Dumb car names

john_324

I'm the same way. The whole E-thing was pretty dumb, and Ford is finally ditching the F-thing for the cars.

Explorer as a name is classic, as it was the first successful mass-marketed SUV as we know them now. I predict Ford will hold on to that name for a long time, though it has been somewhat soiled recently.

The Escape really should be renamed Bronco (or even Bronco III if you're a purist). Escape just sounds too "let's go get smoothies after we check into the B&B" for an sporting SUV.

As for other dumb names, I can't recall if it's been mentioend, but the Ford Aspire always struck me as a poor choice, esp. for an econocar. Like, aspire to get a better car someday...

fezo

Oh, the Aspire has been mentioned but it is such a Hall of Fame bad car name that it earns multiple mentions. The esteem is in the same category. How desperate are you if you have to buy a car called an Esteem?

british_rover

Didn't Chrysler make a Skamp at one point?

I think I remember working on one in the late 90s that had the High Output package.

On the back it said Skamp HO. :surprise:

kyfdx

Their was a Dodge or Plymouth Scamp at one time..

Early '70s, I think.. Either a Dart or Duster model, I think...

british_rover

This was a mid 80s product though. I think it might have been a rebadged Mitsubishi.

kyfdx

1983.. It was the Plymouth version of the Dodge Rampage.. the pickup truck thingy, based on the Horizon/Omni twins.

Picture

andre1969

there was a Plymouth Scamp from 1970 to 1976. Basically, it was Plymouth's version of the Dodge Dart Swinger hardtop.

Plymouth phased out all of the "cool" models of the Valiant for 1967, to make way for the Barracuda. So, no more hardtop or convertible Valiants. However, the Dart held onto these styles, and the hardtop Dart was wildly popular, often accounting for the bulk of Dart sales, and allowing the Dart in general to swamp the Valiant, sale-wise.

For 1970, when the Duster came out, Chrysler new it was going to be a success. Dodge dealers wanted a version, so they got it, as the Demon. To reciprocate, Chrysler-Plymouth dealers got the Valiant Scamp, which returned the hardtop to the Valiant lineup.

Plymouth actually got the better end of the deal, as the Scamp was pretty popular. The Duster was a runaway hit, but the Demon didn't do nearly as well, partly because of its name. In the Bible belt, people didn't really take to the concept of driving a Demon to church. The Demon even had a little cartoon character on it that looked like a perverted version of the father on the old cartoon "Wait till your Father Gets Home", weilding a pitchfork and flashing an impish smile.

texases

Duster vs. Demon-I remember article advising people to buy the Demon because they could get a better price than the identical Duster, just because of lower demand.

andre1969

Honestly, I never liked the name "Scamp". When I was younger, it made me think of something you pick. As in "scab". But then, as I got older, I started hearing that radio shock jock, the Greaseman, talking about "Scampers", and that really made me reluctant to ever drive a car that said "Scamp" on it!

And now that I think about it my grandparents had a pop-up truck camper made by a company called "Skamper".

british_rover

I thought it was a coupe of some sort but I guess not.

kyfdx

Well.. it has two doors..

andre1969

Could it be the Plymouth Arrow you're thinking of? Plymouth and Dodge sold a few Mitsubishi-badged cars back in the day, such as the Plymouth Champ/Dodge Colt, Plymouth Arrow, and the Plymouth Sapporo/Dodge Challenger.

lemko

Would Austin Powers drive a Dodge Dart Swinger?

british_rover

That looks more like it yeah. Maybe I just got the Champ and Skamp names mixed up.

lemko

...for the Plymouth Scamp with a female vocalist singing "...That's why the lady drives a Scamp!" to the tune of the old standard "The Lady is a Tramp."

fezo

I actually test drove a brand new Plymouth Arrow years ago. Old type dealership. To give you some idea of how big (well, little) the place was when they closed up somebody put a Boston Market in the space. That was the same place my dad bought the 57 Plymouth.

The Arrow was a perfectly average kind of Japanese lower level import for it's day. They used Nillson's "Me and My Arrow" in their advertising.

For sake of topic I will say there were a LOT of cars with worse names than the Arrow.

kyfdx

I almost had a deal to buy a '76 Arrow.. I'd already dropped my car off the day before to get a trade value.. Went back in.. and they tried to bump me.. and low-ball my trade.

Told them to forget it, and when I went to leave, I couldn't get my car started... Had to call a tow truck to get out of there.. lol.

fezo

Oh, that's a classic story!

I can't even imagine having to call the tow truck after refusing a low ball bid.

kyfdx

In retrospect... maybe it wasn't so low..

I was just 18.. I've learned a few things since then.

fezo

OK - I guess I COULD imagine me doing such a thing at that age.....

