The Twenty Most Informatively Named Cars Of All Time

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The best car names are the ones that tell you exactly what you need to know about the vehicle.


20.) Land Rover

After World War II, the Rover company wanted to make a truck for roving lands like the Willy's Jeep. Thus, the Land Rover was born. Toyota adapted the concept to something better suited for cruising lands. They called it the Land Cruiser

Suggested By: sm70- why not Duesenberg?, Photo Credit: Land Rover


19.) Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

Who built it? Karmann. Who designed it? Ghia.

Suggested By: Stig-a-saw-us-wrecks, Photo Credit: Alden Jewell


18.) Mazda GLC

Mazda's North American operation was so fond of the great, little 2nd-generation 323 hatchback, they decided to call it the GLC. That stands for Great Little Car.

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Suggested By: SolamenteDave, Photo Credit: Alden Jewell


17.) Toyota MR2

Where might one find the engine in an MR-2? The Middle. What wheels are driven? The Rear wheels. How many people does it seat? 2.

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Suggested By: TekamulBurner, Photo Credit: Toyota


16.) Ford Tudor

Ford produced a two-door version of the venerable Model A. It was called the Tudor. The four door version was unsurprisingly called the Fordor.

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Suggested By: Raphael Orlove, Photo Credit: Oldcarbrochures.com


15.) BMW 2002

BMWs naming scheme for there Neue Klasse coupes was very straightforward: the 2002 had a 2000cc engine and two doors. The 1602 had a 1600cc engine and two doors.

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Suggested By: superhappyfuntime, Photo Credit: BMW


14.) Morgan 3 Wheeler

No confusion about how many wheels this Morgan has!

Suggested By: King Ginger, Blue Shell 2 Knee, Photo Credit: Morgan


13.) Amphicar

The Amphicar is an amphibious car.

Suggested By: WhiskeyGolf, Photo Credit: Alden Jewell


12.) Maserati Quattroporte

For the non-Italian speaking readers out there, "quattro" means four, and "porte" means door. You can probably figure out how many doors the Quattroporte has by this point.

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Suggested By: McMike, Photo Credit: Brian Snelson


11.) Mazda Rotary Pickup

Mazda unleashed the first, and only, rotary-powered pickup truck on the world in 1974. It was called – drumroll please – the Rotary Pickup.

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Suggested By: Chris Perkins (I know I picked my own, but this thing is great!), Photo Credit: MartinHansV


10.) Dodge Omni GLH

"Wow Carroll Shelby! This Omni really Goes Like Hell! What should we call it?"

That's (probably) the story of how the Shelby-tuned Omni GLH was named.

Shelby later decided to make a faster version of the GLH called the GLHS, which stood for "Goes Like Hell S'more." Get it? Because the GLHS was faster than the GLH.

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Suggested By: Burglar can't heart click anything, Photo Credit: Dodge


9.) Smart Fortwo/Forfour

The name scheme of these Smart's is rather smart! The Fortwo seats two, and the Forfour seats, you guessed it, four!

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Suggested By: Miss Mercedes - The Color Pink, Photo Credit: Smart


8.) Maserati Biturbo

How many turbos? Two turbos!

Suggested By: mike89, Photo Credit: Maserati


7.) Ferrari 500 Superfast

This car's 170 + mph top speed was almost mythical for a road car back in 1964, when it was new. You could even say it was super fast, which is exactly what Ferrari did.

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Suggested By: mike89, Photo Credit: Alden Jewell


6.) Citroën Traction Avant

Où est la traction? La traction est à l'avant!

(Translation: Where is the traction? The Traction is at the front!)

(Note: The Citroën Traction Avant was one of the very first front-wheel drive production cars.)

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Suggested By: mallthus, Photo Credit: allen watkin


5.) Volkswagen Schwimmwagen

Ah, the Schwimmwagen: the wagen that schwimms!

Suggested By: Crossdrilled, Photo Credit: JasonVogel


4.) LaFerrari

Valet At Hip Expensive Restaurant: Which one is yours?

Cool Rich Dude: LaFerrari.

Valet: It sure is.

Suggested By: Chris_K_F, Photo Credit: Ben


3.) Dodge Lil' Red Express Truck

Back in 1978 Dodge decided the world needed a little red express truck, so they built one. They called it the Lil' Red Express Truck.

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Suggested By: Burglar can't heart click anything, Photo Credit: Greg Gjerdingen


2.) Mini

Get it? It's like a miniaturized car!

Suggested By: Where have all the lightweights gone?, Photo Credit: pyntofmyld


1.) Toyota Truck

It's a truck made by Toyota. They even said it on the owner's manual.

Suggested By: ezeolla, Photo Credit: Toyota

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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Top Photo Credit: Tinou Bau