By Peter Tanshanomi
Thanks to the fertile minds of Greeks, Romans, sailors, fantasy authors, and peasants living in thatched roof cottages, there is a nearly limitless catalog (or, if you’re Chris Haining, “catalogue”) of fantastical, nonexistent creatures. And fortunately, most of them 1) sound like they’d be pretty badass, and 2) have been around long enough to be in the public domain. And as well all know, that combination makes them vehicle marketing gold. So, as we do every Monday, we invite you to start your workweek by helping us assemble the consummate list of these vehicles named after mythical creatures. The Caveats (there are always caveats):
- “Mythical” means it is widely known and has been around a long time. Not just any made-up name counts. For example, Tiguan (half-tiger/half-iguana) sounds like a plausibly mythical creature, except that it was invented by a reader of Autobild magazine specifically for VW. [Buzzer sounds, trapdoor swings open.]
- Beyond that first big restriction, go hog wild. Manufacturer names, marques, sub-brands, models and trim lines are all good.
- Concept cars, one-offs, race cars are fair game, as long as the name was official bestowed by a manufacturer, coachbuilder, or famous customiser/designer.
- Motorcycles? Trucks? Sure.
- Airplanes? Oh, why not; I’m feeling particularly liberal today. Just don’t let it get out of hand. — Whaddaya think this is, Atomic Toasters?
- Boats or ships? NO, because they all get individually named and every potlicker with a dingy thinks he has to come up with a majestic name for the thing.
Difficulty: This one’s a gimmie. In fact, I was somewhat surprised that I hadn’t pitched this one previously. How This Works: Read the comments first and don’t post duplicates! Bonus points for adding photos. Image Sources: carandclassic.co.uk, gmheritagecenter.com, Honda press photo that can be found about 20 gazillion places on the ‘net.