I don’t know about you, but when I think of the tony town of Malibu California what springs first to mind is drop top Mercedes’ and Porsches, not mid-sized and middle class Chevys. Oh sure, there’s nothing wrong with being aspirational, and I’m sure there are some residents of the beach-side community who actually drive the cars named after it, but do those cars really reflect its vibe?
That’s the problem with naming cars after places – Monte Carlo, Seville, Granada, et al – they should have some sort of aspect that ties them to that name, right? That’s often not the case, and for today’s question we’d like your opinion on which places are most poorly represented by their automotive name-sharers. What do you think is the most incongruous place-based car name?
Image: Old Car Brochures
Hooniverse Asks: What Car or Truck Named After a Place Most Poorly Reflects That Place?
By Robert Emslie
Sep 14, 2015
Jeff Glucker
Saturn.
At the time it seemed out of this world but, with the possible exception of the Red Line, it never ran rings around its competition.
Two exceptions: It won the “get hit in the door panel by a salesman with a five-iron and not sustain damage” prize, and the “so damned easy to maintain” prize.
I distinctly remember a trip to the local auto show when the Saturn line was introduced. I accidentally stepped right on an outer door skin they had laid out on the floor near the car. My friend and I were mighty impressed when the panel literally popped off the floor and resumed its normal, unblemished shape.
I had a 1996 SL2 that I put sideways into a snowbank at 45+ mph. Other than having to re-mount the headlight with some well-concealed zipties, there was no evidence of the incident.
Definitely Chevy Monte Carlo.
http://www.conceptcarz.com/images/Chevrolet/chevy_monte_carlo_ss-Manu-07_03-1024.jpg
I just always assumed it was that buying the car was a gamble.
Much like the Suzuki Reno.
Chrysler wanted in on that action…
http://www.tocmp.com/brochures/Dodge/1975/Monaco/images/dodge75_01_jpg.jpg
Low hanging fruit? No. Rotten goo from last year.
https://autopolis.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/lemans.jpg
And, yes, GM Uzbekistan is still producing it as the Daewoo Nexia II:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Daewoo_Nexia_2008.JPG
I’ll just leave this here.
Glorious, just glorious! Nothing looks more modern than 16 human valves in Matrix-dresses marching past Lenin.
Related (maybe?):
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Pontiac_LeMans.jpg
Ehh, it wasn’t a great end to the name, but at least you could actually get the LeMans in LeMans (as the better Opel Kadett), unlike some of the bigger, older versions.
True. But doing justice to the name…? My associations with LeMans:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/81/265526013_7dad283cb1.jpg
http://www.mulsannescorner.com/CLRflip2.jpg
The Kadett-based Pontiac looks a lot like this in comparison:
http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/horse-and-buggy-days-american-genre-scene-c-1900-vintage-phot-a-gurmankin.jpg
You must mean the steamy, brown, solid-matter exhaust from the horse & not the horse itself. Tough to see in that photo, but I’m sure it’s there.
As long as we’re talking LeMans:
Wallowing its way through the streets, only matched by public transport.
I bet there are plenty of these on .. Catalina
Corsica:
http://www.cheznous.com/French_Regions/Corsica-Header.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/95-96_Chevrolet_Corsica.jpg
Dodge Monaco
Got to say, the first word I’d associate with Monaco is “excess”. Not way off.
I associate Monaco with yachts, the Monaco is definitely a land yacht.
http://media.giphy.com/media/8VrtCswiLDNnO/giphy.gif
larded my contribution in to the Monte Carlo post, given the geography of the situation.
Ford Versailles
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Ford_Versailles.JPG
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Vue_a%C3%A9rienne_du_domaine_de_Versailles_par_ToucanWings_-_Creative_Commons_By_Sa_3.0_-_073.jpg/800px-Vue_a%C3%A9rienne_du_domaine_de_Versailles_par_ToucanWings_-_Creative_Commons_By_Sa_3.0_-_073.jpg
Kudos for finding a Versailles in Versailles. Similarities to the VW Santana are striking:
http://cloudlakes.com/data_images/models/volkswagen-santana/volkswagen-santana-11.jpg
I don’t know, Versailles Ohio is kind of bland and boring.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles,_Ohio
Also in Kentucky, but they call it ” Vur – sales ” up there.
But not their high School football teams.
Milan, Italy is a center of style and commerce. It is home to the Borsa and a cathedral housing Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. It has the third largest GDP among EU cities.
On the other hand, the last generation Mercury Milan was a badge engineered and barely different copy of Ford’s Fusion and was not anywhere close to enough to save the Mercury nameplate from extinction. It should have been called Vesuvius.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Mercury-Milan-Premier.JPG/1280px-Mercury-Milan-Premier.JPG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diN3TBBsEc0
Maybe they named it after Milan, Michigan. (Which is actually not named after Milan, Italy, and the pronunciation is different.) That’d be more appropriate for the Mercury Milan.
That’s always been my contention.
Nothing conveys the sheer vastness and rugged beauty of Montana like…a minivan, apparently.
http://beautifulplacestovisit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Lake_Josephine_and_Mount_Gould_Glacier_National_Park_Montana.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Pontiac_Montana_–_04-22-2010.jpg
Big Sky Country vs. Big Interior Volume. Almost the same thing.
