I’m not a big fan of Los Angeles. The last time I was there, I managed to make it through all of two-and-a-half days before I fled back to the sanctuary of my Bay Area homeland. Still, how clever would this photo have been if it were actually taken in Malibu?
Alas, it was shot at Baker Beach, a mile-long strand of clean sand known for its spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge (and of nude San Franciscans). I didn’t have the heart to tell this handsome but hapless Malibu that it missed its namesake beach by perhaps at least 325 miles.
Along the same line of thought, I have to scratch my head and wonder why there aren’t more cars that reference the Bay Area. Only the recent Chrysler Pacifica references a Bay Area city without a namesake elsewhere in the United States. And as for Mercurys, I consider Monterey a whole different part of California, and while Montclair is an Oakland neighborhood, it also designates a pretty populous township in New Jersey.
Why there’s not been a Buick Burlingame or Chrysler Cupertino is beyond me. Meanwhile, Southern California gets plenty of love: There’s Pontiac’s Catalina and Ventura, Chevrolet’s Bel-Air and, of course, the Malibu you see above–and I’m sure there must be more that escape my memory. You see, right now I’m too busy trying to make sense of why Oldsmobile thought that “Delmont Eighty-Eight” sounded any more appealing than “Claremont Eighty-Eight” or “Piedmont Eighty-Eight”.
So I’ll just leave it there. Then again, I can write to inform every car maker currently using alphanumeric series designations that the nine counties comprising the Bay Area offer a lovely assortment of names with enviable market appeal. We’ll just let this Malibu enjoy the sunset, and not tell it it’s far from home.
This made me think of something interesting I’ve never realized before…
Most of Detroit’s automotive models bearing place names can be broken down pretty easily:
GM clearly favors the West Coast, and SoCal in particular – Bel Air, Catalina, Ventura, Tahoe, etc. (as pointed out)
Chrysler has a thing for the East Coast – Daytona, New Yorker, Newport, Saratoga, Southampton, etc.
…while Ford, if anything, trends towards European locales – Capri, Granada, Milan, Lido, Versailles, etc.
There are exceptions, of course (Chevrolet Delray, Dodge Aspen, Mercury Monterey…) but what really struck me about this realization is how poorly the Midwest is represented! Seems strange that there are so few (if any) non-coastal names applied to American vehicles, considering that the industry’s epicenter has always been Detroit. I can’t think of a single one off the top of my head, even amongst the independents.
Can anybody else think of one?
I came up with:
Dodge Dakota
Chevy Cheyenne
Chevy Colorado
Pontiac Montana
Not exactly Midwest, but also not coastal.
this could be the Mountain conference!
Oh, and Pontiac itself of course.
> Chrysler has a thing for the East Coast – Daytona, New Yorker, Newport, Saratoga, Southampton, etc.
There is a “Newport Beach” in California, and I thought the Imperial Southampton was named after a city in England.
Some of these aren’t midwestern names, but they’re not coastal either:
Chevy Delray (a neighbourhood in Detroit)
Dodge or Chrysler Aspen
Dodge Dakota
Dodge Meadowbrook
Dodge or Pontiac Phoenix
Hyundai Santa Fe
Hyundai Tucson
Kia Sedona
Pontiac Montana
Just to add to this, I assumed that the Chrysler Saratoga was named after the Battle of Saratoga in the American War of Independence (which took place in Saratoga, NY). Oddly enough, Chrysler sold a Saratoga in Canada for several years after it had retired the model name in the US market.
NorCal names? We did have a GMC Sonoma, a “High Sierra” and still have a Chevy Silverado (the trail through Napa County).
Mercury Monterey comes to mind . . . . but then there could’ve been . . .
the Larkspur . . . . Eureka . . . . Placer . . . . Marinwood\
My own take is that a lot of the Chrysler Corp. series names came from hotels – Belvedere, Plaza, Savoy in particular.
Marina “del Rey” is in Southern California…
The Midwest, for all its quiet charms, doesn’t have many aspirational destinations that resonate across the country – mountain ranges, resorts, beaches, exclusive wealthy areas.
Even Detroit isn’t so insular as to name a luxury vehicle the ‘Grosse Pointe’.
“Announcing the all-new Chevy Kickapoo!”
(c:
How about the Oldsmobile Omaha Brougham?
Yeah…the Oldsmobile Urbandale!
You know, it’s funny that you mention it, because while I am from the east coast, my first thought when I was thinking of snooty neighborhoods in the midwest was “Grosse Pointe.”
Ah yes, the rarely-seen Lincoln Town Car Grosse Point Blank Edition, that features John Cussack’s signature and hidden places for your gun. The slogan: “New Lincoln Town Car Grosse Point Blank, Bringing Out The Hitman In You”.
Try Ford Fairlane, named after Henry Ford’s estate on Lake Michigan. The Dodge Cranbrook was named for a tony area in the Detroit area, and possibly an art school. The Ford Galaxie was named for a noted pole dancer in Gary, Indiana.
