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As we all know, the Japanese car industry has produced some of the greatest cars ever made, from the Isuzu Statesman Deville to the Autozam AZ-1. And, of course, the Japanese have come up with some of the greatest car names ever. The Nissan Homy Elgrand. The Mitsubishi Debonair Royal AMG. The Mazda Bongo Friendee. So many to choose from!
Of course, my personal favorite is the Mazda Cosmo Big Run Genteel. I’m not sure if the Genteel was a separate model, or just an option package, but who cares? Genteel! So, what’s your favorite Japanese Car Name?
64 Comments on “Question: What’s the Best Japanese Car Name Ever?...”
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Civic.
Frying Vagina
I suggest you get that checked out then.
Mitsubishi Canter Guts. Mazda Proceed Marvie
Daihatsu Wax Tadpole.
Subaru Impreza WRX STI Type RA Version VI WRC Limited Edition Tuned By STI
Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR-XX R4
Honda Life Dunk
Wow, I was 99% sure that you were just making a joke… and then I looked it up. Amazing.
Subaru SU-X
They forgot the 9000 part.
Honda’s Kei cars have always had good names, like the Life Dunk, mentioned above and the Honda That’s. I also liked the Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear.
I was going to post about the Honda That’s. I guess it’s named that because when people see it they ask “What’s that?” and the answer is “That’s…”
Add a vote from me for the Toyota Alphard. brain-fryingly ugly along with being inscrutably named.
And another for the Toyota Vitz.
No vote for the Toyota Platz?
In some Slavic languages, Toyota Vitz literally means Toyota Joke.
Nissan Leopard J. Ferie, aka the Infiniti J30.
1. The Leopard J. Ferie.
For those who doubt the veracity of this name, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leopard
…and scroll down to the “Third generation” heading.
2. Subaru Alcyone SVX Greenish Air
(evidence: http://subarublog.wordpress.com/page/46/)
3. The immortal Daihatsu D-Bag… I saw this at the Tokyo Motor Show years ago and sprayed coffee through my nose…
http://www.allcarindex.com/auto-car-model/Japan-Daihatsu-D-bag4/
Just the Greenish Air photo:
http://subarublog.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/201204111432111d7.jpg?w=800
Greenish Air?
Daihatsu Mira Pit
Nissan Cedric
Mitsubishi had the Carisma and the Space Star, both actually built in Holland. Not sure where that counts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Carisma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Space_Star
Mazda LaPuta.
It gets around…..
Twingo. Oh wait, that’s not Japanese….
Neither is my favorite name, the Peugeot Bipper Tepee.
Tepee is a name that identifies the civilian passenger versions of Peugeot’s panel vans. There’s also a Peugeot Partner Tepee and a Peugeot Expert Tepee.
(That’s weird seeing a Peugeot Expert-Citroën Jumpy/Dispatch-Fiat Scudo with a Toyota badge but it exists now: Toyota ProAce)
Still no mention of the Daihatsu Naked? Okay, I’ll submit that one.
How can you honestly have a discussion like this…
Without mentioning the Suzuki Every Joy Pop Turbo???
The Honda That’s is always amusing.
What’s that? It’s a That’s.
That’s what? That’s a Honda.
A Honda what? That’s.
I always liked the Hyundai Grandeur.
John
And that would be a Korean car.
We need a separate thread for Korean cars clearly. Nominating the Hyundai Pony.
I’m going to go with one that made it to the states.
Toyota Starlet
(I owned one of these tiny cars)
Maibatsu Thunder
+1
Or how about the Karin Bee Jay XL?
NOT GTA.
It’s not in the crazy-long-form style, but the Toyota MasterAce always makes me giggle. How could someone Nazi the connotation?
I’d also like to drop in the Isuzu Mysterious Utility, the 5-door version of which was called the Wizard:
http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_2700/article.html
Then I got sucked down the google-hole and found the Mitsubishi MUM 500 (which is the name I’ve given to the people your mom slept with last year).
http://www.allcarindex.com/auto-car-model/Japan-Mitsubishi-MUM-500/
Mitsubishi Pajero
Mazda Laputa
Nissan Moco
Suzuki Esteem always gets me chuckling too.
