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Date:         Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:56:04 -0800
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: VW car names ...
Comments: To: Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=original

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>


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