Someone here at Team Centennial, the car and truck leasing and sales force in Phoenix AZ, started a discussion the other day about how some of the car makes got their names in the first place.

I think most of us are pretty familiar with the disaster on wheels (unless you happen to be a collector) that was the car named after Henry Ford’s only son, Edsel in 1958. You may be surprised to know that Edsel, who died of cancer and undulant fever in 1943, had a design flair his daddy lacked, which was incorporated into the looks and features of Ford autos of the 1920s and 30s.

Edsel’s son, Henry II, named the quirky-looking and indistinctive line in his pop’s memory. Strangely, then, the biggest wrap the Edsel ever got, its dubious appearance, was named after the guy who in the Ford Motor Cos’ formative years, was the one guy on board with impeccable design taste.

Want some more? . . . Going down the list:

David Dunbar Buick
America’s oldest surviving marquee was founded in 1899 by the man who developed the process for affixing porcelain to cast iron, giving the world the white porcelain bathtub. Buick was the first company to join General Motors in 1908.

Louis Chevrolet
William C. Durant created GM in 1908 and lost the company to bankers in 1910. To get back in the game, Durant had a member of Buick’s racing team create a new car. Louis obliged, but left the company shortly after the car was launched in 1912.

Walter P. Chrysler
After riding through the ranks of GM until 1919, when he quit his job as Buick president, and walked with $10 million, WPC, who then landed at Willys-Overland before taking over Maxwell Motors, launched his namesake brand in 1924.

John and Horace Dodge
The brothers had made a fortune producing engines and transmissions for Oldsmobile and Ford, an as Henry Ford moved production in-house, decided to build their own car, which debuted in 1924. Oddity: Both brothers died in 1920: John of pneumonia, Horace of cirrhosis.

Karl Benz
The world’s oldest car company dates to 1886 when KB produced the first modern car, The Benz Patent Motorwagen. A separate company, Daimler, introduced the Mercedes in 1901, named for the daughter of Daimler dealer Emil Jellinek. The companies merged in 1926. Oddity: Mercedes-Benz cars were sold in the U.S. by Studebaker dealers during the ’50s and ’60s.

Kiichiro Toyoda
The success of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works led Sakichi Toyoda to nurture his son, Kiichiro, in a different line of business. The son decided to build autos in the 1930s under the name Toyota. Oddity: Why the name change? Toyota in Japanese takes eight brush strokes, Toyoda requires 10. Eight is considered lucky, 10 is not.

Captain Centennial, whose real name is Monty Buckingham, is the longtime Public Information Officer Emeritus for Team Centennial at Centennial Leasing & Sales in Phoenix, AZ. Established in 1989, The Team is a collection of skilled professionals, dedicated to delivering ‘Your BEST automotive buying experience’. The Team earned the distinction of being the 2006 Business Ethics Award winner of the Better Business Bureau, and proudly delivers CARFAX and PROCertified new and pre-owned cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs of every make any model. Visit us on the Web at www.teamcentennial.com

Author Bio: Mike Hughes is the General Manager for Centennial Leasing and Sales; “Your BEST Automotive buying experience”, located at 48 North 56th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85034. Phone: 602-683-2105, Cell: 602-526-7134, http://www.teamcentennial.com

Category: Automotive
Keywords: auto sales,auto lease,new car sales,new car sales,used car sales,new cars phoenix,used cars phoenix