Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Third Annual Ferdinand* Awards

It’s that time again!

Last year saw the first public appearance of the Ferdinand Awards,** in which I poke fun at car model names. Since beginning this “contest” I find myself questioning every car name that comes to mind.

For example, the Chevy Spark? (Oh, please don’t catch on fire!)
Or perhaps the Ford Windstar? (what does that even mean?)
And then there’s the Subaru Outback, which is .... umm, how to say this nicely? ... A car named for a place where getting lost can end very badly. Makes me want to say, “Let’s go on a road trip ... in a Street!” (Honda).

In that spirit, I once again looked around Tokushima and chose my favourite car names for you.

The rules to win a Ferdinand:
1. I have to have seen the car, either driving or parked.
2. The name has to be interesting, noteworthy, or roast-worthy.

See last year’s winners here.

And the 2013 Winners are:

Best use of “Does What it Says on the Tin”: Move (Daihatsu)

Best use of limiting what a car can carry: Fun Cargo (Don’t put any boring stuff in this Toyota!)

Best use of food for a car name: Sambar (Subaru) I ate sambar every day for lunch in India, but I don’t remember it tasting like automotive parts!

Best use of a garden tool in a car name: Spade (Toyota)

Best use of X in a car name: Roox (Nissan)

Best “What does that mean?” name: Wingroad (Nissan).

Best almost tribute to an Australian animal: Kangoo (Renault)

Car that makes me think of Stephen Fry: iQ (Toyota). Maybe he can even customise it and reverse the letters.

Car voted least likely ever to be owned by me: Town Bee (Daihatsu)

Best overall winner: Swift (Suzuki)

**Father Ferdinand Verbiest, a Jesuit missionary to China, astronomer, mathematician, and inventor. Around the 1670s, he designed a steam-powered toy automobile, which some people claim is the oldest self-propelling vehicle.

**The first distribution of the awards were in a letter to a friend while I was living in Tokyo.

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