Motoriginal

Chapter 4: Animal Behavior
Part 3: The Felines
There’s nothing like a cat. They’re agile, quick, smart, and beautiful. They can be laid back at times but if you tempt them, they will become nastily aggressive.
Car companies have been naming their cars after these felines ever since motorcycle sidecar manufacturer Swallow Sidecar Company started making passenger cars, of which the first was called the SS Jaguar. In 1945, they changed their name to Jaguar Cars Limited and have been solely making cars ever since.
For almost 30 years following the first Jaguar, there were no copy cats (pun intended), but in 1963, another cat was born.
The Chevrolet Cheetah was a project by successful Corvette racing driver who started tuning Chevies like the Corvair & Chevy II. In 1963, he decided to turn his attention to building a new car based on the Corvette to compete with Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. The result was a funky, long-nosed, muscular car that fared well on the race track.
Around the same time the Cheetah came out, the Buick Wildcat was released. It had previously been a sportier subseries of the Invicta and only available as a coupe for its first year of production. It was long and sleek and was finely dressed with chrome trim and for its time, it was a bit wild.
In 1966, Puma (of Brazil) began manufacturing a car based on the DKW GT Malzoni chassis. It had a cute little cat-like body hinting to the Jaguar E-Type & Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto. Volkswagen took over the Brazilian DKW operations in 1967 and changed the base model to the Volkswagen Brasilia in the mid-70s. Puma ownership was transferred to multiple companies and new models were built including the GTB and AMV.
The Mercury Cougar was introduced in 1967 based on the Mustang but with more of a feline fascia, nose-piece, and a grille resembling whiskers. Throughout its lifespan, the Cougar took on many forms, including a more luxurious attitude in the ’70s and back to sporty in the late ’80s up until it was discontinued in 1997. Production restarted in 1999 and ended for good in 2002.
The only Italian cat to hit the streets, one wouldn’t have too much trouble seeing a crouching cat ready to pounce in the De Tomaso Pantera’s body. The Pantera was rear-wheel drive and powered by a 351 Ford V8 engine. From 1971-75, Ford actually had the car imported into the U.S. and was sold at Lincoln dealerships. The car had the unpredictable attitude of a cat and would certainly bite you if your guard was let down.
Some other kitties of the auto industry include the Mercury Bobcat (sister to the Ford Pinto) & Mercury Lynx (sister to the Ford Escort), and the Ford Puma which was built in Cologne, Germany and was only available in Europe from 1997-2001.
Update: left out the super bad Sunbeam Tiger, the little cat with V8 power. Thanks to Swissstash for the reminder.
Can you think of any that I may have missed?
You can see all previous “The Art of Naming Cars” chapters here and a continuous write up here. Check back soon for Part 2 of Chapter 4: Animal Behavior. Photos via Corvette Fever, Wikipedia, & various other sources.

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Chapter 4: Animal Behavior

Part 3: The Felines

There’s nothing like a cat. They’re agile, quick, smart, and beautiful. They can be laid back at times but if you tempt them, they will become nastily aggressive.

Car companies have been naming their cars after these felines ever since motorcycle sidecar manufacturer Swallow Sidecar Company started making passenger cars, of which the first was called the SS Jaguar. In 1945, they changed their name to Jaguar Cars Limited and have been solely making cars ever since.

For almost 30 years following the first Jaguar, there were no copy cats (pun intended), but in 1963, another cat was born.

The Chevrolet Cheetah was a project by successful Corvette racing driver who started tuning Chevies like the Corvair & Chevy II. In 1963, he decided to turn his attention to building a new car based on the Corvette to compete with Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. The result was a funky, long-nosed, muscular car that fared well on the race track.

Around the same time the Cheetah came out, the Buick Wildcat was released. It had previously been a sportier subseries of the Invicta and only available as a coupe for its first year of production. It was long and sleek and was finely dressed with chrome trim and for its time, it was a bit wild.

In 1966, Puma (of Brazil) began manufacturing a car based on the DKW GT Malzoni chassis. It had a cute little cat-like body hinting to the Jaguar E-Type & Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto. Volkswagen took over the Brazilian DKW operations in 1967 and changed the base model to the Volkswagen Brasilia in the mid-70s. Puma ownership was transferred to multiple companies and new models were built including the GTB and AMV.

