Our Two Cents: How Do You Kill an Iconic Car Name?
Perhaps this was a question on par with the lowest of low-hanging fruit. Names have been recycled for decades in loads of industries, not just in the automobile-centric world of everyone here at Hagerty Media. There are only so many ways you can stretch the Star Wars franchise, or use classic architecture to kit out homes on the cheap.
Put another way, what iconic names have companies used for a car that didn’t earn it? I asked my co-workers what came to mind.
Town & Country
“I have never emotionally recovered from Chrysler’s liberal use of the vaunted ’Town & Country’ nameplate. How dare they use it on a minivan?” – Cameron Neveu
Dale Earnhardt + Monte Carlo
“This is pretty bad in retrospect: Two birds with one stone, I guess.” – Chris Stark
Gran Tourismo?
“I get irrationally angry at carmakers’ abuse of the ‘GT’ label. I like the original distinction that set Gran Turismos, or Grand Tourers, apart from other, lesser cars: fast, luxurious 2+2s with a long nose and a short deck designed for crossing continents at high speeds in great comfort.
Your Ram 1500 pickup truck is not a GT, Dodge. And neither, for that matter, is your Grand Caravan. Nor is your Cayenne Turbo SUV, Porsche. The list of offenders is much longer than this, but I’m just getting irrationally angry now…” – Stefan Lombard
The Less Super SS
“One could argue that Chevrolet’s trend in the mid-2000s of slapping ‘SS’ on everything killed that moniker. Malibu Maxx SS? HHR SS? The same could be said for the Ford ‘ST’ badging. Once it went on Explorer and Edge, it really jumped the shark.” – Todd Kraemer
“The HHR SS panel van is kinda cool though.” – Chris Stark
That Mexican Road Race…
“Porsche has used the ‘Carrera’ name so often, from its most sophisticated engines and models all the way down to the base 911, that the word has basically lost all meaning. We get it, you won a road race in Mexico 70 years ago, but you have plenty of other heritage to draw on. Pick a new word. But that’s not as bad as using ‘Turbo’ on your luxury EV that, you know, doesn’t have a turbocharger.” – Andrew Newton
Stop Blazing This Trail!
“I still get emotionally triggered at Chevrolet’s use of the Blazer name on their CUVs. As a massive full-size Blazer fan, I feel personally attacked at the fact that they would so mindlessly slap that name on a vehicle that doesn’t live up to the heritage that name represents.” – Greg Ingold
GTO
“Pontiac did a lot of things right when it revived the GTO model with a fifth generation in 2004: Rear wheel drive, manual transmission, and powerful V-8 up front. Sadly the styling just missed the mark, likely due to how many cars were going retro during that era, and those others did a better job calling back to the good old days.
The modern GTO is as GTO as ever when looked at for what it actually is, but when the Mustang and Camaro were the old name and at least some of the old looks, bringing back the legendary name with little of the legendary style doomed it from the start. Even before the death of Pontiac in 2009, the GTO was likely never to return.” – Kyle Smith
Road Runner
“Plymouth/Chrysler had a wonderful vehicle in the 1968 Road Runner; they even paid Warner Brothers $50,000 to use the name, and certainly the ‘beep, beep’ horn must have been extra. (And well worth it—I used it a lot on my 1973 model.) The car was golden in the first generation, good in the second generation, which included my ’73, but beyond that, a disaster.
For the third generation, starting in 1975, they stuck the name on a lame model of the full-sized Fury, but adding insult to injury, they used it on a Volare-based F-body model in 1976, which at least had an optional 360-cubic-inch V-8. That lasted until 1980, when the name quietly, and mercifully, died.
Hagerty values my favorite, a base 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, at $38,300 in #3 (Good) condition, which is down 8.1 percent but still too rich for my blood, assuming you can still find a ‘base’ car with the 383-cubic-inch V-8—many of them have been swapped out for a Hemi engine. Since even the base car is too rich for my blood, I’ll just admire them from afar.” – Steven Cole Smith
All of Pontiac?
“I’ll pile onto Pontiac. The brand was one of the biggest in the United States through the 60s and 70s AND had a distinct identity—very difficult to achieve. When GM management weakened the division structure in the 1980s, effectively making its brands marketing arms as opposed to semi-independent companies, Pontiac was probably the biggest victim.
Pretty much every car that wore the arrow head from the early 80s through the early 2000s was disappointing in some way, a watering down of the brand identity. By the time they got around to building rear-drive cars again in the Bob Lutz era, it was really too late.” – David Zenlea
“Sajeev asked about killing a model, and I think we successfully made a case for how to kill an entire brand with Pontiac.” – Greg Ingold
NUMMI Nova?
“I kinda thought someone would do the low-hanging fruit, but I’ll throw it out there. The great Nova name was killed with a vengeance when they put it on that 1980s Chevy-Toyota abomination.” – Todd Kraemer
Quad 4-4-2?
