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What will the new Alfa Romeo be called? You decide.

Bosses at the Italian marque are letting the public choose the next name for Alfa’s 147 replacement.

Vijay Pattni looks at other names car manufacturers have come up with.

What’s in a name?

Is it something that inspires you to drive? Or is it a simple case of broadcasting the size of your engine to other road users?

Take the Ford Mustang. The American carmaker scored one of the most iconic badges in motoring history when it named its muscular coupe after a stallion, and generations of fans bought into the ‘Mustang’ aesthetic.

Others prefer to adopt names on the persona of its driver – the Dodge Diplomat and Pontiac Parisienne.

And on the other end of the spectrum, some manufacturers prefer the utilitarian approach – the Volkswagen Golf GT TDi PD 150, for example.

So what names have a unique background?

Lamborghini Murcielago

This gorgeous sportscar takes its name from a famous fighting bull – like all Lamborghinis.

In 1879, Murcielago was struck 24 times by the matador’s sword – and managed to stay alive.

It fought with such passion and spirit, the matador chose to spare its life, and presented the prize bull to a noted breeder whose ranch provided the name for Lamborghini’s first supercar – the Miura.

Toyota MR2

This unexpected roadster from the land of the rising sun took the motoring world by storm, with its unique mid-engined rear drive layout.

And the name is not quite what you might expect. Toyota’s brief was to design a car that was enjoyable to drive and still provide good fuel economy – and so the Midship Runabout 2-Seater was born.

Ford Thunderbird

Three Ford designers were rumoured to have walked down a French street, and noticing a sportscar parked on the side, began thinking up ideas for a Ford-based ‘personal luxury car’.

In naming the new two-seater, one of Ford’s stylists submitted ‘Thunderbird’ after seeing an illusion of lightning striking a bird during a storm.

Some claim the car’s final name came from an exclusive housing development in California known as Thunderbird Heights.

Maserati Khamsin

Where some name their cars after animals, engine variants and even statesmen, Maserati had different ideas.

Looking to the skies, the Italian marque noted the distinct hot, violent, and cyclonic sandstorm that occurred in Egypt and some parts of Sudan towards the end of March of each year, and in it, found the name for their 70’s sportscar – the Maserati Khamsin.

Porsche 911

One of the most successful sports coupes ever sold in the world was based on a Volkswagen Beetle – introduced as a sporting alternative to the humble ‘Bug.

The unique rear-engined coupe was originally designated as the Porsche 901 – its internal project number – but Peugeot protested and claimed it owned the trademark to all car names formed by three numbers with a zero in the middle.

Porsche changed the name to 911, and the rest is history.

Other names of note:

Karl Benz – Generally regarded as the inventor of the modern engine, and founder of the Benz Company, later to become Mercedes-Benz.

Trevor Wilkinson – From a Lancashire base, Trevor Wilkinson started the company under the name of Trevcar Motors in 1947. And in 1954, he decided on a name change, removing two vowels and a consonant from his first name to leave TVR.

Roland Gumpert – Before he started his own company, Roland was former head of Audi Sport, with Audi scoring two driver’s and two constructor’s championships during his tenure. He left Audi to build some of the world’s most outlandish supercars under his surname – Gumpert.

Vauxhall – Originally named Alex Wilson and Company, then Vauxhall, the manufacturer was founded in its South London namesake in 1857 – and after moving production to Luton in 1905, renamed itself Vauxhall Motors.

Subaru – A division of Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru is named after a spectacular open cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus, and is among the nearest to Earth.

Dominated by hot blue stars, the cluster is called Pleiades – also known as the Seven Sisters and in its Japanese translation becomes Subaru.

What other interesting car names can you think of?

Tell us on the Auto Trader Blog.

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