The Daily Ping

The 10,000th Ping will be published on May 24, 2027. Paul will be just about 50 years old.

July 8th, 2000

Dumb Car Names

I’ve been on a car tangent lately, and I’m going to indulge.

Have you noticed that car names today are, uh, rather dumb? I might buy a Sonata. I considered an Alero (what is an alero?), an Intrepid, and a Neon. I drive a Neon, used to have a Shadow. There was the Sundance, the Tempo (goes well with a Sonata!), the Jimmy.

We like places, so lots of cars are named after places: Sebring, Malibu, Monte Carlo, Dakota, Tahoe, the upcoming VW Colorado. I’d hate to see what the Berwyn looked like.

Ford loves consistency, so all of their SUVs are similarly-named: Escape, Explorer, Expedition, Excursion. DaimlerChrysler used to have the Cirrus and Stratus, in reply to VW’s Golf and Jetta. Then there are animals: Rabbit, Fox, Tiburon, Impala.

Got any that bug you? -pm

Posted in Cars

What is this then?

The Daily Ping is the web's finest compendium of toilet information and Oreo™® research. Too much? Okay, okay, it's a daily opinion column written by two friends. Did we mention we've been doing this for over ten years? Tell me more!

Most Popular Pings