A book featuring 75 years of vehicle names has just been published in the U.K. and has thrown up some fascinating facts. The Register of Model Titles is controlled by the SMMT, the British car’s industry umbrella organization, and while there’s a lot of dull stuff – hey, did you know Ford uses Focus on one of its products? – it’s also packed with embarrassing gems.
Highlights include:Leyland Titanic, Daihatsu Widget, Toyota Lightening , Toyota Topless , Toyota Tsunami, Saab Tjugofem
(via things)
I love to see the names different car companies in different countries use for their models. They don’t always have the same meanings in two countries. Who does the research?
Mar 16th, 2007 / 6:05 pm
Thank you for calling my attention to this book! I’m a linguist, I used to be a namer, and now I write a blog about names. This will be a great resource. I’m also glad to see names mentioned in a design context (which is how I see them) rather than just a marketing context.
By the way, I love your blog.
Mar 17th, 2007 / 12:17 am