The meaning behind major car nameplates

Story by Ronan Glon

Picking a name for a car is a career on its own. ©Autocar

There are entire departments within each automaker tasked with choosing the right name for the right model. Getting it wrong can turn an otherwise competitive car into a costly flop. The nameplate also plays a significant role in forging a car’s image. The next-generation Volkswagen Golf may not sell as well as its predecessor if the marketing department in Wolfsburg gives it a name that sounds like a vulgar insult in English. Similarly, we’d have a difficult time imagining BMW releasing a model called Charlotte to replace the 4 Series. And yet, heritage aside, Giulia undoubtedly fits Alfa Romeo’s 3 Series-fighter much better than G20t4D would. Join us as we explore the meaning (or, in some cases, the lack of meaning) behind some of the industry’s enigmatic nameplates.

1.

Peugeot’s three-digit nameplates

©Peugeot

Peugeot began using three-digit nameplates with a zero in the middle when it introduced the 201 in 1929. The model was quickly joined in showrooms by three additional new cars named 301, 401 and 601, respectively. On some of them, the emblem was placed on the grille and the zero doubled as the hole for the crank. It was a clever solution that designers were proud of so Peugeot continued using it.

The three-digit naming system outlived the crank. The numbers stopped evolving in 2012; the 208 (pictured) was replaced by another 208, not by a 209.  Peugeot has occasionally made an exception to its rule for models like the P4, the 1007 and the RCZ. In 2018, the firm uses two zeros to denote SUVs like the 3008.

2.

Bentley Bentayga ©Autocar

Bentley named its first SUV after a peak in the Canary Islands. Roque Bentayga overlooks the village of Tejeda on the island of Gran Canaria. The British firm offered little indication as to why it chose this particular rock formation but it’s likely because the name Bentley Bentayga has a nice ring to it. Everest was already taken by Ford and Bentley Kanchenjunga wouldn’t have quite the same effect.

Today, the Bentayga faces competition from the Cullinan, a Rolls-Royce SUV named after a giant diamond discovered in South Africa in 1905.

3.

Chevrolet Camaro

©Chevrolet

When Chevrolet released the Camaro in 1967, most of its cars wore a name that started with the letter C. The branding team in charge of finding a name for project Panther allegedly made a list of 2000 words that start with a C, including a few that they made up. Camaro was one of them.

Though it has a Spanish ring to it, the name Camaro doesn’t mean anything in any language. Chevrolet famously told journalists who attended the car’s launch that a Camaro is a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs.

4.

Dodge Challenger/Charger/Durango SRT ©Dodge

Dodge uses the SRT suffix to denote its most powerful cars. It’s on the Hellcat V8-powered variants of the Charger and the Challenger (pictured) and on the hot-rodded Durango, a family-friendly SUV capable of a 12.9-second quarter-mile. SRT – which got promoted to a standalone brand for the 2013 and 2014 model years – stands for street and racing technology.

While the Hellcat emblem depicts what looks like a cat sent from hell, Dodge borrowed the name from a fighter plane the US Navy used during World War II.

5.

Lamborghini’s fighting bulls ©Autocar

Lamborghini has a long history of naming its cars after fighting bulls. Aventador was a bull which earned an award for its outstanding courage in 1993. And, while Huracan sounds like the Spanish word for a hurricane, it’s also the name of a fighting bull. This one fought in 1879. The Urus never fought in a ring; it was an impressively large species of bull that became extinct in the 17^th century.

Ford likes bulls, too. Taurus, the second sign of the zodiac, is represented by a bull.

6.

Tesla’s hidden crossword

Tesla’s first car was quite simply called Roadster. The California-based company then launched a new naming system when it introduced the Model S (pictured). It later released the Model X, the Model 3 and Model Y. SX3Y, then.

Tesla originally wanted to name its entry-level car Model E but Ford threatened to sue because it owned the rights to that name. Replace 3 with E and re-arrange the letters in Tesla’s line-up to discover what the company’s naming system leads to.

7.

Toyota RAV4 ©Autocar

Toyota designed the original RAV4 before the term SUV became widely known so it had to come up with its own name. RAV4 means recreational active vehicle with four-wheel drive, though the model comes standard with front-wheel drive in most markets.

8.

Porsche 911

Flashbulbs popped as Porsche introduced the brand-new 901 at the 1963 Frankfurt auto show. Sleek and powerful, the 356’s long-awaited successor made headlines all around the world but it caught the attention of Peugeot for a completely different reason. The French firm swiftly reminded Porsche that it owned the rights to every three-digit car nameplate with a zero in the middle. And, though it didn’t plan on releasing a model named 901 and it certainly had no intention of building a rear-engined sports car, it wasn’t about to let Porsche get away with trademark infringement.

Porsche replaced the zero with a one to create the 911. It made about 82 901-badged pre-production cars before changing the car’s name. It's fair to say the 911 hasn't looked back.

9.

Toyota Corolla

You won’t find a picture of a humble economy car if you look up the word corolla in the dictionary. Instead, it’s a noun defined as “the petals of a flower, typically forming a whorl within the sepals.” It’s a term commonly used by botanists.

10.

Volkswagen’s wind-inspired names ©Volkswagen

Volkswagen’s early models stood out as some of the most uncreatively-named cars in the industry. The Beetle’s official name was Type 1, for example. Executives decided to celebrate the era of front-wheel drive, water-cooled models by injecting a little more pizzazz into the line-up. They turned to meteorology for inspiration.

The Golf (pictured) is named after the gulf stream, which is called golfstrom in German. Passat is the German term for trade winds, the jet stream became Jetta and the Scirocco is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara desert. In an odd twist of fate, the Scirocco shares its name with a Maserati. Ghibli is another term for the Scirocco wind. Final thing: why was the Golf known as Rabbit in the US for multiple periods? Basically, it seems VW wanted to give the car a youthful image in America that didn’t chime with the ‘Golf club’ image of the game.