What do impacts, citations and flat tires have in common? They’re all things we absolutely do not want to happen when driving a car.
And yet, they are all terms automakers have used to name vehicles. (OK, flat tire is not the name of a car, but Reventon is, which translates to flat tire in Spanish). The lapse in foresight and good judgment immediately places these monikers among the worst car names in history.
Unfortunately, these three are far from alone. Throughout automotive history, countless bad names have come and gone. From the bizarre to the truly uninspiring, with a number of simply bad ideas mixed in, here are some of the worst names ever bestowed upon an automobile.
Studebaker Dictator
It’s hard to imagine a period when this name would have ever worked, but Studebaker picked the absolute worst time in history to try to sell the American driving public on the Dictator: the advent of World War II.
Interestingly, the model was originally known as the Standard Six. Studebaker began renaming its cars in the 1920s. Although no one could have predicted the future, the automaker sensed enough trouble in the air to use the name Director in the European market.
Dictator lasted a decade on this side of the pond before it became too tarnished a word for Studebaker, which opted to swap in the name Commander in 1937.
Ferrari LaFerrari
If you’re unfamiliar with the beauty that is the Italian language, this name translates to “Ferrari the Ferrari.” The Italian carmaker was aiming for the contextual interpretation of the “definitive” Ferrari, but the name just sounds awkward and lazy.
Renault LeCar
In competition with LaFerrari for the least original car name is Renault’s entry: The Car.
Mitsubishi Minica Lettuce
Lettuce has many positive attributes: It’s a good source of vitamins A and K, helps strengthen bones and has even been shown to improve your sleep. It also plays an indispensable role in a BLT. Shockingly, none of these facts served as inspiration for Mitsubishi’s naming of the Minica Lettuce.
Developed in partnership with the Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu, the car was designed specifically for loading and unloading groceries. The tiny sedan, which had two doors on the passenger side but just one on the driver side, was small enough to travel on small streets suited more for bicycles and rickshaws.
As for the name, Lettuce was the title of a shopping magazine published by Seiyu, which also sold the car right there in its grocery stores.
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The Wizard was simply ahead of its time. If it had debuted in the late 1990s instead of the late ’80s, it could have ridden the Harry Potter train broom to success. Instead, the MU Wizard has since been left to compete for worst car name ever.
To make matters worse, there doesn’t appear to be any story behind the name’s origin. It’s like it just appeared out of thin air.
Nissan Friend-ME
The Friend-ME was a concept car Nissan unveiled in 2013 specifically designed to appeal to Chinese 20-somethings. As such, the sedan had a social media-inspired cabin in which all four passengers had access to the same infotainment screens and could share content from their phones onto said screens. An interesting concept, indeed!
While the car’s design highlights the positive attributes of social media, its name reminds us of the worst. It simply reeks of desperation and self-promotion. Nissan even went as far as stylizing it with a capitalized “ME.”
Toyota Deliboy
This was not some sort of traveling sandwich purveyor mobile, just a tiny delivery truck. Its name is supposedly a portmanteau of the words, “delivery” and “boy.” Not only was the moniker a failure, so too was the truck itself. Poorly designed and featuring a woefully underpowered engine, the Deliboy was only in production for a few years.
Subaru BRAT
Like many car names before and since, BRAT is an acronym. In this case, it stands for “Bi-Drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter.” Certainly, Subaru could have gone a different route, but we’re not entirely sure the car maker didn’t choose the name due to, rather than in spite of, its unruly connotations. The BRAT was marketed to younger (dare we say rebellious), off-roading drivers.
Interestingly, the car was quick to live up to its devilish moniker. BRAT models sold in America featured two rear-facing jump seats in the cargo area. This allowed Japan-based Subaru to classify it as a passenger car rather than a light-duty truck, thus eluding a significantly higher import tax.
Honda That’s
Honda, that’s a terrible name for a car. The third-generation of the Honda Life had a head-scratching name that was as grammatically awkward as it was flat-out weird. We’re hoping something got lost in translation from the Japanese automaker and no one truly believed this was going to work.
