Hooniverse Asks: What was the Most Misguided Namesake Make?

1968Mohs-Ostentatienne-opera-sedan
You can really tell if someone stands behind their product when they put their name on it. Well, actually applying your name to something isn’t always the best idea because if its a failure then your name with forever be intrinsically linked to that defeat, just ask Edsel Ford. Go on, I’ll wait.
That of course hasn’t dissuaded many a starry-eyed entrepreneur from slapping their sobriquet on a car, although you can probably count on the fingers of one hand the so-named marques from the last 30 years that have lasted more than a decade. Some, like John DeLorean went down in very public flames, while others, like Warren Mosler just seemed to fade from the scene.
What was the cause of so many of these failures? Maybe it was the product, or perhaps the auto industry is just so onerous a category that it’s impossible to jump in the game no matter what your name is. What we want today is your take on which namesake auto was the biggest misstep, the one that perhaps tarnished its progenitor’s name the most. Are you willing to name names?
Image: Rigs of Rods

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70 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What was the Most Misguided Namesake Make?”

    1. Tanshanomi Avatar

      He was just jealous of Ice-T’s endorsement of the Rodedawg*.
      http://www.amphibiousvehicle.net/amphi/R/rut.jpeg
      *a Chinese military amphibian that briefly “coming soon” to the US as a luxury(?) H1-wannabe. In reality, it was all just part of a pump-and-dump scheme.

        1. Manxman Avatar

          I want the little duck.

    2. Cameron Vanderhorst Avatar
      Cameron Vanderhorst

      That tweet is amazing. He sort of comes off as that one friend who bugs you when he sees you online to go “like” his band on Facebook.

    1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
      smalleyxb122

      But his/her name wasn’t Dale.

      1. Tanshanomi Avatar

        Oh…Yeah.
        It’s always damn FACTS with you people.
        EDIT: To be fair, it WAS named after Dale Clifft, who built the prototype for Jerry/Liz.

        1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
          smalleyxb122

          So it was. I stand corrected. Well, not really corrected. My statement was factual, but the obvious implication that the Dale was not a valid answer was incorrect.
          Named after someone? Check.
          Carries a really bad legacy? Double check.

    2. Kiefmo Avatar
      Kiefmo

      I was not aware of this one. Tracked it down by the looks. Quite the story behind “Ms.” Carmichael there.
      That’s about enough internet for one day. See you all later.

      1. Tanshanomi Avatar

        “Enough internet” — what an oddly curious concept.

    1. Tanshanomi Avatar

      It’s “Youabian.” He certainly shouldn’t miss out on being enshrined the pantheon of mockable failures accurately and completely.

      1. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        I have had my coffee now and fixed it.

    2. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      I endorse your thinking. This is probably the worst thing ever being done to a new Volvo.

    3. Krautwursten Avatar
      Krautwursten

      Not sure if giant car or tiny man.

        1. Vairship Avatar
          Vairship

          Correction: it’s a fairly normal-sized car (judging by the greenhouse) that had an unfortunate reaction to peanut butter.

  1. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    In 1979, race car builder Ralph Moody put a Perkins diesel engine in a Mercury Capri, called it the Moodymobile, and claimed that it could get 84 mpg. Although this got a lot of media attention during Fuel Crisis II, in reality the car never got even close to the advertised mileage. Only one Moodymobile was ever built and the whole project soon fizzled out.

  2. Lokki Avatar
    Lokki

    I’m not sure that’s this constitutes the ‘MOST misguided ‘ but it’s certainly up there in ‘honorable mention’ territory.
    This is not meant to suggest any disrespect for any Tim Horton fans or any one else named Malcolm.

    1. Maymar Avatar
      Maymar

      Came here to post this, left not disappointed.

    2. Tanshanomi Avatar

      The Bricklin is simultaneously mockable and totally awesome, because it looks exactly like every sports car I drew between the third and seventh grades.

  3. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    While Panoz has had some success on the racetrack, their street cars just seem to have never caught on. They seem to be one of those companies that you have to check and see if they are still in business and get conflicting stories. I know a “friend of a friend” who used to work there and got a chance to see the facility. Overall it seems like something the son of a multi-millionaire would do in his spare time with no sense of making a profit (which it is).
    http://panoz.com/assets/default/images/spyder-esperante-luxury-sports-car-header.png

    1. engineerd Avatar
      engineerd

      It gives him an excuse to own Road Atlanta, too.

      1. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        Not anymore: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/motor/story/2012-09-05/NASCAR-purchase-unifies-Grand-Am-American-Le-Mans/57598680/1
        He sold most of the racing stuff when NASCAR bought ALMS.

