The announcement last week of Mercury’s impending demise got me thinking about the loss of that venerated name from the new car lexicon. While that brand was named after a Roman messenger god, Mercury is also the name of the tiny planet that circles closest to our sun, which naturally led me to start thinking about all the planet and space-related car and truck names that have been. And I wondered, which one was the best?
Mercury dates back to 1939, but the Cold War really lit the fuse on both the space race and rocket-nomenclature for cars. In fact, starting in 1949 you could buy a Rocket Olds to shuttle yourself hither and yon. The fins and large round tail lamps emulating turbine exhausts drew inspiration from the Jet, and later, Space ages. NASA anointing their rocket platforms with the names of Roman gods only added to Mercury’s space-based bona fides.
And out of this golden age of automobiledom came models with names that equalled the aerospace aspirations of their styling. Upon its introduction, Ford mounted a galloping pony in the center grille of their 1964- 1/2 Mustang, however the car was really named for the legendary P-51 fighter. Eager to expand their horizons to infinity and beyond, the Blue Oval group had introduced the Galaxie just 5 years prior.
Jet and space names are not the exclusive providence of U.S. brands either. In their home market, Honda has offered the “Shuttle,” Isuzu sold the Gemini, and of course who could forget the Mazda Cosmo? Chrysler has given us both the Plymouth Satellite and Dodge Dart. Buick, like Mercury, applied a moniker that was both space and mythology-based with the mid-size Apollo. And, coming full circle, our recently flat-lined Ford brand once sold the Comet.
I’m sure there are more that aren’t falling readily to mind, and there could even be some that haven’t been used, but should be. Of course, the easily joke answer would be Uranus, a car that only comes in brown, but we’ll just let that one slide for the time being.
So what’s your take on jet and rocket-age car and brand names? Is there one that remains branded in your mind, either due to the images it engenders, or the fact that the car was just so damn awesome? Or, is there a name that hasn’t been used that you think would rock the planet thanks to its incredible amazingness – and if so, to what kind of a car would you have it applied? Come on rocketeers, the countdown awaits.
Image sources: [Chuck’s Toyland, Auto Universum]
Hooniverse Asks- What's the Best Jet or Space-Related Car Name?
About
31 responses to “Hooniverse Asks- What's the Best Jet or Space-Related Car Name?”
-
Any chance to play this clip…
[youtube 8aTjof5fqQo&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTjof5fqQo&feature=player_embedded youtube] -
<img src="http://www.carroantigo.com/imagens/carros_conceito/1954_ford_fx_atmos.jpg">
The closest to get to the Jetsons mus be with the "54 Ford Fx Atmos -
As far as production cars go, there is one that reigns supreme in my mind as it carries a double space-related name: the 1960-1961 Ford Galaxie Starliner.
-
Damn, beat me to it.
-
-
Anything with lots of numbers and x's.
-
It takes so much time and money to keep the Alfa roadworthy, I call it the Black Hole.
-
Black Holes: Racist!
http://current.com/news/92470951_naacp-calls-hall…
(sarcasm)-
That's nothing, you should hear the NAACP's response to ABC's coverage of the "ugly black beaches" of the gulf.
-
-
-
I like the Oldsmobile Starfire.
-
Saturn. Wait, did you say "best?"
-
And don't forget the Olds Jetstar I, Jetstar 88 and Jetfire Turbo
-
F-84 Jetfire…not only is it a fiery jet, it's a MIL-SPEC fiery jet!
-
And that's backed up by its engine, the Turbo Rocket V8, using Turbo Rocket Fluid, naturally.
(I hate to nitpick, but the designation was 1 number away at F-85, making one of the USAF's weirder concepts its namesake.)
-
-
-
Here's a few more candidates:
Desoto Fireflite
Studebaker Starlight Coupe
Mecury Meteor
Fiat 8V Supersonic
Oldsmobile's Jetaway automatic transmission-
Don't forget that Pontiac called the Jetaway "Strato-Flight."
-
Good point! And speaking of Pontiac, let us not forget the Star Chief
-
-
-
Wow, the Strato Streak looks very similar to the '56 Impala show car:
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z1761/Chevrole… -
Not strictly space but the first thing that came to mind was the Desoto Firedome.
-
How about the oh so subtle Futura designation from Ford? I can see the boardroom discussions now. How can we come up with a name that says "we're looking to the future?" How about Futura? Done and done. Martini time!
-
And then they quit using the name Futura and lost it to Pep Boys and their super cheap private label tires. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Futura#US_marke…
-
-
We'll have a medical technology hooniverse asks some other day…
-
Really, nobody's mentioned the Mitsubishi Space Wagon? Or the Toyota Space Cruiser?
-
Any of the Firebird concepts would work. Not only jet inspired; Jet propelled!
-
"92" is a space/jet name?
-
"Saab: Born from Jets"
-
-
Plymouth Satellite, and Reliant.
Bonus points if the Reliant has NCC1864 for a plate. -
Don't forget the Ford Meteor and Laser (nee Mazda 323s).
-
Challenger was a car first, then flew in space, then blew up in space, and now is a car again.
The only cars to be driven on other planetary bodies are Rovers. -
Subaru is named after a constellation! http://tinyurl.com/npkjh
-
The Pontiac Strato-Chief
![http://www.carroantigo.com/imagens/carros_conceito/1954_ford_fx_atmos.jpg">](http://www.carroantigo.com/imagens/carros_conceito/1954_ford_fx_atmos.jpg">){kind=link}
Leave a Reply