For almost as long as the history of the car, automakers have been naming their products after animals. We had a wealth of great suggestions and we're going to compile a definitive list of all animal car names later. For now, these the ten best.
10.) Hyundai Pony
This rusty, Giugiaro designed piece of crap was South Korea's first mass-produced car. They could have named it after any great horse like Mustang or Impala, but instead they called it Pony. How apropos.
Suggested By: lonestranger, Photo Credit: Hyundai
9.) Matra Bagheera
The Matra Bagheera was named for the panther in The Jungle Book, which is too awesome. You can't not love obscure '70s French sports cars.
Suggested By: DownTheLiffeyOnADonut, Photo Credit: Matra via Le blog de JEAN-PAUL CUIR
8.) Pinzgauer
Listen up Hyundai product planners from the 1970s! This is how you do an equine named automobile right! The Pinzgauer was named for a breed of horse from Austria and is totally badass. Just look at one and try to come up with a better name than Pinzgauer.
Suggested By: perp, Photo Credit: Bryn Pinzgauer
7.) Reliant Kitten
I'd like to buy a beer for whoever thought it was a good idea to name this car Kitten. That it was a four-wheeled version of the infamous Reliant Robin just adds to its mystique.
Suggested By: davidj211, Photo Credit: JOHN LLOYD
6.) Plymouth Road Runner
Plymouth actually licensed the cartoon character for its Road Runner. How cool is that? Has there ever been an automaker with more sense of humor than Chrysler in the late '60s/early '70s.
Suggested By: Arch Duke Maxyenko, Now With, Photo Credit: Alden Jewell
5.) Stutz Bearcat
It's named after an animal that is nominally half a cat and half a bear. "Oh what do you drive?" "I drive a fucking Bearcat."
Suggested By: evoCS, Photo Credit: Myron Kassaraba
4.) Lamborghini Miura
The Miura was named after a type fighting bull and is also one of the most beautiful cars ever made. It started a long trend of Lamborghini naming cars from bullfighting references, but the first is definitely the best.
Suggested By: Shane Elliott, Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove/Jalopnik
3.) Geely Beauty Leopard
Yes, there is a real car named Beauty Leopard. No, I'm not kidding.
Suggested By: CanuckChinaman, Photo Credit: Geely
2.) AC Cobra
Much has been said about Carol Shelby's magnum opus so I won't add anything here, other than that Cobra is an absolutely perfect name for the car.
Suggested By: Titan deNoose, Photo Credit: Nathan Bittinger
1.) De Tomaso Mangusta
Cobra is a great name but Mangusta, the Italian word for mongoose, has to be number one. Mongoose, as in the animal that kills cobras.
The story goes that Alejandro de Tomaso intended for the Mangusta to serve as the replacement for the Shelby Cobra. That deal fell through and all that was left was the name.
Suggested By: DownTheLiffeyOnADonut, Photo Credit: Valder137
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
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