Did she work with Starliner and her sister Sunliner?
I graduated from that Art School. But I believe the school (and everything associated with it) was named after the town in England that the founder, George Booth, was from.
I always assumed the Chrysler Newport was named after Newport Beach, CA.
I suspect Newport, Rhode Island….
Chevy also got the Laguna, but that just adds to your point.
C’mon, Laurence, don’t be such a crybaby. Pity we poor midwesterners. There is no Dodge Evansville, and certainly no Buick Gary. True, there was the Lincoln Versailles, but I am not so close to birth on the turnip truck as to believe that it was named after our Indiana town. Isn’t there another one somewhere in France? Anyway, ours is pronounced Ver Sayles. Seriously.
The east coast gets their share, too. New Yorker and Newport come to mind. We have a New Castle (that even named its High School “Chrysler”) and Newburgh, but no car for us, oh no. If New York got the Dodge Seneca, couldn’t we have at least gotten a Pontiac Mishawaka? Or Pokagon? I guess we did get the Muncie transmission, so I suppose it will have to hold us.
I think there’s a Ver Sayles in PA too.
Remember the Olds Calais? There’s one of those in Maine, pronounced “Callous,” s’il vous plait.
The “Bostonian” was a long-running trim package on northeastern Mercuries. Apparently Paul Revere sported a Landau roof on his famous ride.
We have a Milan, IL just outside of the Quad Cities, pronounced MY-lan. I don’t think the late Mercury Milan was named for it!
My goodness, when that top photo loaded, I was stunned, then a slight drool formed…
It matters not to me where that beauty is, it’s certainly in the right place!
Man oh man, to be able to own and DRIVE a classic like that…makes me pining for my avatar.
That’s going to be on my mind all day. Thanks a lot…
This era of the Malibu I always liked. This one appears to have a clean body but why not go the extra mile and line up the trunk lid with the fender.
The Bay Area gets credit for the GMC Sonoma and the Hyundai Tiburon. Have also seen cars inexplicably described as having “Napa” leather. Other North Bay sugestions
Buick Novato
Chrysler Sausalito
Buick Rohnert Park Avenue
I think the Tiburon is named after the Spanish word for “shark”, rather than the town…
One more Rocky Mountains reference- the Dodge Durango.
We’re taking credit anyway. And I’ll give you GMC Sierra
I agree with Nonmouse, the Hyundai Tiburon was named after the Spanish word for shark. I didn’t even know there was a Tiburon, California.
Looking at photos #4 & 5, down around that point, it eventually leads to the beach at the end of Golden Gate Park. There used to be an amusement park out there but don’t believe it is still.
A long, long time ago, I took a young lady to San Francisco one day and we walked out that way. On the sand bluffs, beautiful sand sculptures were carved into the hill sides near the amusement park.
Sorry, but anything that reminds me of my air force years out there makes me quite nostalgic. Seeing the cars don’t help…
Unfortunately Playland (Between Balboa and Cabrillo) were torn down in September, 1972. I have a lot of family photos of it, but missed it by 10 years.
That figures…The young lady and I were there Sunday, August 29, 1971, FWIW…
The Mercury Mariner could be linked to Marin County, maybe?
My Dodge is a 76 “Royal Monaco.” I doubt any Dodges made their way to Monaco in Europe. I used to live in a little town named Monaca, named for an Indian chief. I guess Monaco sounded better to Chrysler than Monaca.
At least a couple did. All the shots in the ’75 Monaco brochure were apparently taken in Monaco. I have a copy of the brochure in my collection.
Here’s the Bluesmobile in the rather swanky environs…
I must say LJ, that I do enjoy your photography.
As for naming cars after places, I can’t picture a worse vehicle for name than the Alfa Romeo Montreal. Imagine driving one in Montreal, in the winter!!
How about Yugo Florida, the ultimate Yugo car.
what about the Chevy Orlando, that is not available in the states
The Alfa Montreal was so named because it was a show car for Expo 67, held in Montreal.
The Mopar fans seem to be forgetting about the Plymouth Belvedere, named after the town in Marin County right next to the Town of Tiburon. Both are very high end neighborhoods.
There is also the Chevy Biscayne, named after the place in Florida.
Chevy also had the El Camino, named after the El Camino Real, a street in the Bay Area that runs the length of the Peninsula from just south of San Francisco to Silicon Valley..
The Plymouth Belvedere, Plaza and Savoy were all named after famous hotels.
I’m pretty sure the El Camino was meant to reflect “The King” more than “The Kings Highway.” Plus there’s a segment of the El Camino Real in San Diego County.
El Camino is properly called El Camino Real, which means The Royal Road in Spanish. It was built during the Spanish colonial period, early in California’s history and ran the(then) length of California, I think from San Diego to Sonoma. The name is a reference to the Spanish royalty who paid for its construction. It linked the missions that were established by the Spanish Fransiscan Friars as outposts of their version of civilization. It still exists, in fits and starts, along that original route.
