carsalesbase.com

  • Home
  • Europe sales
    • Minicar segment
    • Subcompact car segment
    • Compact car segment
    • Midsized car segment
    • Small MPV segment
    • Midsized MPV segment
    • Large MPV segment
    • Small SUV segment
    • Midsized SUV segment
    • Large SUV segment
    • EV segment
    • Premium compact car segment
    • Premium midsized car segment
    • Premium large car segment
    • Limousine segment
    • Premium midsized and compact SUV segment
    • Premium large SUV segment
    • Coupe and Convertible segments
    • Exotic car segment
    • Passenger van segment
    • LCV sales
  • US sales
    • US Minicar segment
    • US Subcompact car segment
    • US Compact car segment
    • US Mid-sized car segment
    • US Large car segment
    • US Minivan segment
    • US Compact SUV segment
    • US Subcompact SUV segment
    • US Mid-sized SUV segment
    • US Large SUV segment
    • US Small pickup segment
    • US Pickup segment
    • US Premium compact car segment
    • US Premium mid-sized car segment
    • US Premium large car segment
    • US Limousine segment
    • US Premium compact SUV segment
    • US Premium mid-sized SUV segment
    • US Premium large SUV segment
    • US Commercial van segment
    • EV & PHEV segment
    • Sports Car Compact segment
    • Sports Car Large segment
    • US Exotic car segment
  • China sales
    • China monthly reports
  • Countries
  • Comparison tool
  • Fun stuff
    • Polls
    • Look-a-like
  • Opinion
  • Industry
  • News
  • About
Home » A new kind of retro: naming a model after the company’s founder

A new kind of retro: naming a model after the company’s founder

March 26, 2014 by Bart Demandt Leave a Comment

Share

As manufacturers are running out of inspiration for another retro styled car, a trend for which Volkswagen is credited since it introduced the New Beetle back in 1997, I have started to notice a new trend: retro naming. And with that, at this moment, I don’t mean re-using model names from the past, like Alfa Giulia or Chrysler 300, which could be the subject of an entirely different article, but I mean using the first name of the company’s founder as a model name.

Ferrari-EnzoFerrari started this trend in 2002 when the Italians decided to name their supercar Ferrari Enzo. While the model’s two predecessors, F40 and F50, were named to celebrate the company’s 40th and 48th anniversary in 1987 and 1995 respectively, the Italians may have been a bit too quick with the development of their next supercar. It was already completed and ready to be sold in 2002, so the Italians must have called for an emergency board meeting during lunch time:

  • “Oh mama mia! Grande catastrofe! Gianni, what do we do now? The F60 is already finished!
  • — Eating spaghetti —
  • “When is the 60th anniversary, Alberto?”
  • — Drinking Chianti —
  • “That’s another five years, Vincenzo! We cannot wait that long! The Germans are working on a Carrera GT, which is much better than ours. We need it to be sold out before they finish their car!”
  • — Eating more spaghetti —
  • “I have an idea, Alberto: we should call it the Ferrari F55!”
  • — Drinking more Chianti —
  • “No, that’s too much like the F355, Carlo. That was a sissy’s car. This is a great car. We should name it after the great man himself!”
  • — Drinking even more Chianti —
  • “You mean Ferrari Mussolini?”
  • — Eating Tiramisu —
  • “No, no, no, Nicola! I mean Enzo! Enzo Ferrari! Ferrari Enzo!”
  • — Drinking Espresso —
  • “Si! Si! Si! What a great idea! Grazie a Dio. Why didn’t I think of that? Ferrari Enzo!”

And ten years later, there must have been a similar meeting, with even more abundant amounts of Chianti before they were too passed out to think of anything, so they just called it the Ferrari LaFerrari.

Opel-Vauxhall-AdamIt would take the Germans another ten years to recognize this first Italian stroke of genius, when Opel/Vauxhall introduced its Adam minicar, named after Adam Opel. This means the Germans probably handled their Weizenbier at lunch better than the Brits handled their Lagers, as the Vauxhall version was also called Adam, instead of the more properly named Vauxhall Alexander. To make this little car’s name even more confusing, it will be rebadged as a Buick for the Chinese and maybe even the North-American market, but just the brand will be rebadged, as its name is expected to remain Adam, instead of the Buick David.

Just like two swallows don’t make a summer, the Enzo and the Adam don’t make a trend, but back to the Italians for that. At the Geneva Auto show last month, Maserati showed an absolutely stunning concept car of a Gran Turismo coupe. Maserati-AlfierThe name of this beautiful creature? Maserati Alfieri, named after one of the Maserati brothers who founded the company. Did I just say brothers? That means there are more of them! Well, five more to be precise. So expect the Maserati Carlo, Maserati Bindo, Maserati Mario, Maserati Ettore and Maserati Ernesto in the next couple of years. That saves the company a huge healthcare bill for liver transplants, as it only took one meeting to come up with six car names. Actually, it may be seven names. If Maserati would just copy Ferrari’s strategy, they will also introduce the Maserati LaMaserati sometime in the next few years.

