Bad Car/Bike names thread

[CaptainRaiden]

I don't know if this has been done before or not. Used the search function, didn't find any on this forum. But anyway, I came across an ad for this car recently, and it's also been made fun of on Top Gear. I don't know who was it that had the brain-fart to come up with this name:

Presenting the Dacia "Duster"!!

http://www.lincah.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/2010-Dacia-Duster-Front-Angle-View-588x427.jpg

An SUV called "Duster", Really?!? :p In all seriousness though, probably they didn't think twice before naming the car this, or it's just a straight rip-off, copied from the old Plymouth Duster, still a horrible name for a car.

It'd be interesting to see other bad car or bike names that you've heard over the years. :D

[Easy Drifter]

Edsel, aka Ethel. One look at the grill tells you why. :D

[CaptainRaiden]

http://www.mywvhome.com/web/cars/1958_Edsel_Citation.jpg

:rotflmao:

[edv]

Remember when GM test-marketed a new car in Mexico?
It was called the 'NOVA' LOL!

[Tazio]

http://reason.com/assets/mc/_ATTIC/ngillespie2/amc_gremlin.jpg

:dog: :s ailor: :dork:
:rotflmao:

[markabilly]

You can afford to buy a gremlin, but you can't afford to fix it....


Gremlin was the perfect name for the car.....it had many

[Captain VXR]

Mazda La Puta
Mitsubushi Pajero
Nissan Moco
Those who speak Spanish will know why...

[inimitablestoo]

Of course, those with long memories will be able to remember the original Dacia Duster...

http://www.difflock.com/buyersguide/pastmasters/daciaduster/images/heading_pic.jpg

Otherwise... Nissan Cedric takes some beating, but was only ever sold in Japan; Nissan Cherry... Nissan Silvia... Nissan Laurel. The last one doesn't sound too bad, until you realise it apparently gained its name because the then-president of Nissan's executive range was a fan of Laurel and Hardy...

Lancia Dedra was another English language faux pas, no matter how much they protested that you say it "day-dra". Mitsubishi's Carisma also deserves a mention for scoring high in the irony stakes. Of cars on sale today, I wonder how many Peugeot Bipper Tepees the French manufacturer has managed to sell. If only to those people who think the identical Citroen Nemo Multispace has a sillier name.

Oh yes, and can we finally banish the myth about the Nova please? It was never a problem in Spanish, which has the word "nova" meaning exactly the same as it does in English, and any confusion with "no va" would be as likely as an English speaker confusing "notable" with "no table".

[UltimateDanGTR]

Toyota MR2.

I cant speak french, but those who do should be able to work it out.

Edit: yup, thanks QI.

[Shifter]

I always thought the Pontiac Le Mans was just a terrible injustice to the name.

[Rollo]

http://www.cars-directory.net/pics/mazda/bongo_friendee/1999/mazda_bongo_friendee_a1149336016b964770.jpg
http://www.cars-directory.net/gallery/mazda/bongo_friendee/

I can't believe no one has mentioned the Mazda Bongo Friendee van.

[Easy Drifter]

Then there was the Datsun (Nissan) Fair Lady.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Hey...we had a Canadian version of a Mercury called the "Montcalm". The gent they named after was an inept French General who lost Quebec for good for the French so the Quebecois thought the name was a loser, and people in English Canada wouldn't want to buy a car named after a French loser....

Typical of Detroit trying to find a way to make cars for the Canadian market a little more "Canadian"....but the Montcalm just didn't work.

That said, Canada specific models are a thing of the past now....sadly too...

[Koz]

Fairlady... Bloody useless name for such a magnificent car(s).

[Sonic]

Hyundai Pony!

Seriously. A car named after an equine should bring images of rampant horses in full gallop, like Mustang and (....er....well do you really need another example??) Not some 8 year old girl being led round a paddock on a rope on an miserable, asthmatic riding school pony.

[maxu05]

Perhaps car makers around the world could name their models according to popular names in the counrty of sale.
Example.
UK = Charles 2.o VVTi or Edward TDi
Aus = Davo 3.0 or Johnno 4.2 V8i
Mex = Pablo CDi
China = Li 1.6 Ti
etc,etc.
Could be fun, lol.

