On Friday, I wrote on the topic of naming our vehicles and pointing out that naming the cars and trucks we own is how we personalize our vehicles; it’s a way we tell the world, This car is mine! 

Well, how about the names manufacturers choose for the vehicles we buy? A few years ago, Forbes looked into names manufacturers have chosen for vehicles over the years, from the daunting Dodge Coronet to the vicious Shelby Cobra and almost everything in between.  The end result was a list Forbes called, The Best, Worse and Weirdest Car Names.   Unfortunately, the original piece was written in 2004 and names such as the Yaris were not included, however also strangely absent from the list was the Ford Pinto, Ford Probe, Nissan Pulsar, Chevy Vega, Renault Le Car and the ever memorable Ford Edsel. 

On Forbes’ List:

Best Names

• Corvette
• Dodge Ram
• Dodge Viper
• Ford Explorer
• Ford Thunderbird
• Lamborghini Diablo
• Rolls-Royce Phantom

Fake Names

• Chevy Lumina
• Olds Bravada
• Pontiac Aztek
• Pontiac Fiero
• Saturn Vue

Overreaching Names

• Buick LeSabre
• Dodge Coronet
• Dodge Diplomat
• Dodge St. Regis
• Ford Aspire
• Lincoln Versailles
• Pontiac Executive
• Rambler Country Club

Weirdest Names

• Daihatsu Naked
• Honda Life Dunk
• Mazda Bongo
• Toyota Toyopet

Now – and just for fun - did you know there are at least 30 vehicles which have been named after animals?  Here’s a list of 20 can you think of more?* 

1. Plymouth Barracuda
2. Volkswagen Beetle
3. Chevy Bison
4. Datsun/Nissan Bluebird
5. Ford Bronco
6. Cheetah
7. Shelby Cobra
8. Mercury Cougar
9. Audi Fox
10. Chevy Impala
11. Jaguar
12. Ford Mustang
13. Volkswagen Rabbit
14. Dodge Ram
15. Plymouth Road Runner
16. Porsche Spider/Spyder
17. Dodge Super Bee
18. Ford Thunderbird
19. Dodge Viper
20. Mercury Bobcat

*More names on Friday!

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