The announcement last week of Mercury’s impending demise got me thinking about the loss of that venerated name from the new car lexicon.  While that brand was named after a Roman messenger god, Mercury is also the name of the tiny planet that circles closest to our sun, which naturally led me to start thinking about all the planet and space-related car and truck names that have been. And I wondered, which one was the best? Mercury dates back to 1939, but the Cold War really lit the fuse on both the space race and rocket-nomenclature for cars. In fact, starting in 1949 you could buy a Rocket Olds to shuttle yourself hither and yon. The fins and large round tail lamps emulating turbine exhausts drew inspiration from the Jet, and later, Space ages. NASA anointing their rocket platforms with the names of Roman gods only added to Mercury’s space-based bona fides. And out of this golden age of automobiledom came models with names that equalled the aerospace aspirations of their styling. Upon its introduction, Ford mounted a galloping pony in the center grille of their 1964- 1/2 Mustang, however the car was really named for the legendary P-51 fighter. Eager to expand their horizons to infinity and beyond, the Blue Oval group had introduced the Galaxie  just 5 years prior. Jet and space names are not the exclusive providence of U.S. brands either. In their home market, Honda has offered the “Shuttle,” Isuzu sold the Gemini, and of course who could forget the Mazda Cosmo? Chrysler has given us both the Plymouth Satellite and Dodge Dart. Buick, like Mercury, applied a moniker that was both space and mythology-based with the mid-size Apollo. And, coming full circle, our recently flat-lined Ford brand once sold the Comet. I’m sure there are more that aren’t falling readily to mind, and there could even be some that haven’t been used, but should be. Of course, the easily joke answer would be Uranus, a car that only comes in brown, but we’ll just let that one slide for the time being. So what’s your take on jet and rocket-age car and brand names? Is there one that remains branded in your mind, either due to the images it engenders, or the fact that the car was just so damn awesome? Or, is there a name that hasn’t been used that you think would rock the planet thanks to its incredible amazingness – and if so, to what kind of a car would you have it applied? Come on rocketeers, the countdown awaits. Image sources: [Chuck’s Toyland, Auto Universum]