Car Corner: what's in a Name?... well, find out...

[helmethermit]

Chevrolet - Named for Frenchman Louis Chevrolet, a race car driver who raced in the first Indy 500 for W.C. Durant, founder of General Motors. Durant founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to build Chevrolet's dream car. Durant eventually merged the company back with GM where it became its biggest brand.

 

BMW - Acronym for the German name "Bayersiche Motoren Werke" (Bavarian Motor Works). Generic industrial name.

 

Alfa Romeo - An Acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. When the company went into bankruptcy it was bought by Nicola Romeo in 1915, the source of the second name.

 

Jeep - Not really known, but it's widely believed to be a mispronunciation of GP, which is an acronym for General Purpose [vehicle]

 

Maybach - Former car line by Mercedes-Benz. Named after chief engineer Wilhelm Maybach in the 1890's. Maybach became CEO when Daimler died

 

SsangYong - Ssangyong means "twin dragons" - hence the double "s" at the start of the name. It refers to a legend in which two dragons waited 1000 years to fly to dragon heaven. Finally, a single cintamani (In Hindu and Buddhist mythology, it is a magical jewel that is believed to possess the power to grant every wish, hence an epithet of God - or in the case of Buddhism, an attribute of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, hence a symbol of a mind that has attained its proper desire), which was necessary for the journey was released. Each dragon encouraged the other to take it and make the trip until both missed the opportunity. The king of heaven was so touched that he released a second cintamani and thus the two dragons entered heaven together.

 

Mercedes-Benz - Mercedes was a pseudonym (named after his daughter) under which Emil Jellinek used to race Damlier cars. Jellinek became so successful in racing his "Mercedes" cars and in selling them to European aristocrats, that eventually he convinced the company to change the company name to Daimler-Mercedes. During the economic recession that followed WWI, Damlier and their competitor Benz & Cie formed a syndicate in order to jointly streamline their backroom, design and production operations. 2 years later the companies merged. The resulting company used the compound name Damlier-Benz, and their products were renamed Mercedes-Benz.

 

"Mitsubishi" is a Japanese term meaning "three diamonds"

 

Volkswagen cars are named after different kinds of winds. For example:

 

> Golf: Gulf stream

 

> Bora: Bora wind

 

> Polo: Polar wind

 

> Jetta: Jet stream

 

> Passat: German word for trade wind

 

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Toyota

 

Toyota (Called 'Toyoda' in Japanese, it's named after the founder's surname: Kiichiro Toyoda). Their initial trend was to keep 'Crown' as the name of luxury car models. Example:

 

> Toyota 'Crown'

 

> Toyota 'Corona' (A latin word for crown)

 

> Toyota 'Corolla' (Means small crown in latin)

 

> Toyota 'Camry' (Phonetic translation for 'Kanmuri' in Japanese) 

 

Lamborghini

 

Renowned sportscar maker, Lamborghini model's names are associated to famous fighting bulls and bull fighting terms:

 

> Lamborghini 'Diablo' (Name of a famous bull)

 

> Lamborghini 'Reventón' (Name of a famous bull)

 

> Lamborghini 'Murciélago' (Name of a famous bull)

 

> Lamborghini 'Miura' (Name of a fighting bull breed)

 

> Lamborghini 'Gallardo' (Name of a fighting bull breed)

 

> Lamborghini 'Estoque' (Name of a bull fighting sword)

 

> Lamborghini 'Islero' (Named after a bull from 'Miura' breed)

 

> Lamborghini 'Espada' (Spanish name of a bull fighting sword)

 

> Lamborghini 'Jarama' (Name of an area famous for bull fighting)

 

Though Lamborghini 'Countach' is exception. It's a word for astonishment in Piedmontese language.

 

Mercedes Benz

 

The ‘Benz’ in Mercedes Benz is a surname of company’s founder, Karl. While ‘Mercedes’ is a sub-brand of their holding company, Daimler. Naming trend of their car series is as mentioned below:

 

> ‘SL’ Class (Sport Leicht – Means Sport Light)

 

> ‘E’ Class (Einspritzung – Means fuel injection)

 

> ‘CL’ Class (Comforf Leicht – Means Comfort Light)

 

> ‘SLK’ Class: (Sporlich, Leicht und Kurz – Means Sporty, Light & Short)

 

The digits added as a suffix to the classes denotes engine cubic capacity. Eg: SLK 350 has 3,500CC Engine.

 

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Suzuki Motor Co (Parent of Maruti Suzuki) was founded by Michio Suzuki in 1909. In 1954 the name was changed from Suzuki Loom Works to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd.

 

By the way Maruti is is a Sanskrit word referring to Hanuman, son of Marut, the Hindu Wind God Vayu. Hence the name was chosen for an automobile co.

 

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Yamaha means "mountain leaf".

 

Honda — from the family name of its founder, Soichiro Honda (Honda is a common name, with “Hon” meaning root or base, and “da is rice field).

 

Nissan — the company was earlier known by the name Nippon Sangyo which means “Japanese industry”.

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ha ha.... if u read so far... u r a networm... get out, ride or drive, whatever keeps u alive..

[Sazerac]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[notsmokinjo]

Ute....short for utility coupe