“I was gonna bring up Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais Quad 442, but then I remembered just how much effort they put into the last of these muscular coupes. Yes, it was a blocky little body driving the wrong wheels with too few pistons and too many camshafts. But at least those camshafts were unique, tunes for more power and a lumpier idle in the proud tradition of hot-rodding American cars.
I’m not even going to bring up the rarer W-40 and W-41 option packages. I regret bringing these little rocket ships with rocket emblems up because they were a valiant effort. Or at least, they were better than what I am now thinking about.
Ah heck, I guess the Mustang Mach-E is the one for me. It’s certainly not a Mustang, it’s more like a genetic mashup of a Taurus SHO and every yawn-inducing CUV on the planet. Of course, the regular Mustang Pony Car isn’t dead, but the sooner the Mach-E goes away, the better in my book.” – Sajeev Mehta
Being a big fan of the euro models- Capri. But there are way too many to list. Why companies keep insisting on reviving old names and frequently putting them on dissimilar models eludes me. It doesn’t seem like a valid marketing strategy, more the opposite.
I’m obsessed with Euro Capri, I have a few. Any true Capri requires a proper “C” pillar, rear wheel drive and massive oversteer!
Yup, I have a 73 RS2600 wannabe.
Now they’re going to make an awful SUV EV using the Capri name. Ugh!
Couple of factors at play though.
GM repeatedly made a model the new top of the line of a brand only to keep moving it down the line every few years/generations. The prestige earned by the 55 Bel Air was squeezed of every drop of recognition in the final offering as the basic of 80s Caprices. This was a very deliberate tactic for a long time.
But if you only experienced a hot-rodded 81 Bel Air you might just think quite highly of that bare-bones, nice sized, body-on-frame boxy style car. You might even fondly recall a bone stock one.
Maverick I give Ford a pass. The name was gone for 30+ years and the segment it used to belong to Ford doesn’t even have a model in, if you can even say the segment exists. Besides, it’s a cowboy name so it fits the way much truck marketing is done. Reviving the Courier name would have been a mistake for this vehicle –people with bad memories of Maverick cars are long gone or mostly over it, Courier never had that much presence to bother reviving it –and it isn’t as good a name.
It really depends if the name has equity someone thinks they can cash in on. VW’s play with Scout is something I have been saying should happen for years. It’s too bad Stellantis has so many cool old brands & names buried with no plan for profiting from them.
Jeep has been sold a few times now. I won’t be surprised to see Stellantis collapse and Jeep be one of the only pieces that is picked up to continue. You add Ram trucks, a Charger and Jeep to Honda’s lineup you cover just about everything (whereas Ford has F150, Mustang and Bronco so the case isn’t there to take that on).
I’m not a fan of “branching out” names with 20+ years of very specific identity. I don’t want to see a 4-door Camaro (yeah I know Dodge “got away with it” with the Charger as shown by sales). I rather see GM call that a Chevelle or even a Cutlass. Put the Camaro name on a revised C7 Corvette platform and let it fill that niche between the new “Cutlass” and the mid-engine Vettes. Even if that meant Camaro was a “forever model” that really didn’t get changes unless laws forced it –I feel like C7-based Camaros would sell for decades if allowed to be.
Have you ever heard of the “jeep as company killer” theory. Seems every parent company that owned Jeep has gone out of business.
Jeep saved Chrysler. At least there is a company alive that owns it. You should say that the Jeep brand has outlived all its owners.
More accurately AMC saved Chrysler. Chrysler got a lot they didn’t expect when they bought AMC (mainly for the Jeep line and the new plant in Bramalea, Canada). AMC had become very good at at running efficiently — out of necessity. Chrysler got a lot of knowledge there — they recognized it early on and capitalized on it. Their replacement for the K car was faltering in development — they threw it out and took the AMC/Renault Eagle platform and developed the LH cars from it. The new look for thew Ram trucks was mostly off the Jeep drawing boards for a proposed return of the full size Jeep trucks (that AMC couldn’t afford to put back in production). So were a lot of other engineering and design aspects AMC could only dream about having the capital to put in production. The 4.7L engine was partially AMC designed — at least many aspects came from the engine AMC wanted to replace the aging 360 with. There is some Chrysler and Mercedes influence on the eventual design, but I believe it’s mostly AMC — and that’s the reason it was introduced in Jeep Grand Cherokees. It could, however, be argued that Jeep got it because of lower production numbers, so easier to introduce a new engine there without rushing production. Of course that’s not really a shining example — that engine never really caught on and went anywhere. It’s still a good design, but how many V-8 models does a company need?
Ah, the Jeep Curse…
The more modern variants of the Monte Carlo, SS, and GTO have their following
I heard once that the ‘world car’ variant of the Nova flopped in Europe because in most romance languages no va means doesn’t go
Better not ask what “Pajero” means in Spain, then!
