As a member of the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) I am sent a bi-monthly magazine. The letters section sometimes contains some interesting information. This issue especially I found an Editor's reply to a letter worthy of sharing to all on this forum. It may be a tad long but I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

 

Letter author Writes:

 

What's in a name?

 

Over the years I have always been keen to find out why certain things function as they do. These are times when my family tells me it doesn't matter, but nonetheless I remain very inquisitive.

 

One subject that intrigues me is why so many car makes and brands end in the letter 'A'. Recently I've been jotting down the names of vehicles that I see and was surprised to note just how many there are, including Astra, Barina, Berlina, Celica, Corolla, Cortina, Elantra, Festiva, Fiesta, Futura, Granada, Honda, Kia, Lantra, Magna, Mazda, Micra, Nevada, Shara, Seca, Sonata, Tecona, Tida, Toyota, Vectra, Vienta, Ventura, Verada...

 

Do you know if there is any significance in this naming convention?

 

Editor's reply:

 

Research suggest this naming system orignated in the U.S. and derives from the fact that, while there are exceptions, many cars with names ending in consonants have been failures. These include the Rambler, the Pacer, the Hornet and the Matador.

 

Once car-makers discovered this. they quickly decided to switch to vowels.

 

'E' was considered to be too French for the U.S. where French cars had never sold well. The letter 'I' was discarded because it suggested pluralism. 'U' was never considered because it sounded too Japanese. This left only 'O' and 'A'.

 

In many European languages, words ending in the letter 'O' are male, while those words ending in an 'A' are female. Therefore, the letter 'O' is often reserved for macho cars, such as the Camaro, the Rodeo, and the Monaro, while the letter 'A' is often used for small- to medium-sized cars, such as the Corolla, the Barina and the Fiesta. It's also common for cars to be thought of as females, like ships, which may explain why the letter 'A' is the most common choice.

Wow I had never noticed before you posted this that most car names DO end in A

Truly eye opening

Edited February 10, 201015 yr by KAZ

wow... Didn't know any of that...

That is fascinating. I hadn't noticed the name trend at all - but i can see it now.

 

What about personal names for cars?? I love my new Mazda and I have named her Celeste, because she is Celestial blue

That is fascinating. I hadn't noticed the name trend at all - but i can see it now.

 

What about personal names for cars?? I love my new Mazda and I have named her Celeste, because she is Celestial blue

well both our hearses have names but the others dont..............Morgana for my hearse and Ms Lily for Kens