Kia Pro_cee’d
The Pro_cee’d was the sports version of the Kia Cee’d, giving the South Korean automaker two terrible titles in its portfolio. The company later took the bold step of changing the car’s name to ProCeed.
Know a terrible car name we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
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Chevy Vega, bad car, bad name, but wish I had kept my 1977 Vega, it apparently is a collector’s item and much more valuable than when it was new.
We had one of those. I believe Ralph Nader felt it was one of the worst American cars ever made. Me? I kind of liked it but what did I know?
I had a Chevy Vega that all most incinerated it self in front of my house. The wiring was faulty and went up in flames. I had only got the car a month before this happened.
And what is a “Tiguan” exactly?
That’s tiger-iguana. For people who want a car (half-)named after a lizard.
The Chevy Nova, which in Spanish “no va” translates to “doesn’t go.”
Yeah, surprising that the article missed the Nova. It was pretty widely ridiculed. A very good name in English, but a disaster in the Spanish-speaking market.
Yes, I thought Nova would top the list in this article on worst car names ever.
How did you miss NOVA
The brand name KIA caught me off guard at its inception. That is an acronym for “Killed in action”. Terrible for a product that is predominantly in action with a human contained inside of it. Will never buy one of those!!
We had one of those. I believe Ralph Nader felt it was one of the worst American cars ever made. Me? I kind of liked it but what did I know?
When I read the article I was specifically looking for that one. 👍
Worst name ever Ford PROBE
While the ones brought up in the article definitely have to be the worst, I agree the Probe is right up there!
Probe definitely should have made the list!
How about the Murano — named after an island near Venice that has NO cars!
My first thought and a better one, it was named for fine crystal made there.
Mitsubishi Pajero in english means Masturbator.
I was wondering if Pajero would appear on the list. Probably the biggest goof if all!
Oh Well. Different Strokes for different folks. And so on. And so on. And Scooby dooby dooby.
My BRAT was my favorite car ever! Not only was the name my wife’s initials spelled backwards, it was great for taking to drive-in movies. The rear facing seats in the bed made viewing the screen fantastic!
Gremlin, made by AMC
AMC Matador, which means “killer” in Spanish.
One near miss: Rolls Royce named one car “Silver Mist” until someone pointed out ‘Mist’ in German means rubbish.
Rolls-Royce often names cars after “things” that move about silently. So in English, the only language that counts in UK in fits just fine.
The Fiaro, quickly mimicked as Fiasco. Caught fire every so many Miles.
VW Thing
Gremlin – Why remind people that cars have hidden, hard to fix flaws?
I own a Gremlin, and it always had mechanical problems and started to rust almost immediately. Gremlin was an appropriate description.
Chevrolet’s 1966 electric car was called the “Impact”.
Worst car name? How about Chevy Nova….no va means “no go” in Spanish.
Nova translates into “no go” in Spanish. Chevrolet didn’t sell many in those markets.
This is an urban legend that has been around for years but has been thoroughly debunked, for example by Snopes (a reliable debunking site) here:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chevrolet-nova-name-spanish/
As just one of the points they mention, there was a Mexican brand of gasoline named “Nova.” If there was any problem at all using this word, a Mexican petroleum company would have known it.
Snopes as a reliable debunking site —hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…
Two drunks and a cat
Still doesn’t mean it’s NOT a terrible name for a car. .. it IS.
Chevy changed the name of the Nova to Estrella in Latin America once it realized its mistake.
Of course, what list of poor car names would be complete without the Chevrolet Nova, which translates in Spanish to
the Chevrolet NO GO.
Another worst car name:
Chevrolet Nova.
Nova in Spanish means “no go”.
It was a flop in the Latin American markets.
And ultimately everywhere.
The Chevy NOVA. No – va = No go in Spanish!
FORD PROBE
For those who speak Spanish, how about the “NO VA” (doesn’t go)
Studebaker Lark.
The Mercury Mystique. Sounds like mistake.
How about the I-mark? Isuzu even had an ad making fun of the name! And what’s wrong with Lark?
I had a Lark and still think it was a wonderful car. I was a smoker then and in addition to the mistake of smoking I also made the mistake of trying Lark cigarettes which were awful. But the car was great.