The magic of flying has always been part of naming cars. Way back in 1905 – just a couple of years after the Wright brothers took off from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in their machine called the “Flyer” – motorists could buy a car called a Thomas Flyer. Charles Lindbergh became the first pe …

Long before the days of sport utility vehicles, long before the days of vans, the best way to haul lots of stuff and lots of people was with a station wagon. While there are a few new station wagons on the market today, they certainly are not easy to find. While the new-car buying public ha …

With the huge success of the Ford Mustang, launched in April 1964, Chevrolet quickly realized it needed to have its own Mustang-like model. In the fall of 1966 the Camaro went on the market as a 1967 model. The folks at Chevrolet didn’t tinker much with the Mustang approach. Like the Mustan …

There are connections between cities that host Olympic Games and automakers looking for names – including this year’s Winter Olympics being held in Beijing, China. There’s a vehicle called the Beijing. Like the military roots of the Jeep and Hummer, originally the Beijing was built for the …

One of the most recognizable car names, and car shapes, belongs to the Volkswagen Beetle. However, the automaker was behind the general public when it came to the name of this car; what’s known as the Beetle was officially called the Type 1. Then, in subsequent years, its official name change …

From the late 1940s to the late 1970s hardtops were the most desirable body style for cars. The idea of a hardtop was to have no central pillars to support the roof, so they looked much like a convertible with the roof in the up or closed position. Hardtops certainly were more eye-pleasing …