These Are Your Favorite Cars Named After Places

It’s a no-brainer to say “cars transport you to another place.” That’s like, the whole point of cars. But when the simple act of being inside a car turns into a transformative transportation experience, then you know you have a vehicle that is something special. That’s why I asked you about your favorite cars with place names last week. I wanted to know what cars conjure up images of fancy racetracks, relaxing winding roads, or just engaging driving experiences with simply their names. As always, you delivered. 

I said the Renault Floride because of course I did. A French roadster designed by Carrozzeria Ghia? Be still my heart! But while I asked for your favorites, one commenter, Former Autoblog (and if you really are from the Former Autoblog, hello from an also former Autoblogger) turned the question on its head and called out lame cars for using beautiful or engaging locals to boost its allure. I will admit, the Chevy Monte Carlo is probably the least Monte Carlo-looking car in existence. Take a look at all the place name cars we conjured up last week and do a little sight-seeing from the comfort of your home. 

The Alfa Romeo Montreal.

A beautiful little thing with a V8 named after one of my favorite cities.

With all the Alfa charms and frustrations

From JaredOfLondon

Answer with bonus answer. Pontiac Bonneville

Pontiac Michigan and the Bonneville Salt Flats.

From Alf Enthusiast

Let’s take the opposite direction for fun. Some cars named after some places can invoke feelings of sheer blasphemy and irony. Let’s start with the Chevy Monte Carlo. As if anyone in that city would want to be associated with such a crude, not elegant and dare I say, mass produced vehicle. Talk about attaching your name to something to lift it up and out of mediocrity. Tahoe, Yukon, Taos, Denali, etc. Some of the most pristine and untouched parts of the world, with the most resource-intensive, destructive and polluting vehicles named after these locations. Are you kidding me? Oh the irony.

and

Any vehicle named after any physical location should have some realistic attachment to the place, a pedigree of sorts. I see the Lancia MonteCarlo has already been mentioned. That works. The GM vehicle with the same name? It doesn’t.

From Former Autoblog and RC in CA

Lancia Montecarlo as seen in the very last episode of Grand Tour.

From fabey

Buick Riviera – It’s fitting that being named for gorgeous oceanside resorts, you created a true boat of a car (that looked spectacular in Gen 1 and 2).

From potbellyjoe

Easy, Ferrari 250GT California…

From Jimboy II, The Sequel

Ford Cortina. They ran it down the bobsled run in Cortina as part of the promotional campaign and when Lotus go their hands on it, it dominated racing and was the E30 M3 of its era.

From ChickenCaesar

Ferrari 575M Maranello, an absolute timeless design and still a dream car.

From 242_Flathood

Oh it has to be the car I am currently waiting to become legal. A first generation SEAT Leon Cupra R, whose model line is named after the city of Leon, Spain. While lesser-spec Leons are already old enough to legally import into the U.S., the Cupra R didn’t come out until 2002 which means we have to wait until next year to bring that trim level in.

From Giantsgiants

Also, the Chrysler New Yorker, the perfect land yacht

From Luc Desaulniers (minardi)

I’ll go with the M5. Assuming you can consider a motorway a “place.” The M5 doesnt go through the most impressive of destinations, but it’s not horrible. And my old e39 M5 is still one of my favorite cars I’ve owned.

From SantaCruzin

Let me go outside the box and say the Saturn Sky.

For one brief moment in time Detroit built nimble sports cars.

From JohnnyRingo