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Ever wondered how the names , of cars were chosen .All those abbreviations you just don’t seem to understand like BMW(Be My Wife ).Its time to know the truth.I would be taking the veil of ignorance off your faces .

1.Alfa Romeo

Formerly known as ALFA(Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili).The name changed when Nicola Romeo bought the company 1915.

2.Aston Martin

The name was coined from the founder’s name Lionel Martin,and the “Aston Hill” races (near Aston Clinton) where the company was founded.

3.Audi

The founder’s name is August Horch, so he formed the name of the company from the Latin translation of his German name “Horch”.Long story short Horch(German)=Audi(Latin).

4.BMW

Nope its not “Be My Wife”.Its Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works).

5.Cadillac

Now owned by General Motors(they bought the original company in 1909).It was named after the 18th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, Michigan.Cadillac is a small town in the south of France.The original Cadillac company was founded in 1902.

6.Chevrolet

It was named after an auto racer and he was also a co-founder of the company,Louis Chevrolet(he is Swiss born).In 1917 General Motors acquired the original company.

7.Chrysler

The founder of the company stole the show here his name; Walter P. Chrysler .

8.Citroën

Not a very popular brand here in Nigeria.Its named after André-Gustave Citroën. He was born in 1878 and died in 1935.He was a French entrepreneur of Dutch descent. He was the fifth and last child of the Dutch Jewish diamond merchant Levie Citroën and Mazra Kleinmann of Warsaw,Poland.

9.Daewoo

The founder Kim Woo Chong named it “Daewoo”,which means “great house” or”great universe” in Korean.

10.Datsun

Originally called DAT.Coined from the initials of the financiers of the company  Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi.After a while it was changed to DATSON to indicate a smaller version of their product (“son ” in Japanese can sometimes be translated as “loss” ).Its was later changed to DATSUN when Nissan acquired the company.What an evolution !!.

I hope you enjoyed this and you have been enlightened .Part Two coming up soon.Keep your fingers crossed.

Which name fascinated you most.Kindly comment.

Check out part two here