I am curious to see which companies will join this trend, although there may be some copyright issues between the Bentley Walter and the Chrysler Walter, the Renault Louis and the Chevrolet Louis, not to mention the Cadillac Henry, Ford Henry, Morgan Henry and Rolls Royce Henry. Apparently, if your first name was Henry sometime in the late 19th century, your primary school career test would read: start an automobile company.

Besides that, in my opinion, the Italians have a little edge on the Japanese and the Germans in the continuation of this trend. Fiat Giovanni and Lancia Vincenzo are a little easier on the tongue than Mazda Jujiro, Mitsubishi Iwasaki, Nissan Masujiro and Toyota Kiichiro. And Alfa Romeo Nicola and Lamborghini Ferruccio just sound so much more melodious than Audi August, BMW Franz and Mercedes-Benz Karl. Volkswagen-New-BeetleNot to mention the folks in Wolfsburg, as I somehow have the feeling that there’s something about the Volkswagen Adolf that’s keeping this hypothetical car from becoming as successful as the retro New Beetle has been for the past 17 years.

 

Like this? Please share:

  • Tweet

Fun stuff adam, alfieri, beetle, Buick, caricature, enzo, ferrari, founder, laferrari, maserati, name, opel, Vauxhall, Volkswagen

About Bart Demandt

Bart is a 36-year old Dutchman who's always had a thing for cars, the automotive industry and statistics. He’s combined these passions by writing about them on CarSalesBase.com. His daily driver is an Alfa Romeo GT 3.2 V6 which he just can't seem to say goodbye to thanks to the mesmerizing exhaust note, despite approaching 300.000km which probably makes this the most experienced GT 3.2 in the world.
You can find all his articles Here.

Let me know what you think of this article. Thanks! Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

European car sales data

US car sales data

Chinese car sales data

Worldwide car sales data:

Comparison Tool

Compare sales by brand or model over time in chart or table format
Follow @carsalesbase

Thank us for our work:

Recent Posts

  • European sales 2019-Q3 Premium Large SUV segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Premium Midsized and Compact SUV segments
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Limousine segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Premium Large segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Premium Midsized segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Premium Compact segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 large SUV segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 compact & midsized crossover segments
  • European sales 2019-Q3 small crossover segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 large MPV segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 midsized MPV segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Midsized car segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Compact car segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Subcompact car segment
  • European sales 2019-Q3 Minicar segment
  • Ford Mustang Mach-E: about that name…. [w/poll]
  • European car sales analysis September 2019
  • New models recently added to our database
  • European car sales analysis July and August 2019 – models
  • European car sales analysis July and August 2019 – brands

Follow Carsalesbase.com

Follow Carsalesbase.com

Archives

  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013

Categories:

  • Auto Shows
  • Car sales China
  • Car sales Europe
  • Car sales US
  • Compact car segment
  • Coupe and convertible segment
  • EV segment
  • Exotic car segment
  • Fun stuff
  • Industry
  • International Street Scenes
  • Large MPV segment
  • Large SUV segment
  • LCV sales
  • Limousine segment
  • Look-a-like
  • Midsized car segment
  • Midsized MPV segment
  • Midsized SUV segment
  • Minicar segment
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Passenger van segment
  • Polls
  • Premium compact car segment
  • Premium large car segment
  • Premium large SUV segment
  • Premium midsized and compact SUV segment
  • Premium midsized car segment
  • Reviews
  • Small MPV segment
  • Small SUV segment
  • Subcompact car segment
  • Uncategorized
  • US Alternative power segment
  • US Commercial van segment
  • US Compact car segment
  • US Compact sports car segment
  • US Compact SUV segment
  • US Exotic car segment
  • US Large car segment
  • US Large sports car segment
  • US Large SUV segment
  • US Limousine segment
  • US Mid-sized car segment
  • US Mid-sized SUV segment
  • US Minicar segment
  • US Minivan segment
  • US Pickup segment
  • US Premium compact car segment
  • US Premium compact SUV segment
  • US Premium large car segment
  • US Premium large SUV segment
  • US Premium mid-sized car segment
  • US Premium mid-sized SUV segment
  • US Small pickup segment
  • US Subcompact car segment
  • US Subcompact SUV segment

Authors

  • Bart Demandt
  • Colman Murphy
  • Jean-Philippe Launberg
  • John McHarris
  • John V. Ryan, PE
  • Krzysztof Wozniak
  • Rutger Van der Maar

Copyright © 2019 · CSB Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in