Mitsubishi weren’t really thinking when they picked that one…
My best friend is from Mexico and when I showed him the JDM Mini Pajero, he laughed & told me what it meant in Spanish!! What a hoot!! I want one anyway for my own little inside joke!!
Turns out the Nova story is a myth. Nova means exactly the same thing in Spanish as is does in English, and Novas sold just fine with that name in Latin American countries.
Well at least Cadillac has not reused their historical model names. Instead they have first went through three letter alphabet names and then number names and now are making up meaningless words that end in (iq)??? So no brand/name equality lost…. They have just lost all their customers….
The Blazer should have been a Nomad.
The Mach E Mustang was a real major mistake.
The GTO was fine. If you price one you will find there is still great demand and no shame.
The worst would be to make the Corvette name anything but a two seat sports car.
The Earnhardt car was fine it was a tribute and he even approved before his death and even offered Camaro and trucks with his image and logo.
To me reusing names is just a cheaper lazy way out. Often it can and will do more damage than hood if applied to the wrong car. Chrysler did much of this in the 80’s. But they had do little to work with and short money.
It takes years to build name equity and only a year or two to destroy it. Cadillac destroyed several names in the 80’s.
Even worse is when Olds had 3 different models named Cutlass in one way or another.
Names can’t save a good car but a bad car czn destroy a good name.
Correct – The Mach E Mustang does not even remotely resemble a Mustang.
MINO – Mustang in Name Only.
Love the “MINO”
Naming an EV a Blazer not well thought out after numerous EV fires, including Chevy.
GTO was a rebadged Australian market Holden Monaro. So no wonder it didn’t look anything like the OG. But it’s not a bad looking car and aged well in my opinion.
I love my TorRed 40th Anniversary ’04 GTO. No cost optional Tremec 6spd, aftermarket LS based 408ci engine. Was called a “fat Cavalier” by C&D mag when new; I think the styling has held up well, it fits modern wheel/tire sizes, and unlike Charger//Challenger/Mustang/Camaro/Corvette owners, I don’t see myself coming and going every day. Bonus!
That’s Karma right there!!
The Blazer should have been a Nomad.
The Mach E Mustang was a real major mistake.
The GTO was fine. If you price one you will find there is still great demand and no shame.
The worst would be to make the Corvette name anything but a two seat sports car.
The Earnhardt car was fine it was a tribute and he even approved before his death and even offered Camaro and trucks with his image and logo.
To me reusing names is just a cheaper lazy way out. Often it can and will do more damage than hood if applied to the wrong car. Chrysler did much of this in the 80’s. But they had do little to work with and short money.
It takes years to build name equity and only a year or two to destroy it. Cadillac destroyed several names in the 80’s. They have done better of Kate but they lost names snd customers in the 80’s down size
Even worse is when Olds had 3 different models named Cutlass in one way or another.
Names can’t save a good car but a bad car can destroy a good name.
With you totally on the Mach E. I am disgusted when I pull my real Mustang up next to one. Even more so when they show their, ahem, superiority leaving a stoplight.
Why not be a man and admit it? That real Mustang just blew your doors off at the traffic light.
I know the feeling well. Still get a chuckle over those two rednecks in the Hemi Charger (4 door) laughing at my Chevy Bolt, they thought I was kidding when I said I’d run them on the four block stretch between three traffic lights. They turned off at the third block, it was that bad.
I know the feeling. I had a ’63 Fairlane 500 wagon with a 260 and a Fordomatic 2-speed trans back in 1973. A Z-28 decided they wanted to have a little fun light-to-light in Atlanta. That Ford automatic transmission stayed in low gear all the way to 60 mph or so. We stayed neck and neck until the first time he shifted gears. By the time we got to the next light, he was back by my rear fender. Two lights in a row. Then I went home.
That Fordomatic was never quite right after that.
I dunno – I’m thinking that a good many Ferrari owners (especially those whose car name also includes the number 250 and might be worth $40+ million) might argue that the best way to kill (or at least seriously tarnish) an iconic car name would be to put it on a Pontiac!
And bear in mind that as I say that, I’m the owner of a Pontiac that has GTO badges all over it! 😁
So Dub , does that mean you shouldn’t put ‘Judge’ decals on a 62 250?
Well, I’m a strong “to each his or her own” kinda guy, but I’m pretty sure that that’s what it means, yeah. 😛
so, you’re the judge of that?🤣
I second the GT name issue. Putting a GT trim level on every model was a dumb decision Dodge did. They already devalued R/T years ago, so why wouldn’t you just use a trim people are familiar with already…. that was already being used by all but the Dart? They had no issue with R/T Caravan’s, Journey’s, & Avenger’s in the past, so a Dart R/T would’ve made sense.