    2. CraigSu Avatar
      CraigSu

      I remember traveling through the Atlanta area once shortly after the Esperante’s introduction and realized I would be staying overnight close by (at the Falcon Inn, IIRC). I contacted Panoz a few days before my trip and they happily arranged for a tour of the factory. It was nice seeing how hand-assembled everything was. They explained their manufacturing process to me and even showed me their test mules. It was quite educational to see the US equivalent of “men in a shed” building cars. I imagine they would still give tours.

      1. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        There is the whole conflicting stories on wither or not they are still in business, which has been the case for the last 3 or 4 years. The answer seems to change a couple of times a year or so. http://panoz.com/ Their website appears to have been updated within the last year. $179k seems like a whole lot for what is basically a really fancy Mustang based kit car.

        1. CraigSu Avatar
          CraigSu

          I find it interesting that they are no longer married to Roush Ford engines. You can even get an LSA package now. I had not realized that they stopped building street cars back in 2006 but I’m glad to see they’re back in the business.

  4. engineerd Avatar
    engineerd

    The low hanging fruit is the Tucker Car Corporation. While we look back with the benefit of history and knowing that it was a conspiracy by the Big 3, Senator Homer Ferguson, the Illuminati, and Kermit. At the time, however, Tucker’s name was dragged through the mud via allegations of SEC violations, a media campaign aimed at undermining his fledgling company, and, compounding things, his troubles finding things like engines that are fairly critical to an automobile’s success.
    After building only 51 cars, Preston Tucker’s namesake company went under.
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/1948_Tucker_Sedan_at_the_Blackhawk_Museum.jpg/1024px-1948_Tucker_Sedan_at_the_Blackhawk_Museum.jpg

    1. HycoSpeed Avatar
      HycoSpeed

      Dang, I was googling too slow, or maybe being too image picky. Preston Tucker was going down in some pretty public flames while John DeLorean was still in college! So great answer!
      1.bp.blogspot.com/_IBHBFPqHMEE/SlKy7wspZoI/AAAAAAAAAZE/BVyBRqAzY24/s400/3tucker_2.jpg

    2. PotbellyJoe★★★★★ Avatar
      PotbellyJoe★★★★★

      Remember it was his partnership with Harry Miller that produced such wonderment as the Tucker Combat Car
      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Tucker-armored-car.jpg

        1. engineerd Avatar
          engineerd

          That’s super rad.

      1. Guest Avatar
        Guest

        Why has this not been discovered in a barn yet? And where is the prop one from the movie (so I can get it, semi-cheap)?

    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      Well, that one went over like a Led balloon.

      1. longrooffan Avatar
        longrooffan

        Suddenly, I feel all gasy.

        1. tonyola Avatar
          tonyola

          Someone is sure to post this, so it might as well be me…

  5. PotbellyJoe★★★★★ Avatar
    PotbellyJoe★★★★★

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/MuntzJetred.jpg
    Muntz was a madman to think this was going to work…

    1. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      Hey! I was going to nominate Muntz for our Memorial Day memorilaization! It wasn’t a bad car from what I’ve read (not much) but his habit of selling them for less than they cost that was ridiculous. Fast forwrd to GM in the 21st century…
      (I have no idea what Muntz ownership was like after they went out of business.)

      1. PotbellyJoe★★★★★ Avatar
        PotbellyJoe★★★★★

        To paraphrase a, shortly thereafter, fired Chrysler marketing Exec when asked about the massive incentives on his vehicles to move them that had them losing money on each car,
        “I guess we’re supposed to make it up on volume.”

  6. Citric Avatar
    Citric

    A product that was the end point of not one but two names, though De Tomaso was not at all misguided in his early days. Qvale, as a badge, was never held in high esteem however.
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Qvale_Mangusta_94.jpg

    1. Andrew_theS2kBore Avatar
      Andrew_theS2kBore

      Have to be honest, this is one of my bucket list cars… they go for 15-25k now and are unlikely to dip any lower, so it seems like a great way to try something really different, even if it isn’t objectively “good”…

  7. Drives Dead Marques Avatar
    Drives Dead Marques

    I was going to say this guy, But he was wise and only named the manufacturing arm for himself.
    http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/1975-leata-7.jpg
    http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1975-leata4.htm

  8. elan Avatar
    elan

    I know this isn’t quite an answer to the question, but most people don’t think of most car companies as the name of the person it’s named after. In fact it’s not at all uncommon for a car company to be named after someone, in fact all of the big 3 in the US are named after people. Chevrolet after Louis Chevrolet, Ford after Henry Ford and Chrysler after Walter Chrysler. Some others are Rolls Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Fisker, Cadillac to name a few.

    1. Tanshanomi Avatar

      Most people don’t appreciate Chief Pontiac for the wrench-spinner he was.

      1. tonyola Avatar
        tonyola

        Abraham Lincoln was secretly a car guy.

