I'm often amused by the names of automobiles. I've noticed, for instance, that a Ford Aerostar read backwards is "Ratsorea," which sounds like vermin infestation, and the old AMC Pacer is "Recap" spelt backwards. Then there was the Dodge Aspen, which I assumed was a corral for donkeys. The Dodge/Plymouth Neon anagrams to "None," which says a lot about it, I suppose.

Who has other silly car names to share?

The Nova didn't sell at all in Spanish-speaking countries. Why? "Va" means to go. Where were their marketing people?

Nova anagrams to Avon, which, as the Brits know, means the car was up the river.

There are only two forms of transportation (that I can think of, anyway) that are palindromic and one is the name of a car.

Any takers?

Well, Subaru is U-R-A bus.

I always thought one of the old Fords had a cute name...Tudor for it's two door model!

And regarding the Nova...my mother-in-law had one and was a great seller of AVON products! So it came in handy for her!

In the US only, it's a racing car - which you call a "racecar"

Richard English

OK, racecar (which you in the UK call a "racing car") makes for 3 palindromic forms of transportation.

Still two more to go. (And I challenge shufitz to get them both!)

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Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
Who has other silly car names to share?

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This is getting slightly off the main point you bring up, Asa, but I recently read that far more women than men name their cars. This disappointed me slightly since I have always personified any car I've ever owned by dubbing it with a name I felt was appropriate.

My most favorite car of all time was a 1968 AMC jeep-looking vehicle (don't even think the factory gave that model its own name) which was used throughout the U.S. as a mail truck, particularly in rural areas. Crank that baby up to 60 mph and it would shake as if it were about to explode! What fun watching the alarmed expressions on the faces of passengers especially when they read the factory installed warning about how this car was not designed for highway use and that any abrupt maneuver could result in a loss of control. Because it had the soul of a winged horse but was severely handicapped physically, that car was named Peglegasus.

My present car, an '89 Dodge Shadow (which I bought new and hope to be buried in some 30+ years from now, thank you very much) is named after a favorite character in European history - King Ludwig the Second of Bavaria, also affectionately known as the Mad King. The car is named King Ludwig the Second, the Second.

Anyone else name their cars? R.E., your Rolls, perhaps??

I have to say I just call it "The Royce". Rarely, you understand, the "Rolls" and certainly never, ever, the "Roller". Yuck!

Richard English

I have not named one of my cars in many years, since I've not owned an automobile with any real character in many years. I presently convey myself in a 1988 Peugeot wagon which has all the pizzaz of a hemorrhoid, but it will swallow a tandem bicycle whole, so it is useful.

I can't help but laugh, however, thinking of the name of the old Rover in the movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy, "The Antichrist."

Being terrible at anagrams and palindromes, I must decline CJ's challenge.

Dammit, I'm mad!

"Kayak," I yak.

My first car had the registration UMT660M. It became known in the family as "Umpty".

Very good, shufitz. And the other one is the "Civic" which is a model made by Honda.

Of course, only the "Civic" part is palindromic. A palindrome of "Honda Civic" would be "Notlob"! It just doesn't work!

(2 points to the first person identifying that reference...)

" The palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob. It don't work."

from the Monty Python Dead Parrot Sketch

Kayak," I yak.
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Ever notice that a kayak is a palindrome physically as well as verbally? I think the word is Aleut for "which end is which?" Of course, the female-only version used by Greenland Eskimos is "umiak," because women know what goes in where.

Asa, what would we do without you????

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Dammit, I'm mad!

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Oh, Shufitz, you are a sneaky one!

Asa, what would we do without you????
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Rejoice?

No. Lament.

No. Lament.
************************Oh, you sweetie!!!

(K)