As a kid, my older brother told me “GT” stood for Garbage Truck.
I will never understand why Pontiac didn’t go retro with the new GTO. That acronym deserved a better effort.
It was cheap for GM to do since it’s a rebadged Holden.
Good car though.
Yeah, they don’t even drill holes to mount badges nowadays, so all they had to do was ship a bunch of plastic GTO emblems to the Holden factory so they could ‘peel and stick’ them on. Voila!
Not that simple. The Pontiac had different front and rear ends than the Monaro, and they had to totally relocate the gas tank for the GTO. So, not just a “badge job”.
Spot on comment.
The question should have been around why didn’t Pontiac change the styling. There are only so many things you can change when the hard points are fixed. You aren’t going to produce separate 1/4 panels on the first run of the GTO for example. It is more of a low cost (for GM, not for Holden) dip a toe in the water exercise.
Plenty don’t like the new GTO it seems, but are happy with retro Mustang and Charger. It wasn’t a retro car. The name evokes a memory, but the car was born without the name. It is beloved in Australia for doing most things right. RWD V8 coupe. Handles, stops and the a/c works (things that didn’t happen in 1970 btw). With styling that was on point for the era (1997).
Point made and taken, Rider79! 👍
I expected this to be an article about Jaguar’s non-binary rebranding and Audi’s dropping of their iconic rings
Do any ’76-78 Road Runners survive? I don:T think I’ve seen one in years, not even at the January Scottsdale auctions.
Will anyone here admit to owning one?
A simple web search turns up quite a few for sale.
Putting the Nova name on the Toyota wasn’t that egregious.
After all, on the :80d, imports were the new compacts.
And at least the Nova was made on the US.
I had one as a winter heater in Ohio to save my Miata. Give enough car except for head gasket and substandard paint which would not hold shine (like a previous Toyota).
The NUMMI Nova / Pontiac Vibe were hidden gems – “a Toyota at a discount,” as I told my car-shopping friends for several decades. My GM retiree sister in law and her husband still have a Vibe – along with a rare Cruze hatchback and a Honda Odyssey that plays the “pickup” role with a lot more comfort and efficiency,
Keep in mind that back then GM’s reputation for quality was so bad amongst the import buyer that Corolla’s were selling for $400-1200 in ADM, while Consumer’s Reports was screaming at its readership that you were getting money on the hood of a Nova. And the readership still wasn’t willing to walk into a Chevrolet dealership.
The next effort was to bring out the Geo nameplate (buy one and your title said “Chevrolet”). Lots of people back then wouldn’t be caught dead in the Chevy.
GM is and has been the worse offender. Horrific what they’ve done to the legacy of their best name plates. Blazer, Nova, SS, Impala, pretty much everything. Their business model is to give an actual good vehicle a new name, but when their “c” team comes up with some garbage vehicle that won’t last 80K miles they say “whelp, it won’t sell itself, lets badge it after something cool to ease the embarrassment of the buyer.”
I always laugh when I hear people complain about reusing the name “Impala”. The old Impala was, first and foremost, a family car – which is exactly what the ones from this century also were. Personally, my 2015 Impala was, in so many ways, the best car I ever owned. It rode like a dream, yet handled quite well for a sedan. It was quicker than any older Impala (except perhaps for a very few specific 409’s and 427’s – MAYBE). It had a lot of room for the family, and a huge trunk. And – unlike the old Impalas – it got really great MPG, even with the V6. Sometimes the past is best left as the past: respected, maybe revered, but not resurrected. Thankfully, GM did not resurrect the old Impala with the 2014 redesign; they made it better in virtually every way.
Agreed! It’s on my (long) list of cars i wish I’d owned.
My 96 Impala SS is the 2nd and last new car I have ever bought, a 68 Camaro being the first. I absolutely love the car, even knowing that is at it’s heart a taxicab with nice seats. Right now at just over 100K, the shop I had do OE plugs, plug wire set and possibly the last OEM distributor service kit in captivity in effect ruined the distributor. A new AC Delco reman optispark unit ($949 with shipping and tax) is waiting at the UPS store for met to pick up Monday. I bit the bullet after hearing so many horror stories about non-OE remans and repops, paid for the one & done solution. Having said this, and making clear that I am a GM guy at heart I must say that is spite of a Typhoon and a Grand National, the absolute most fun and comfortable car I have even owned was a 91 SHO. Amazing car at that time. As is often the case in an attempt to satisfy more potential buyers Ford killed the SHO by degrees. First an automatic transmission, then the fairly unworthy V8, and now the only way to tell current ones is by wheels and badging. Very few desirable domestic cars left and the stupid pick ups are lust too damn tall. Can’t find a thing on the market I would rather have than my SS and my C6 Z06. American car companies are signing their own death warrants.