Pontiac Laurentian, along with the Parisienne who was sold in Canada?
http://www.tocmp.com/brochures/1976Pontiac/images/1976PontiacBrochure-Can-06.jpg
It’s got half a wheel spat, you know, like a streamliner…
http://www.cars-on-line.com/photo/46400/79pont46425-1.jpg
Over at Barnfinds …. http://barnfinds.com/1966-pontiac-bonneville-yellow-submarine/
$2500 ( wait is this Crapshoot ? )
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/2002_Kia_Sedona_LX.jpg
http://www.sedonarealestatepartner.com/images/site_graphics/Home%20Page/Sedona2.jpg
The similarity is that both Sedona’s are blue above and rust-colored below?
http://romancejourneys.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Sandals-Montego-Bay-1.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/2004-2006_Mercury_Montego.jpg
http://prettycarz.com/data_images/models/austin-montego/austin-montego-09.jpg
Along these lines, but not geographic… has an actual celebrity ever owned a Celebrity? (While famous, not just during their pre-fame, struggling actor/waiter period.) Likewise, an escort with an Escort?
I imagine many escorts owned Escorts. It’s not exactly a glamorous job.
It is entirely possible that GM punished some celebrities by giving them a free Celebrity. So might one have owned one? Probably. Might one have bought one? Never.
Any maestros owned Maestros?
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/maestro-hle.jpg
or Senators, Diplomats, Cavaliers, Starlets, Lancers, Ambassadors, Princesses, Rangers, Tuareg and Brats.
I am sure that statistically around 1/12th of the purchasers of Ford Scorpios probably were Scorpios though.
I’m not sure there’s much Swiss about the Buick Lucerne.
http://media.caranddriver.com/images/media/202259/2008-buick-lucerne-cxl-photo-202261-s-986×603.jpg
http://www.premiumswitzerland.com/img/image_db/lucerne_luxury_hotels_main-1920.jpg
But Lucerne is also the name of the Safeway brand of yogurt, and I can definitely see some parallels between the Buick and yogurt.
With the Swiss’ penchant for quality, you’d expect them to block GM from using any of its local names.
Biscayne down at Biscayne Bay ? ( my favorite here ) ( the 66 427 )
Cherokee, North Carolina ? NO WAIT , it is juuust right .
What a beauty!
Cimarron New Mexico
clean 1987 Cimarron asking $3900 http://rochester.craigslist.org/cto/5201473598.html May as well hijack this thread into a crapshoot while we are at it ….
Doesn’t this just scream “tony mountain resort town”? http://wikicars.org/images/en/e/e0/Dodge-Aspen.jpg
Aspen in Denver, asking $4000 http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5220148226.html
OTOH, I think Oldsmobile really captured the sleek stylishness of this Colorado city… https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/1st_Oldsmobile_Aurora_.jpg
Aurora in Aurora ? … http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5178191728.html
GMC Yukon, GMC Denali… NO! You are not expedition vehicles, you are grocery getters and soccer mom family trucksters. (And as such, you’re an embarrassment to the GMC legacy.)
GMC Sierra, GMC Acadia, GMC Sonoma… YES. You are made to visit these 2WD accessible vacation destinations pulling a trailer full of Jet Skis.
It’s not exactly a location, but I submit for you the Honda/Homer’s Odyssey.
http://www.salvomag.com/unpragmatic-thoughts/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/John_William_Waterhouse_-_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens_1891.jpg
https://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/honda/odyssey/1999/oem/1999_honda_odyssey_passenger-minivan_lx_fq_oem_1_500.jpg
COOL – harpies.
That would a made a great car.
Introducing the Pontiac Harpy …
( drawing by the late great Ray Harryhausen )
But Homer really liked the Odyssey.
The Toyota Sienna and Siena, Italy. (The name of the color sienna is taken from the color of the dirt in Siena.)
http://www.airpano.ru/files/siena_01_big.jpg
http://onlineautotech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/06-toyota-sienna.jpg
The Mazda Millenia looks nothing like millenials, but I, for one, would be happier if I heard more about the former and less about the latter.
http://images.automotive.com/reviews/images/00millenia.jpg
http://grmworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/millennials.jpg
As a Reno resident, I constantly bemoan Suzuki and their little hatch.
As an extra-terrestrial being from the planet SX-4, I understand your pain.
The Kia Rio isn’t as glamorous as the city.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/2003-2005_Kia_Rio.jpg
http://www.giganticstatues.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/rio-de-janeiro.jpg
The crime rate is about the same though…
Does a track count as a place?
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/508def09e4b08a6452dc64ba/t/5266b8d3e4b05199f058c6d1/1382463700577/sbr-aerial.jpg?format=500w
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/2nd_Chrysler_Sebring_sedan.jpg
au contraire, i would suspect that the eponymous Sebring, FL is quite well-represented by a Sebring ‘vert.
Ah, forgot about that…still, this is what I was thinking of…
http://watcheshq.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/race-rolex.jpeg
Yay! Retire in Florida with a 1989 Yugo! Yay! Fun! We did it Ryan! We be famous, Yay!
Whoa, my communist uncle bought one after reunification. You couldn’t say “Florida” fast enough to describe how quickly it fell apart. I’m not even sure if he had it for a year, and he’s the rather frugal type.
Skyline Corner, Mt Panorama, Bathurst and Nissan Skyline R32 GTR on it’s way to winning the great race.
Wait… this isn’t ‘best match’ is it?
http://sacarfan.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/R32-Nissan-Skyline-GT-R-2.jpg
Volkswagen California.
https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/media/1256511/sehead.jpg
No picture of it in California because you can’t buy it in California (or anywhere in the US).
Really? Nobody went here, yet?
And there is so much irony here, I could not bear to retouch it.
http://imganuncios.mitula.net/1991_chrysler_new_yorker_fifth_avenue_4dr_sedan_6020055421803676948.jpg
Shoulda been the Chrysler New Jerseyer.