Many cars have strange “stage names”
Mitsubishi Minica Lettuce
The sixth generation (1989-1993) of the Mitsubishi Minica was changed to be more cute, with a version with a single door on the right, two doors on the passenger side and a tailgate. But that is enough to explain why the Japanese automaker decided to name this car “Lettuce”, which in English means lettuce – Photo: Mitsubishi
Daihatsu Naked
The small car from Japan (kei car) has a prominent feature of exposed hinges and a name that makes people’s imagination fly away – Naked (naked). The car uses a 3-cylinder engine in line, 658cc capacity, four-speed automatic transmission or five-speed manual transmission, front-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive – Photo: Daihatsu
Toyota Deliboy
The name is associated with the audience that Toyota wants to target: Delivery people, also known as “shippers”. Because according to the company, the name Deliboy is a combination of “delivery” and “boy” (boy, young man), “boy” here also implies agility, so it can be translated as “the fast delivery guy” – Photo: Toyota
BYD Dolphin and BYD Seal
Usually, BYD cars have names like codes, such as D1, F3, G3, S7 and M6. But the company still has some models with different names. Typically, Dolphin (dolphin) and Seal (seal), conjure images of gentle sea creatures wandering between the seas and oceans of the world, seemingly to hint at the ambition to “out” big sea” of the Chinese car company – Photo: BYD
GWM Haval Big Dog
Despite the brusque name, Big Dog (big dog, figuratively referring to “big-eared character”), this is in fact a compact SUV. However, when exported outside of China, the car will be changed to a more boring name – Dargo (observer, follower) – Photo: GWM
GWM Ora Good Cat
The name alone is enough to attract people who like cuteness. Who can resist a “good cat”? However, when exporting to Australia, this cute name will be cut, just simply Ora. The version originally called “Lightning Cat” is also just Ora Sport – Photo: GWM
Volkswagen Gold
There is no typo here. Gol, not Golf. Gol is a car made in Brazil for the South American market. Gol is named after the Portuguese word for “goal”, and this is also the best-selling car in Brazil from 1987-2014. Only thing, the car has been banned from sale in Argentina because Volkswagen Brazil insists that it is not equipped with an electronic stability control system (ESC or ESP) according to the new regulations of this country. In the latest generation, Gol looks quite like Polo – Photo: Jalopnik
Child Volugrapher
Volugrafo Bimbo is a car developed by racer, engineer Belmondo. It is not clear why the car has a name referring to “blonde girls”, or pretty girls with empty minds. It is not clear if the name contributed to the fact that the car only lasted two years and then died – Photo: Motor
Meaningless names
If there are some names with cute or funny meanings, many cars in history have had very confusing names. For example, Oldsmobile Alero, Chevrolet Lumina sound “very Latin” but in fact there is no dictionary to record it; Chevrolet Luv, Pontiac Aztek were born again due to… misspelling. Some cars have rather random names, like Pontiac Parisienne (pictured) – sounds “very Parisian” but is actually sold in Canada, Australia or South Africa – Photo: Classic Auto Mall
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