Badly Chosen Car Names
So, you’ve got yourself a fancy agency to create the ultimate advertising campaign in that country you’re so desperate to sell your new cars in? A shame they forgot to tell you you don’t stand a chance in advance, since the car name you chose means “cunt”
to the locals. A top ten of badly chosen car names.
1. Mazda Laputa
The person that came up with this name took it from the famous “Gulliver’s Travels” story by Jonathan Swift. To Spanish buyers it didn’t sound so poetic when they went looking for a new car, since it means “the whore”
in their language.
2. Mitsubitshi Pajero
Another Spanish advertising fuck up. Literally. Pajero means “wanker”
in Spanish.
3. Buick Lacrosse
This car was marketed in both America and Canada. Seems Buick forgot that parts of Canada speak French, in which Lacrosse means “masturbating teenager”. Perhaps it says more about the French that they actually have one word for this… ( Correction Read Comment Number 2 )
4. Chevrolet Nova
Such a large part of the world, and even Chevrolet’s homecountry, speak Spanish. Yet, Chevrolet forgot to check wat Nova means in this language: “No va” translates to “doesn’t go” (Correction Read Comment No 1 )
. Ouch.
5. Opel Ascona
Another one from Spain: Would you ever buy an Opel “Cunt”
?
6. Honda Fitta
As in any other part of the world, cunts are quite popular in the land of car advertising. What’s better than a normal cunt? A Swedish or Norwegian cunt! And that’s exactly what “Fitta” mean in these languages. Maybe not such a bad carname after all, me and Robert wouldn’
t mind having one.
7. Daihatsu Charade
Here’s one I’ve always wondered at: Why call a car “charade”
? Is it because it only pretends to be a car? Or just to help their owners speak the truth when someone asks them what car they drive?
8. AMC Gremlin
Uhmm. Ok. I guess AMC was just too busy building cars to realize Gremlin stands for “ugly little monster”
when they launched this car. Funny movie though.
9. Dodge Swinger
Maybe not such a bad car to buy for actual swingers, they might even attract some other folks to have sex with!
10. Ford Pinto
Ok, we’ve had the cunts, let’s have some male company. Pinto means “penis” in Brazil and Portugal. Somehow it doesn’t sound to impressive to my Dutch ears either. I can remember some people who used it as a nickname for their joint…
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23 Comments
1.
Rick Beckman From 
(UNITED STATES)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.14 on 
Windows XP on 08. May 2008 at 7:38 am
I can’t speak for the others, but the whole Chevy Nova thing should really no longer be retold; Snopes has pretty much crushed any thought of “nova = doesn’t go.”
http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp
You’re right, though, Gremlins was quite the funny movie!
2.
Michael Lonergan From 
(CANADA)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.14 on 
Windows Vista on 08. May 2008 at 9:02 am
Lacrosse does not mean “wanker” in French. It is a word that means Cross, or, “hooked stick”, which is where the name of the game of Lacrosse comes from. Check your facts.
3.
hem From 
(INDIA)
Wrote Using 
Safari 523.10 on 
Mac OS X on 09. May 2008 at 12:41 am
Thanks Rick for the link… and correction
4.
Tom From 
(CANADA)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.14 on 
Windows Vista on 10. May 2008 at 8:30 pm
My experience with french is limited, but I’m pretty sure lacrosse does not mean what you said it does. In Canada, Lacrosse is a sport, which is probably what the car is named after.
5.
You suck at naming cars. A top 10 list of FAIL. : culture|garage From 
(UNITED STATES)
Wrote Using 
WordPress 2.5 on 14. May 2008 at 8:14 am
[...] to Ryan for the tip on this. Spotted on a tech blog, is the top ten lists of worst car names. Ever. As everyone can imagine, the Nova was up there [...]
6.
looking for a mazda 3 From 
(UNITED STATES)
Wrote Using 
WordPress 4.01 on 01. June 2008 at 6:15 pm
[...] they forgot to tell you you don??t stand a chance in advance, since the car name you chose meanshttp://hem.com.np/2008/05/04/badly-chosen-car-names/SIRIUS Satellite Radio and NBA to Host Reunion of 1972-73 NBA Champion New York Knicks Broadcast [...]
7.
