Car names from aeroplanes
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Rambler Nash-Kelvinator Ambassador American Motors Jeep Chrysler Fiat Mercedes Benz
It wasn't through choice - Dodge threatened them with legal action. They abandoned the Dart name altogether, it was the SP250 everywhere.
Presumably the Nash and Rambler Ambassador were basically the same car? I had a vague idea Nash became Rambler which was sort of right when I looked it up.
I'm now wondering why a small English boy would have been aware of that around 60 years ago - and remembered it!
Presumably the Nash and Rambler Ambassador were basically the same car? I had a vague idea Nash became Rambler which was sort of right when I looked it up.
I'm now wondering why a small English boy would have been aware of that around 60 years ago - and remembered it!
Technically, there seems like a certain innovative trend in engineering that carried through from Nash through Chrysler. (Nash had early uni-body, front seats that folded to make the whole interior a large bed, a piece of exhaust tubing for an exhaust manifold and no arches in the front fenders for turning of the front wheels...which required a narrow track, created an odd appearance, and probably killed the brand. Chrysler had torsion bar suspension for awhile, which may have come from Packard or someone else they absorbed?)
From what I understand, Rambler was a Nash model, which then became a brand in its own right when AMC was formed.
That got me to thinking about the AMC Pacer, like an upside down goldfish bowl. Very odd on UK roads with a gigantic offside door and a smaller one by the kerb. There's one still around here or was until very recently.
I'd only ever heard of the Tri-Pacer, which looked futuristic to a very small boy in the 50s compared to the usual fare of Tiger Moths and Austers, and thought from the name there must have been a Pacer.
There was...
Piper Pacer, AMC Pacer.
That got me to thinking about the AMC Pacer, like an upside down goldfish bowl. Very odd on UK roads with a gigantic offside door and a smaller one by the kerb. There's one still around here or was until very recently.
I'd only ever heard of the Tri-Pacer, which looked futuristic to a very small boy in the 50s compared to the usual fare of Tiger Moths and Austers, and thought from the name there must have been a Pacer.
There was...
Piper Pacer, AMC Pacer.
At least one Nash Rambler model had front-seats that folded back to make a double bed:
Nash Airliner Reclining Seats | Modern Mechanix
There are stories of fathers refusing to allow their daughters to go out with boys who had a Rambler!
Nash Airliner Reclining Seats | Modern Mechanix
There are stories of fathers refusing to allow their daughters to go out with boys who had a Rambler!
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Goleta Air and Space Museum: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the USAF: McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
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There are stories of fathers refusing to allow their daughters to go out with boys who had a Rambler!
That would be the fathers who, as a boy, had a rambler themselves, then.
That would be the fathers who, as a boy, had a rambler themselves, then.
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Ford Mustang?
BL Avenger..... Cringe.
BL Avenger..... Cringe.
Not BL Avenger - Hillman and then Chrysler.
I had one briefly and hated it with a passion.
Standard Envoy, Airspeed Envoy. Not really fair the car was first by a couple of years.
Aston Martin Valkyrie - North American Valkyrie.
A couple now where the aircraft production exceeded the cars.
Aston Martin Bulldog - Bristol Bulldog.
Bugatti Atlantic - Breguet Atlantic.
I had one briefly and hated it with a passion.
Standard Envoy, Airspeed Envoy. Not really fair the car was first by a couple of years.
Aston Martin Valkyrie - North American Valkyrie.
A couple now where the aircraft production exceeded the cars.
Aston Martin Bulldog - Bristol Bulldog.
Bugatti Atlantic - Breguet Atlantic.
Not BL Avenger - Hillman and then Chrysler.
Chrysler sensibly realized that a 4-cylinder econobox could not be sold as an Avenger, so it was rebadged as the Plymouth Cricket (as in Jiminy)!
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There was also the Campbell Cricket gyroplane, and the Morane Saulnier built Fieseler Storchs were known as Criquets!
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A real oddity was an American automobile produced about 1946/47 (a typical saloon car of the era) which was called the "Bomber", and very specifically attributed to its unusually styled "nose" (an ugly protrusion from the radiator grill) which was supposedly inspired by the very distinctive nose of the B-29. Why oh why would anyone want to do that ? - it was a CAR!!! Apparently (and in my opinion rightly) it was never considered an American classic. Unfortunately I cannot recall the manufacturer, but somebody on this thread will know it, could have been a Ford, or Studebaker maybe.
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There never was an American produced sedan/saloon car called the "Bomber". You are probably imagining the Raymond Loewy designed (and executed by Virgil Exner) 1950-51 Studebaker "Bullet Nose" Commander. Why? Automobile design has been inspired by aviation for decades, and has incorporated many aeronautical design cues.
Designed to emulate a jet engine intake. The 1949 Ford also had a circular intake grill design.
Chrysler produced another Avenger. The Dodge Avenger is a front-wheel drive, mid-sized sedan that was built by Dodge. The Dodge Avenger made its North American debut in 1994 as a two-door coupe, which was produced until 2000. It was re-introduced to the market as a four-door sports sedan starting in 2008. 2014 marked the last production year for the Avenger, as models for both the Dodge and Chrysler brands were consolidated into the single 2015 Chrysler 200 model,.
Designed to emulate a jet engine intake. The 1949 Ford also had a circular intake grill design.Chrysler produced another Avenger. The Dodge Avenger is a front-wheel drive, mid-sized sedan that was built by Dodge. The Dodge Avenger made its North American debut in 1994 as a two-door coupe, which was produced until 2000. It was re-introduced to the market as a four-door sports sedan starting in 2008. 2014 marked the last production year for the Avenger, as models for both the Dodge and Chrysler brands were consolidated into the single 2015 Chrysler 200 model,.
Last edited by evansb; 7th May 2018 at 20:54.