      1. Krautwursten Avatar
        Krautwursten

        The 311 model line wasn’t even all that bad for its time, after all they still had to compete with western cars in the early years of East Germany when the border wasn’t locked down yet. Only when they decided to facelift it into a cheap-to-make socialist pillbox in the form of the 353 did everything go downhill.

        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          The 353 wasn’t really that bad, was it? Grew up with them everywhere, but I knew nobody owning one.
          http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Wartburg-353-W-02.jpg

          1. Krautwursten Avatar
            Krautwursten

            It depends on what parameters you define a good car by. If a good car for you is one that is utterly basic and cheap to make and maintain, then the Wartburg 353 is brilliant. If you seek any level of comfort, luxury, performance or beauty, then it’s largely terrible compared to any car except other socialist products. My grandpa had one, and one of my earliest clear memories is riding to our family holiday bungalow in the back, and my grandma insists it was a good car, but then again her standards at the time were defined by Trabants, Zaporozhets, Skodas and Moskvitchs. Also my grandpa’s Wartburg was one of the late 80s ones where they had already fitted 1.3L VW engines in them instead of the original two stroke threebangers.

      2. dr zero Avatar
        dr zero

        With Mazda you have to be fearful of the wrath of a god:
        http://i-cias.com/e.o/slides/ahura_mazda02.jpg

    2. smalleyxb122 Avatar
      smalleyxb122

      And Porsche, and Lamborghini, and Ferrari, and Dodge, and Koenigsegg, and Saleen…
      Oh, and we can’t forget Powell:
      http://blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2012/07/1956Powell_01_700.jpg

      1. Guest Avatar
        Guest

        Lovin’ the 2×6 bumper!

        Used Powells as inspiration for one of my high school machining projects…

      2. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        The Homer car on the Simpsons was made by Powell Motors, owned by Herb Powell, Homer’s older half-brother.

  9. mdharrell Avatar

    http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8529/8586161443_4b5239c240.jpg
    The real shame is that Cheston L. Eshelman had been doing so well up to that point.

    1. CraigSu Avatar
      CraigSu

      Looking at the history of the company it appears he took the phrase, “Go big or go home” quite literally.

    1. tonyola Avatar
      tonyola

      You know, I almost don’t dislike this car, especially compared to the “neoclassics” that Zimmer was famous for. The Quicksilver sort of looks like a factory job.

      1. Krautwursten Avatar
        Krautwursten

        And I almost don’t dislike your comment, but you decided to criticize the most lovably gaudy kitschbombers on post-war roads. No matter how ugly, they’re unhateable simply because they’re the closest thing to a rolling caricature of a century of automotive design you’ll ever find. But I’m pretty sure you guys will come up with something even whackier.
        However I do agree that the Quicksilver can almost be taken seriously as a car though.

        1. tonyola Avatar
          tonyola

          Will this do for wackier?

          1. Krautwursten Avatar
            Krautwursten

            I knew you’d fail to disappoint. Bravo!

  10. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    Powel Crosley had big ambitions for his little car but apparently was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Crosley_1952.JPG/1280px-Crosley_1952.JPG

    1. Lokki Avatar
      Lokki

      A late entry here, ( not surprising for a guy named “Slow Joe”?) but I think we have a winner here in the Crosley Hotshot.
      A tiny economy car poorly timed for the post war economic boom, built as an ego project by a guy who made his money in the radio boom (sort of a failed Alton Musk of his day?) with a radical brazed-together-sheetmetal engine that was an underpowered disaster, and a really, really ugly car to boot.
      To top it all off, Time Magazine named it one of the 50 worst cars of all time, noting that:
      ” A wondrously mangled and compacted Hotshot can be glimpsed in the 1961 driver’s ed scare film Mechanized Death. “
      http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1657867_1657678,00.html
      This little fella makes Madman Muntz look sane!

  11. Rover 1 Avatar
    Rover 1

    I can’t believe one of these hasn’t been posted.(unmolested that is.)
    But was it a DMC or a DeLorean?
    http://www.exoticsportscars.de/DeLorean%20vorne%20links.jpg

    1. dr zero Avatar
      dr zero

      On a tangential note, I was waiting for a bus about a month ago, and a couple drove past in their LHD DeLorean (in inner suburban Sydney). Still waiting for the bus about 5 minutes later they came back the other way and parked just up the street, popped open the gullwings and got out. Even though we all know that it isn’t the greatest car, I have to say that with the LHD-ness and the gullwings it had a bit of presence (and I will also admit that the PRV6 sounded alright too).

      1. Rover 1 Avatar
        Rover 1

        They do have a real presence in real life. Maybe it’s the gullwings?

        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          It’s a great, proportional, simple design. Stainless steel manages to be both cool and attention-grabbing. Also: Perfect wheels. I’d say the gullwings are just icing on the cake. Keeping that image, the PRV is a cucumber in the cake. Blørk.