I had assumed that Belvedere was part of the series of Plymouths named after famous hotels, like the Plaza and the Savoy.
…not to mention Belvedere, IL., location of a Chrysler assembly plant. Right down the road from beautiful, scenic Rockford.
I wondered about this too, but then I looked it up – the Belvidere plant in Illinois is spelled differently, and did not open until 1965, 11 years after the first Plymouth Belvedere.
There is a Ferrari California and Hillman had a sub-model of Imp called Californian.
Kaiser had some interesting model names taken from US places: Carolina, Manhattan, Virginian. I guess they liked the east coast as well.
There was a Hillman Californian from 1953-56 as well, a 2-door hardtop version of the Minx.
With our Honda assembly plant in Greensburg, Indiana, maybe we could petition for a Honda Hoosier. 🙂
How about Hoosier Cruiser, as an homage to dear departed Studebaker?
Surprised noone mentioned a brand that still uses names of places. Spain’s SEAT. Let’s see if I recall all the models correctly
Seat Ibiza
Seat Córdoba
Seat Arosa
Seat Inca
Seat Málaga
Seat Marbella
Seat Toledo
Seat Altea
Seat Alhambra (technically not a town but a fortress in Granada)
The only Australian geographic names I can think of on cars are the Holden Monaro – an area in southern New South Wales, and the Ford Falcon Longreach ute named after the outback Queensland town that was the original home of QANTAS.
There have also been several ‘common’ geographic names used, eg Kingswood, Belmont, Sorrento that exist in Australia as well as other international geographic names.
I have seen the term “Longreach” used in connection with QANTAS, but never knew it was an actual place in Australia…interesting!
OK, guys – I finally have one: the Studebaker Speedway President from the early 1930s. For those who do not know, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is actually in Speedway, Indiana (which was sort of swallowed by Indianapolis in the 1970s). You may try to argue that the car was named after the race track and not the town, but you can’t really prove it, now, can you? 🙂
The Mustang California Special and Mercedes w113 California Coupe should make us So Calers and Laurence happy.
Honestly, I think the names of modern tony neighborhoods and towns is a rich vein to mine for Cadillac, Lincoln, and Chrysler, if they ever decide to get rid of silly alphanumeric names.
Seriously, these names would resonate!
Carmel (CA)
Portola (CA)
South Beach (FL)
Gladwyne (PA)
Haverford (PA)
Scarsdale (NY)
Sausalito (CA)
Chappaqua (NY)
Larchmont (NY)
Westport (CT)
Inverness (IL)
Grosse Pointe (MI)
Boca Raton (FL)
Big Sur (CA)
Highland Park (TX)
What would be so romantic about a car named Cupertino? It’s full of office parks.
On the other hand, maybe a station wagon named Buena Park (reminiscent of childhood visits to Knotts Berry Farm!), a crossover dubbed Canyon Country, or a truck named simply Industry (as in City of…)–those are names I could get behind. 😛
(I think a big opportunity was missed in not calling the Pontiac Torrent, the Pontiac Torrance.)
It’s a shame there’s never been a car model named after Pasadena, from where I’m coming to you now. Now that’s a city name with plenty of associations–even automotive ones!
>I think a big opportunity was missed in not calling the Pontiac Torrent, the Pontiac Torrance.
Maybe “Torrent” was supposed to be a tie-in to computer culture. Similarly, the Toyota Matrix was introduced about 3 years after the Matrix movie.
> It’s a shame there’s never been a car model named after Pasadena.
It could only be a Dodge, and everyone would think of them as little-old-ladies’ cars.
What about Intercourse (Pennsylvania)
Would it be powered by a Wanker, errr…. Wankel engine?
Located very close to the town of Intercourse in Lancaster County are the villages of Bird-in-Hand and Blue Ball.
In southern Indiana, we have 2 towns named French Lick and Floyds Knobs. They are not right next to each other, fortunately.
One reason that GM favored names taken from locations in southern California was because Harley Earl was from Los Angeles.
Southern California also seemed more glamorous because, for many years, the film and television industry were largely centered in Los Angeles. Harley Earl’s family business built period carriages and chariots for early films, and then branched out to custom bodied cars for movie stars and producers.
Pontiac Catalina
Pontiac Bonneville
Two of my favorite car/place names
Bummer, y’all in the States (and Europe, I’m looking at you Ibizaguy) have so many places immortalised in car names. Sadly I can’t think of any car named after a town in New Zealand. I simply cannot work out why, as we have a myriad of local placenames, many Maori, to choose from. Why, who wouldn’t want a Hyundai Putaruru, or a Toyota Otago. And for the stretched Town Car, may I present the new Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu Designer Edition (It’s a real place, I’ve been there). The name badge would have to go on the side of the TC though, as the bootlid wouldn’t be wide enough – which is also why it’d need to be a TC stretch. 😉