Well, I can copy and paste with the best like stacyfaces and C/D:
Isuzu GIGA 20 Light Dump
Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard
Honda Life Dunk
Honda That’s
Mitsubishi MUM 500 Shall We Join Us?
Mitsubishi Chariot Grandio Super Exceed
Mitsubishi Guts
Yamaha Pantryboy Supreme
Nissan Elgrand Homy
Daihatsu Charade Social Poze
Your list is packed full of wins.
Do Japanese cars built for other markets count? If so, the Isuzu Duogongnengche…
My father told me that when the first Toyotas came to Vancouver the name was ‘Toyopet’ which translates as Toyo’Fart’ in french … it brought the lulz …
Mazda Laputa … LA PUTA
There are too many…Nissan Fuga, Honda Sabre (TL), Mitsubishi Big Horn (Montero), Honda Vigor changed to Vidor, Daihatsu Big Mini, Toyota Hilux Surf (4Runner), Toyota Cavalier (Chevy Cav)…
Big Horn is Isuzu (Trooper). Montero was sold as a Pajero in most other countries.
My first thought was Bongo Friendee…
I do like the Suzuki Mighty. Boy and the Mazda Scram
Mitsubishi Starion
I just love that that largest Toyota and Nissan SUVs are called Sequoia and Armada.
My personal favourites:
Mitsubishi Mini Active Urban Sandal
Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard
I’ll go for simple one “Daihatsu Move Latte” and that’s hotter version “Cool Latte”.
The most serious challenge we got from imports was “Fiat Tempra”
I’ve always liked Toyota’s Crown Majesta as a name….
Or how about Nissan Skyline RS-X Turbo C?
This is semi-OT (since Ford is not a Japanese brand yet), but i think that Ford has the worst name of all: Ford Kuga, meaning Plague or Black Death (in Croatian, Serbian and probably some more eastern EU languages). I guess that we are so insignificant that Ford didn’t bother to check the name for this market.
And yet, I have seen few Ford Kuga’s around, it seems like some people couldn’t care less about the name.
The Honda Vagina. Actually they wanted to call it the Fitta, but then discovered that in Scandanavian countries fitta is a slang name for vagina. Oops. So they shortened it to Fit in some countries, and called it the Jazz in others.
So let me see if I have this straight…
Basically what you are saying is that if some poor schmuck can’t acquire a Honda Fit he has to make do with a Buick LaCrosse???
:P
I am currently visiting Japan and got a real laugh at Mazda Laputa, but they are pretty rare now it seems. My rental car is a Suzuki Alto. Loving the car names here.
The Mitsubishi Pajero. Look up what it means in Spanish!
Cornhole-a (by Toyota, natch)
Mitsubishi MUM 500 Shall We Join Us.
Honda Avancier Nouvelle Vague.
These names are terrific .
My favorite is for an old Honda Motocycle : Benly .
It’s pronounced ” Benri ” and means : ‘ convenient ‘ , a thing they surely are even 50 years later .
-Nate
Though it is a large commercial truck, the UD (Nissan Diesel) Big Thumb is a favorite of mine.
Well, I don’t have a favorite odd Japanese car name, but a certain restaurant on Okinawa over 40 years ago was named the “Bamboo Takeashita”. You’ll have to add your own separation to the syllables or hyphenation to the second word to get the joke.
Hey, it’s the best I can do, other than our houseboy wanting to buy him some “penis butter”. Huh??? After a short while, he exclaimed: “Skippy!” THEN I understood what he wanted! We both had a good laugh and I gladly went to the BX and bought him some.
Oh, hey, I really liked the updated TTAC logo! Really professional!
Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE
Honda Legend
Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard!!!
…or the Mitsubishi Lettuce, Toyota Deliboy, or Suzuki Every Joypop Turbo!
If only Honda had grabbed “Mysterious Utility Wizard” instead of “Accord DX”.