Car Blog 41.234.202.239 not found
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 3.0.1 on 
Windows XP on 24. August 2008 at 10:30 pm
Great and nice article buddy with such information
Thanks for sharing
8.
Classifieds car From 
(PHILIPPINES)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.12 on 
Windows Vista on 01. September 2008 at 2:03 pm
I think that the Pajero wasn’t such a bad name, though, its interpretation to other language ain’t. WEll, if those name are that bad, what would you have named them then?
9.
H.I.D. Lights From 
(PHILIPPINES)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 3.0.5 on 
Windows XP on 18. December 2008 at 6:52 pm
They all sound bad to me.. LOL
10.
lol get ur facks straight From 
(AUSTRALIA)
Wrote Using 
Opera 9.80 on 
Windows NT on 09. June 2009 at 12:29 pm
I love how some of these have to be corrected, but none sound all that bad to me.. lol
11.
nath From 
(AUSTRALIA)
Wrote Using 
Internet Explorer 8.0 on 
Windows XP on 20. August 2009 at 10:24 am
Hey! You got to have sense of humour as I love my “Wanker” car…!
At least it goes and it’s no “cunt” of car……!
I think is the funniest thing..
Well done…..
12.
Used Mazda Dealer From 
(UNITED STATES)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 3.0.13 on 
Windows XP on 28. August 2009 at 11:55 pm
Wow the “Laputa” sounds like a bad word. You just have to wonder, what the heck were they thinking?! I mean it doesn’t even sound appealing. How funny would you sound, “Hey guys can we take my Laputa on the road trip?”
13.
ema From 
(PHILIPPINES)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.20 on 
Windows XP on 06. October 2009 at 7:17 am
I think they have a reason behind those awfully sounding names.hahaha
crossomotive
14.
Cool Car Tuning From 
(UNITED STATES)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 3.0.15 on 
Windows XP on 04. November 2009 at 2:43 am
That is pretty darn funny about the Fit!
15.
espinete From 
(SPAIN)
Wrote Using 
Internet Explorer 7.0 on 
Windows XP on 08. January 2010 at 8:44 pm
viva el pajero !!! y el ford corrida !!!
16.
Chris 196.210.245.132 not found
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 3.5.3 on 
Windows XP on 15. January 2010 at 12:28 am
Great list
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why we call it the Honda Jazz.
17.
drugged 178.66.212.81 not found
Wrote Using 
Opera 9.80 on 
Windows XP on 24. February 2010 at 2:29 am
Chevrolet Nova - my sweet dream!
18.
Catsunstein From 
(UNITED KINGDOM)
Wrote Using 
Internet Explorer 8.0 on 
Windows NT on 02. March 2010 at 7:41 pm
You might like to add the following to your list - Toyota’s MR2 sportscar. Oddly, never a hit in France, where you might not care to admit driving a Toyota Shitty (em-er-deux)…
19.
Julian From 
(UNITED KINGDOM)
Wrote Using 
Internet Explorer 7.0 on 
Windows XP on 11. March 2010 at 9:25 pm
Here’s another one for your list. You won’t see many TOYOTA
MR2’s in France. As it would be pronounced M air Deux ……. Maird, which is Shit in French!
20.
Ricardi 110.21.73.151 not found
Wrote Using 
Safari 528.16 on 
Mac OS X on 12. June 2010 at 5:16 pm
Gets your facts straight:
Pinto means ‘chick’ in Portuguese!
(just for you - Pinto means baby chicken)
If you want the Brazilian slung for penis, it’s ‘ganso’ (which means goose)
21.
RV 110.21.73.151 not found
Wrote Using 
Safari 528.16 on 
Mac OS X on 12. June 2010 at 5:33 pm
@Julian from UK - it’s MERDE (not maird)
22.
Used UK Cars From 
(UNITED KINGDOM)
Wrote Using 
Internet Explorer 8.0 on 
Windows XP on 24. June 2010 at 10:50 pm
Thats great `M air Deux` means shit in france…named after? there world cup effort mmmmm
23.
forex From 
(TURKEY)
Wrote Using 
Mozilla Firefox 3.6.3 on 
Windows XP on 28. June 2010 at 6:40 pm
Thats great `M air Deux` means shit in france…named after? there world cup effort mmmmm