For good embarrassing at the dealership stories my uncle had a classic. He had just bought of all things a new Pinto. (I have no idea why. He could, and often did, buy very nice cars but every so often would do something like the Pinto.) So he completes all the paperwork, gets in his new car and promptly backs into another new car on the lot.

He was far too chagrined to alert the insurance company, choosing to pay cash to repair both vehicles!

urnews

Told them to forget it, and when I went to leave, I couldn't get my car started... Had to call a tow truck to get out of there.. lol.

That's one of the funniest car stories I've ever heard. What was the make and model of the car that wouldn't start and what happened to it eventually? What's "the rest of the story?"

texases

The Arrow was one of the better-looking Japanese imports back then, better than the overstyled Celicas of the time, IMHO. Later, it got the Fire Arrow treatment, with a big 2.6l 4cyl with the 'silent shaft'.

kyfdx

The car that wouldn't start was my first car.. 1970 Galaxie 500 coupe. Baby-poop beige with black vinyl, AM radio and no A/C. 113K when I bought it, and around 120K when I had it towed away from that lot.

I had it towed to a tire/repair shop that was a customer of my father.. They gave me $100 for it. (which happened to be the same amount the dealer offered me).

Assuming it ran, I swear it was worth at least $300!! :surprise:

Anyway, instead of the Plymouth/Mitsu Arrow, I ended up with a '77 Cobra II.

Another hard lesson learned, there.

drfill

Is pretty bad.

Maybe good for a sports car.

DrFill

fulcrumb

My dad had just taken delivery of his first new car; a 1953 Chevrolet 210. Factory ordered it as many did back then. On delivery day it was sitting in the service bay all ready to go. After all the paperwork and handshakes, Dad backed out of the shop as another car was trying to enter. Minor damage, lasting memory; He still talked about it 52 years later. Dad's gone now, but I still smiled to myself when I would see a '53 during the recent MSRA show at the MN Fairgrounds. But back to the thread, Taurus X is lame IMO.

te1963

I think Tribeca is a dumb name. It makes no sense to me.

Talk about embarrassing moments. Back in 1975, my parents were looking to replace my mom's '68 Mercury. My brother in law sold Chevy's and sent my sister to show Mom and Dad a '73 Malibu. As my sister was backing out of the parking space at the dealership, a wire came loose from the accelerator and stuck in the carpet. Not realizing that a wire had come loose and thinking the accelerator was just sticking, she gunned it a little. We flew backward across the lot into the side of the Regional Manager's 75 Caprice Estate wagon. The side of the Caprice was totally caved in! I'll never forget the look on the RM's face as he tried to open the door to his demonstrator and the wood siding fell off! Not a scratch on the Malibu. I think my parents felt so sorry for my sister they bought the Malibu.

urnews

or is Hummer a dumb name for an automotive product?

urnews

I think Tribeca is a dumb name. It makes no sense to me.

It always reminds me of a type of betting found at a horse racing track. LOL.

lemko

"Hummer" is actually a nickname given to the original military vehicle High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, AKA "Humvee").

For brief history:

http://www.real4wd.com/content/articles/hist-humvee-01.asp

"Jeep" got its name pretty much the same way.

john_324

To me, it's a name that belongs on a small urban car, not a SUV.

Tribeca's a neighborhood in Manhattan (TRIangle BElow CAnal street), not some western town of the sort that usually provides a SUV moniker...

urnews

Very informative link, Lemko. A good read.

bryan

Is the race betting term trifecta or something like that? You can probably tell I don't follow horse racing. Shoot, I still don't understand how tennis is scored, and it wasn't that long ago that I finally mastered bowling scoring!

joe97

Have never been a big fan of vehicles which are named in way of alpha, numerical, alpha-numerical styles. Most evolves no meaning whatsoever.

andre1969

I know that if you pick the first and second place winners in a horse race, that's an Exacta. Learned that from "Mama's Family" :shades:

I think a Trifecta actually has something to do with employment skills. At least, I remember an epsiode of "Little House on the Prairie", where a hailstorm wiped out the crops and Pa Ingalls was going to go ask Mrs. Oleson for a job, but was really dreading it. He told the family that he planned on telling her that he was hard working, honest, and loyal. Daughter Laura said "That's the Trifecta of of Employability, Daddy!". :P

Oh, wait. That was another 70's show. No, it was "THAT 70's Show!"

tmart

It might have something to do with employment, but I don't think so. A trifecta is a particular type of bet that is very difficult to win, but it yields very high returns. To successfully win a trifecta bet, you need to specify the horses that finish in the top three spots in the exact order in which they finish.

fezo

Yep. The only time I hit one was when I threw up my hands, gave up and bet my license plate number. It came in and paid $220.

john_324

IMO Trifecta would have been a better name choice for that SUV.

Use (upscale) horseracing imagery in the ads, incorporate wordplay like "quality, style and AWD...that's the Subaru Trifecta!"