From The Driver's Seat -- March 14, 2008

If you are familiar with cars named A4, MKX, and 330ci you’d have one up on me. These are what I like to call “no name” names. My guess is that these types of names are supposed to sound engineering based, much like a military fighter jet. The problem is that they do not mean anything. If you tell a hundred people that you drive an LS, most of them will have no clue what kind of car you are talking about. On the other hand if you say you drive a Continental, right away people know it’s a Lincoln.

When one of my co-workers gets a high end luxury car they will tell me the alpha-numeric name of the car and I will inevitably have to ask them what kind of car are they are talking about. If I use the name El Dorado, you know I am talking about a Cadillac. If I say Mustang, you know it’s a Ford. Some of my personal favorites are the Barracuda, Charger, Rambler, and Coupe De Ville.

In 1964, when Chevrolet General Manager Bunkie Knudsen introduced the Chevelle to the press one of the reporters asked “what does it mean?” Knudsen quickly answered, “It doesn’t mean anything, but we’re going to make it mean something.” That was a guy telling the world that they have hit, and he knew it.

One of the best cars on the road today is the Cadillac CTS; however it has a terrible name. This great car deserves a great name. The auto makers need to put on their thinking caps and use their imagination to give great cars great names. Believe me when I say that you sound a lot cooler saying you drive a Firebird than an MDX, but that’s just my view from the driver’s seat. If you have a different view please share it with me at mark.scott@wsbtv.com.