Comments on: Name and Shame

By: James

James — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:52:50 +0000

Probably called that because it had a turbo…

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:31:12 +0000

The prize should go to the Nissan “Horny”. But worthhy (??) mentions : Isuzu Bighorn, Daihatsu Naked and Isuzu GIGA 20 Light Dump

By: Adam Limbrey

Adam Limbrey — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:31:11 +0000

In the 80’s and 90’s I worked in product marketing for Daihatsu UK. After a serious error of judgement in naming some of their cars without consulting the importers (anyone remember the Applause? aka the Clap), the factory in Osaka got round to asking us for feedback on potential names before they were launched on an unsuspecting market. I am delighted to say that I was largely responsible for preventing their re-worked mini-van carrying the monniker “JOYBOX” — my email to them suggested that it may have dodgy homo-erotic connotations which I’m never quite sure they understood but at least they dropped the name!

By: OSCAR

OSCAR — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:35:26 +0000

My neighbour has an R34 Skyline and a Nissan Cube,he loves them both. The Cube is like a topless woman,everybody keeps looking at it!

By: graham thomas

graham thomas — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:04:38 +0000

Nissan Sunny — TURBO , priceless!!??

By: John

John — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:02:35 +0000

How about the good old Toyota MR2? What’s wrong with that? In French this is pronounced Toyota emmerde. The literal translation being “Toyota drops you in the s**t!” And I thought they were so reliable!

By: David Wilson

David Wilson — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:39:05 +0000

Yes, rumour has it that a phone call from Mitsubishi in Japan to their UK based marketing team was responsible for this, although Mitsubishi always maintained that they meant to name it Starion as a contraction of ‘Star of Orion’. Yeah right, Mitsubishi, so you name the Colt & Lancer after types of horse, then go for something that’s named after a star. Mitsubishi also named the Pajero — if you’re Spanish, Pajero means w*****r!

By: Andrew Kelsey

Andrew Kelsey — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:55:40 +0000

How about the Mitsubishi Starion. It was supposed to be called Stallion in line with its pony car status as a sort of mini-Mustang, but with the Japanese accent and inability to pronounce the ‘L’ sound it was produced in Japan and sold in the UK as the Starion for some years.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:40:57 +0000

How about the Mitsubishi Carisma, this must be one of the cars with the least charisma of all.
And how about the Nissan Gloria or Fairlady, wow dont they sell the image.

By: Ray Pearson

Ray Pearson — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:46:29 +0000

Although not an English word, you might like to add Suzuki’s “Cappucino” to your list. It was certainly not the light, fluffy, frothy, milky item the name suggests but a very worthwhile little sports car. I drove one when they were introduced to this country and found it a very potent little number. There was no way however that I was going to drive around in a car with such a name and probably many other potential buyers felt the same, which could be why the car was not a big seller. Perhaps it would have been better if they had called it (sticking to the Italian theme)“Grappa” — now that is a drink with a bite !