The Mercury Cougar was introduced in 1967 based on the Mustang but with more of a feline fascia, nose-piece, and a grille resembling whiskers. Throughout its lifespan, the Cougar took on many forms, including a more luxurious attitude in the ’70s and back to sporty in the late ’80s up until it was discontinued in 1997. Production restarted in 1999 and ended for good in 2002.

The only Italian cat to hit the streets, one wouldn’t have too much trouble seeing a crouching cat ready to pounce in the De Tomaso Pantera’s body. The Pantera was rear-wheel drive and powered by a 351 Ford V8 engine. From 1971-75, Ford actually had the car imported into the U.S. and was sold at Lincoln dealerships. The car had the unpredictable attitude of a cat and would certainly bite you if your guard was let down.

Some other kitties of the auto industry include the Mercury Bobcat (sister to the Ford Pinto) & Mercury Lynx (sister to the Ford Escort), and the Ford Puma which was built in Cologne, Germany and was only available in Europe from 1997-2001.

Update: left out the super bad Sunbeam Tiger, the little cat with V8 power. Thanks to Swissstash for the reminder.

Can you think of any that I may have missed?

You can see all previous “The Art of Naming Cars” chapters here and a continuous write up here. Check back soon for Part 2 of Chapter 4: Animal Behavior. Photos via Corvette Fever, Wikipedia, & various other sources.

Source: motoriginal

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Chapter 4: Animal Behavior

Part 2: Other Creatures with Hoofs

Horses aren’t the only animals used for naming cars. Other animals from the hoof ungulate used for our reference are deer, bull, and ram.

Most popular is the deer which symbolizes speed, grace, and agility and is somewhat peaceful in nature. While the bull is quite the opposite, symbolizing power, brute, and ferociousness. Ever since their beginning, Lamborghini’s logo has been a bucking bull. The ram also embodies power and brute with more of a stubborn, head-banging attitude.

Singer Gazelle
Contrary to popular belief, the Chevy Impala was not the first car to be named after a jumping antelope. The British-born Gazelle came to market in 1956, two years prior to the Impala.

It was well-powered for the time, it came in saloon, drophead, & estate (to be ‘Britishly’ correct) forms, and it featured a jumping gazelle symbol for branding. The original Gazelle body was designed by Raymond Loewy, and one can easily see the resemblance this car had to the Loewy-designed Studebakers.

Chevrolet Impala
Introduced as a top of the line Bel Air in 1958, it followed the Gazelle by two years with a similar jumping African-antelope badge. It was available in coupe and convertible body styles.

The Impala name was originally used for a 1956 Chevrolet Corvette-based show car with design cues transferring directly to future production Impalas and although it wasn’t the best handling car the late-50s had to offer, Chevrolet marketed the car to have “quick, eager-to-please handling that lets you know you’re the boss.”

Triumph Stag
The second British car to be named for a hoofed creature was the Triumph Stag. A Stag is a single adult male deer, having no mate. So fittingly, this car was only available as a 2-door convertible, ready to pick up a special passenger. Not much room for kids in the back.

It was introduced in 1970 and also had a jumping deer emblem. The car was styled by Giovanni Michelotti after the Triumph 2000 and was intended to compete with the Mercedes-Benz 300SL.

Dodge Ram
The Ram has been an American workhorse (wrong animal reference there) since it was introduced in 1981 and has only gotten bigger and stronger. The iconic ram horns (starting with a classic-style 3D emblem, now it’s a 2D style) are front and center on the front grille of Ram trucks.

Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable
The Taurus was the first bull from the blue oval company. Its Mercury brother was called the Sable, which is a type of antelope. Not really the best name for either seeing that neither of them was brute or agile.

As previously stated, if you’re going to name your car after an animal, it should be a fitting name, otherwise there is a disconnect between the car and the name.

You can see all previous “The Art of Naming Cars” chapters here and a continuous write up here. Check back soon for Part 3 of Chapter 4: Animal Behavior. Photos via coconv, and various other sources.

Source: motoriginal