In September 1936, the company ran a public competition to design a new logo. Out of 27,000 entries the winning entry was the three Japanese katakana letters for "Toyoda" in a circle. But Risaburō Toyoda, who had married into the family and was not born with that name, preferred "Toyota" (トヨタ because it took eight brush strokes (a lucky number, in the Japanese language it is associated with wealth and good fortune.) to write in Japanese, was visually simpler (leaving off the diacritic at the end) and with a voiceless consonant instead of a voiced one (voiced consonants are considered to have a "murky" or "muddy" sound compared to voiceless consonants, which are "clear"). Since "Toyoda" literally means "fertile rice paddies", changing the name also prevented the company being associated with old-fashioned farming. The newly formed word was trademarked and the company was registered in August 1937 as the "Toyota Motor Company" The original logo no longer is found on its vehicles but remains the corporate emblem used in Japan.
The interesting part is the perspective of the marketers trying to find a name to match a style that the public (at the time) would find appealing. (and sometimes a little public coercion) and then there's the evelotion of public opinion. One year you're the cats meow - the next, you're the pile he left behind
What's in a name? In the ten years from 1955 to 1965 Ford introduced 5 new cars, the Thunderbird, Edsel, Falcon, Fairlane and Mustang. Every one was a smash hit except Edsel. If only they had named it Utopian Turtletop!
For years all Rolls Royce bodies were made by specialist outside body companies, not by Rolls Royce. A leading supplier in the US was the Brewster company. In 1931 one of their designers came up with a rakish coupe. It had the windshield leaned back at an angle and the rest of the body lines leaned back to match. Quite a difference to the bolt upright look all their other styles had. The head of the company took one look and said "Jesus. It looks like a wind blown privy". So they called it the "Windblown" style. That's how a Rolls Royce got named after an outhouse.
lol stumbled in on this one the chevrolet Corvette was named by Myron Scott (scottie) who found the word in the dictionary as a swift brittish warship myron scott also started the all american soapbox derby
Great post by Johnny Gee about Buick. The only thing I can add is that the family name was spelt BUIK ,which is a common Scottish name . But when they got to America it was often mispronounced so the C was added to make it BU-ICK. Our local jewelers here in London was called H.C. BUIK'S.
Bryan G.(post 34) mentions Jaguar as a fast cat, the name came about when SS cars ,which had started out as Swallow Sidecars for motorcycles, named their 3 and a half litre sportscar the Jaguar. With WW2 and the Nazi regiments called the SS it was thought prudent to drop the SS name after the war and just call it Jaguar Cars.
The Troll car was made as a 2+2 sports car with a glass-reinforced plastic (or fiberglass) chassis. The idea was to build the first mass produced car outside the US in this material. In the US Chevrolet made its Corvette in fiberglass, but no one in Europe made cars in plastic yet. Fiberglass was a relatively new material in the late 1950s, and the benefits were many. It would not form rust, the Troll car would be 130 kg lighter than an equivalent metal car, and the production would be significantly simpler and therefore cheaper. The chassis was taken from a Gutbrod Superior and made 15 cm longer. The gearbox was a three speed Hurth gearbox. Troll automobile - Engine 700 cc straight-twin two-stroke engines made by Gutbrod of Germany with Bosch fuel injection. 30 hp (22 kW) Top speed: ca 130 km/h Fuel consumption: 5 litres/100 km (47mpg) There were plans to change to a SAAB engine, but these were never implemented. The first car= The first Troll car was revealed to the press in October 1956. It was not completely finished, but the form of the chassis was final. The car could however not be driven. This car was later used as a prototype, and many changes was made during later testing. Norwegian and foreign press showed much enthusiasm towards the project, and the car was compared with brands like Porsche, Citroën and SAAB. The first customer got his car May 1, 1957. =Production and bankruptcy= As the production commenced, Kohl-Larsen had to work hard to get a permit from the government to sell the car. He was only allowed to sell 15 cars in Norway. The reason for this was a treaty Norway had with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to buy cars from them as they bought fish products from Norway. The government was afraid domestic car production would disrupt this trading balance. Kohl-Larsen therefore started plans to export the cars to Germany and Denmark. There was also requests from other countries like Finland and Belgium. At one point there were plans to build 2000 cars a year, but after some moderation they said they would be happy with one finished car a day. However, the company was never allowed to sell more than those 15 cars on the Norwegian market. In addition they didn't get hold of the investment capital necessary to start large scale production. When the government made it clear that they never wanted to support the Troll car, all the potential investors left negotiations. Hence, Norway's first car factory went bankrupt in early 1958. Only five complete cars had been produced.
