Tuesday, September 15, 2015

How many people have ever had a production car model named for them? (that weren't the car maker/manufacturer)

Balboni, Dino Ferrari, Edsel, and Enzo that I can think of. I add Enzo, as he didn't do that, it was done in honorarium, by his company

Sam added Knute Rockne, a Studebaker brand from 1932 to 1933.

Rockne was offered a high-visibility job by Studebaker president Albert Erskine. Studebaker planned for a durable, inexpensive car. The Rockne would replace the slow-selling, unduly expensive Erskine car.

In 1931, just 12 days after being appointed manager of sales promotion, Knute Rockne was killed in an airplane crash.

Due to the American economy collapsing, the stock market crash of 1929, and the great depression, Studebaker went into receivership in March 1933, almost exactly 2 years after Rockne died.

Knute Rockne graduated with a degree in pharmacy from Notre Dame, but his football skills were so sublime, he was offered the job of football coach, and is remembered in history as the greatest coach ever, and his record is still the highest winning % with .881, his most famous players were the four horsemen, and he was the guy that walked into the locker room at halftime, and told his players that were losing 6-0 the words he heard on Gipp's deathbed in 1920: "I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are going wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy." They were inspired, and won 12-6

Marc reminds me that Mercedes was named after Emil Jellinek's daughter http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/04/daimler-and-daimler-ag-and-daimler-benz.html

and educated me that the Bugatti Veyron is named for Pierre Veyron, test driver and winner of LeMans in 1939

8 comments:

  1. The Knute Rockne Studebaker https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockne

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  2. Mercedes was named after the daughter of the man who sold Daimler cars in France. He told them "I don't want a car for today or tomorrow, it will be the car of the day after tomorrow".

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Jellinek

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    1. I forgot that! And, sigh, I've posted it, but you went to wikipedia instead of your friendly neighborhood car guy... sigh http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/04/daimler-and-daimler-ag-and-daimler-benz.html

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    2. But I was on your site first!

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    3. Lol.. well that makes it ok then

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  3. Bugatti Veyron was named after Pierre Veyron, test driver and winner of LeMans in 1939. I checked through the Bugatti posts, and didn't find that one.

    Does the Mark Donohue Javelin count? How about the Pierre Cardin AMX? That's one you've covered -

    http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/09/i-just-learned-there-is-pierre-cardin.html

    But those are more like special editions, I would think.

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    1. Those are, like you pointed out, special editions... I won't count those as models, but the Veyron, BINGO! I didn't know that! I had no idea what the name Veyron was

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