Dear Fossil,

'Aphid' ..............that's my vote for a car name !!
The new 2009 Volkswagen Aphid. - now on sale in your soon to be defunct
Chrysler showroom !

and you didn't even mention cute Japanese names like the Fair Lady Sports
car ....what we called the Datsun 1600 ????

I believe the first badge engineering was Ford and Mercury's made in Canada
for the Canadian market.
Can't think of any earlier examples anyway.  That started in the later 50's
I believe, or by early 60's for sure.
I had friends who naturally name their Mercury Comet............'Vomit.'

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Grebneff" <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 10:12 PM
Subject: Re: VW car names ...

>>>> Back to VW .........to start a whole movement and craze with the VW
>>>> Rabbit
>>>> car in the 70's........brilliant, but then turn around and call it
>>>> a
>>>> 'golf'......
>>>> what the heck is that about ???
>
> Nobody "turned around". The first genuine FWD VW was indeed the Golf.
> It was detuned (suspension and engine) for the NA market, where it was
> sold as Rabbit.
>
>> Jetta ... a fast wind?
>
> The notchback Golf. Why the heck not CALL it Golf? Whatever, the first
> 4 generations og Golf notchbacks were callse Jetta (pronounced
> "yetta"). The 4th was called Vento (wind). In NA the Jetta name was
> retained for the Vento. Name-games.
>
>> Touareg ... the name of indigenous folks in the Tenere desert
>
> A derogatory name, not their own name for themselves!
>
>> Beetle ... is a bug.
>
> Nope. Beetles are insects but not at all closely related to bugs. Bugs
> are a particular group of sucking insects... bedbugs, leafhoppers,
> cicadas, aphids. As is so often the case, popular usage sucks.
>
>> GTI ... Golf This Isn't.
>
> It sure is. Only in NA is the Golf GTi not badged Golf.
>
> What about the Santana (=Quantum, an Audi 80/90)? Dasher (=Passat, an
> Audi 80/Fox).
>
>> Chevy Cobalt? wonder if they meant to call it the Chevy Cobol, to
>> compete with the soon-to-be-released Ford Fortran. (old programmer's
>> joke). ;)
>
> Most current small Chevs are rebadged Daewoos, including the Cobalt sedan.
>
>> Chevy Nova ... we all know that story, right?
>
> A Toyota AE80 Sprinter Liftback, part of the Corolla range.
>
>> volvo was even better ... 265 ... 2nd body series, 6-cylinder engine,
>> 5-doors (station wagon).
>
> 760 Turbo... 7-series, four-cylinder engine... Volvo cheated i6ts own
> system as well.
>
> Mazda Attenza... or 6. Or Capella (=626,(121 & RX5), except that Mazda
> dropped the old name... and 121 (export name for the small car I can't
> remember the Japanese name for, Efini something-or-other), also sold
> as Ford Festiva.
> Mazda Familia, also sold as 323, GLC, Protege, Ford Laser and Mercury
> Tracer.
> Nissan Bluebird (=1600, 180B, 200B, Stanza, Maxima, Altima...)
> Nissan Cefiro (=Maxima, Altima)
> Nissan something (=X-Trail)
> Nissan Terrano (=Pathfinder, Infiniti something)
>> i do wonder sometimes, if car makers are just desperate by the time
>> the car is almost ready, and they'll grab at anything those
>> pot-smoking 'stylists' in california give 'em. :)
>
> That about sums it up. Carmakers, due to their marketing departments,
> play name-games. Including buying other makers' cars and having their
> own badges attached. Itb reaches its worst in NA, where most imports
> are sold by names other than those used in the cars' home markets.
> It's called badge-engineering. It's big business. And it sucks big
> time.
>
> I think it was a US invention, and the Poms picked it up in the 50s.
> The Germans and later the Japanese followed suit.
>
> --
> Andrew Grebneff
> Dunedin, New Zealand
> Fossil preparator
> Mollusc, Toyota & VW van nut
>
> <goose1047@gmail.com>