this — the Peugeot Bipper Tepee. Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d buy a Cedric in a heartbeat before I bought a Bipper Tepee.
For one thing, what the heck does it mean? I haven’t the foggiest, but if a car can be called a Bipper Tepee, then a Trooper Shelter doesn’t seem so terribly offside, and neither does a Chiffer Pup Tent.
“Would you buy a car called the Dictator?” I asked the husband.
“Of course not,” said the husband. “Sounds way too politically incorrect, and more than a bit pushy.”
Pushy indeed, but nonetheless, Studebaker went for it back in the day.
Dictator? Not a chance. A Statesman, sure. A Dictator, no.
Then, according to my friends at Google, there was Renault’s Le Car (can you say pretentious?) and the mother of all automotive mouthfuls: the Mitsubishi Mini Active Urban Sandal.
Um, come again?
“Would you buy a car called the Mini Active Urban Sandal?” I asked you know who.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “You’re making this up now. You’re being very silly.”
“No!” I said. “There was such a car!”
Granted, it might have prompted would-be purchasers to sit up and take notice, but really. If Mini Active Urban Sandal can be a thing, then I’d like to suggest the Moderately Sized City Slipper.
Seems to me that car manufacturers everywhere should be all over that idea — unless it’s been already taken.