Beg to differ with you Rusty...reason is Studebaker is the oldest. To wit: "Studebaker /ˈstjuːdəbeɪkər/ STEW-də-bay-kər Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the military." "The first major expansion in Henry and Clem Studebaker's South Bend business came from their being in the right place to meet the needs of the California Gold Rush that began in 1849. From his wheelbarrow enterprise at Placerville, John M. had amassed $8,000. In April 1858, he quit and moved out to apply this to financing the vehicle manufacturing of H & C Studebaker, which was already booming because of a big order to build wagons for the US Army. In 1857, they had also built their first carriage—"Fancy, hand-worked iron trim, the kind of courting buggy any boy and girl would be proud to be seen in." "The fourth brother, Peter E, was running a successful general store at Goshen which was expanded in 1860 to include a wagon distribution outlet. A major leap forward came from supplying wagons for the Union Army in the Civil War (1861–65). " Please note the dates -a full ten years before McLaughlin Carriage... R-
As far as I know, Ransom E. Olds is the only person who has had two motor vehicle companies named after him: Oldsmobile and REO.
And two bands. REO Speedwagon and Diamond Rio Diamond T was named by founder Charles Tilt. The T stood for Tilt. The Diamond T was to be the top of the line, and was a phrase used his father to describe the best shoes in the family shoe store. Diamond T and REO were each acquired by White trucks in the late 50's. In 1967 The independent names were dropped to form Diamond Reo.
The car name honored Hernando de Soto, the 16th century Spaniard who discovered the Mississippi River and had covered more North American territory than any other early explorer.
The swedish makes... SAAB = Svensk Aeroplan Aktie Bolag = Swedish Airplane Company, abbreviation - now that SAAB automotive went to bankcrupty and the brand was sold to chinese, the original airplane mfg company goes on. Majority of shares owned by the Sweden state. Volvo is an invented name. The word is latin, meaning "I roll" Car names in the Soviet Union were part of the propaganda, just the same as everything else there was. "Ford" does not mean anything, just a car for the people who cannot afford any better... "Mercury" is just a ford with the bolts tightened. Thanks for reading this far...
Hey Newby Platinum....If you had read the thread from the start,that info was alreadt stated... Wake up,, boy...
Hey, do not block me just yet... Someone claimed, that Canadian McLaughlin would be the oldest car brand still in business... Well. it's not true. French Peugeot started business in 1810, made bicycles in the beginning. In 1889 they build the first car and as we know they're still going strong with the original name and headquarters. Please notice, that even if Carl Benz build his 1st car 3yrs before Armand Peugeot, he entered the business only in 1900 when he joined Gottlieb Daimler, thus Peugeot as car manufacturer is older than M-B. The P name is the family name of the founder and owner.
Monarch? Here's some useless information for you. It may be true, too. On the Studebaker Avanti logo, there is an arrow going through it. It has something to do with the Pierce Arrow car.
I thought SAAB was Swedish Automobiles Always Breakdown And Volvo was Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object But Ford of course , to use your own words, is is the family name of the founder and owner Vain hauskaa kanssasi
For all you Rabbit drivers- VW (Volkswagen)' named by Hitler. Skoda - according to a Czek bloke who works with me - "What a shame".
General Motors of Canada (McKinnon Industries Limited) http://www.gregwapling.com/hotrod/chevrolet/mckinnon.html
I need to correct my post above about R.E. Olds. He eventually inspired the name of at least two car (yes Diamond T did make a few cars originally)companies and THREE bands. There were two different bands by similar names Diamond REO and Diamond Rio. The former put out this album in 1975 with a Diamond REO truck on the cover. I'm not sure what happened to these chaps. Diamond Rio is still on the charts today, but you maybe didn't know that Diamond Rio was not the band's original name. No, they were not called the "Mullet Brothers". You'd be closer if you guessed the "Kentucky Waterfall Sextet." The band was originally formed to promote the new amusement park ride at Opryland, and that's why they were first known as The Grizzly River Boys.
Someone probably mentioned this and I missed it. The Oakland had absolutely nothing to do with the city. It was built in Pontiac Michigan. But they did have a 6 in 1913 which is pretty remarkable. So what inspired the name of the Oakland? its a wonderment.
REO was the truck division of Oldsmobile. which were his initials Ransom E. Oldsmobile I think they made cars up in Canada too.
Yup Mr R.E. Olds started manufacturing cars in 1897 unless I am mistaken. I am sure that he never even imagined Rock n Roll. @Speed Gems nails it again.
The Jalopy Journal