[donKey jote]

Mitsubushi Pajero


It´s called Montero in Spain, but they should have kept the original name to describe most of their owners :s ailor: :vader: :dozey: :p

[inimitablestoo]

...and the Shogun in the UK, which isn't a bad name... but was chosen because of a TV programme of the time, apparently :s

[eppursimuove]

Nissan Qashqai

I cant even say it let alone know what it means

[eppursimuove]

Hahahahaha just reading the gremlin add up there:

"with 128 bhp engine goes from 0-60 in 15.3 seconds"

Seriously? That was a selling point? That 'small' car must have weighed about 5 ton, 128BHP isn't too bad a figure so you would expect a small car with that power to maybe do it in 10 seconds! I know little Nova's did!

[Eki]

Hyundai Pony!

Seriously. A car named after an equine should bring images of rampant horses in full gallop, like Mustang and (....er....well do you really need another example??) Not some 8 year old girl being led round a paddock on a rope on an miserable, asthmatic riding school pony.
It's still better than Hyundai Donkey.

[inimitablestoo]

I would suggest the Reliant Kitten but thinking about it, it seems to suit the car. I can just imagine one chasing a ball of string :)

[Easy Drifter]

Singer. Always made me think of sewing machines.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Hyundai Pony!

Seriously. A car named after an equine should bring images of rampant horses in full gallop, like Mustang and (....er....well do you really need another example??) Not some 8 year old girl being led round a paddock on a rope on an miserable, asthmatic riding school pony.


My first job saving money for University was working at the Hyundai Dealer cleaning the shipping wax off Pony's and the "luxury" Hyundai of that time, the Stellar. Neither was a good car.

That said, the guy who owned the dealer was happy, he was previously the last dealer in Ontario still selling Lada's and THAT was a REALLY BAD CAR!

[Eki]

That said, the guy who owned the dealer was happy, he was previously the last dealer in Ontario still selling Lada's and THAT was a REALLY BAD CAR!
Actually, what I've heard is that Ladas were better to start up in extreme cold weather than most other cars. Probably due to their large mechanical tolerances. A piece of Trivia: Kimi Räikkönens first car was a Lada.

[eppursimuove]

Hyva Kimi!

[Mark in Oshawa]

Actually, what I've heard is that Ladas were better to start up in extreme cold weather than most other cars. Probably due to their large mechanical tolerances. A piece of Trivia: Kimi Räikkönens first car was a Lada.

You would never know if they were or not in my experience. Their capability of breaking down and unreliablity meant that by the time winter had come, you would realize the folly of your ways and bought something else.

We had a Lada Sedan for a part's car...and it was sorta reliable. This being the 1980's, it was the copy of the FIAT design that was 20 plus years old as it was....it was a dopey looking car, smelled funny (Communist plastics probably with all sorts of cancer causing chemicals), and it thrived on abuse. The game the mechanics had with it was to take off by revving the motor to 6 grand and dropping the clutch. Even with that, it never really spun the tires unless the road was wet.

The driving position was terrible, the shifter was like a broomstick stuck in a box of rocks and in a town dominated by Camaros and Firebirds, it was the most embarassing ride on the road...

[Kneeslider]

Cars aren't the only ones...

How about the Suzuki Freewind? Yamaha Thundercat or Yamaha Chappy?

All truly awful names.

[sal]

Nissan Juke.

[CaptainRaiden]

There is a commuter bike in India called "Glamour". :(

http://imgs.indiaautomobile.com/newbike_images/hero_honda_glamour/hero_honda_glamour_ext1.jpg

[MrMetro]

subaru justy, daihatsu applause

[CaptainRaiden]

The Daihatsu Charade! That name definitely inspires trust. :D

http://staging.motorbase.com/pictures/contributions/20000319/std_1986_Daihatsu_Charade__Turbo-Diesel_-LF-.jpg

[inimitablestoo]

It's one of those names, the Daihatsu Charade, that's been around so long you forget it isn't any good. A bit like rotten band names when the music's so good you overlook the dodgy monicker (a Radcliffe and Maconie talking point of old, when they included the Beatles on their list - and potentially a whole new thread for us here).

Daihatsu are running Nissan close for the volume of bad car names - remember the Domino?