Dave's Did You Know Page

The Datsun Fairlady was so-named because an important Nissan executive saw the Western stage show of My Fair Lady and figured that because it was so popular, Fairlady would be a popular name for a car!

The name Camira, Holden's version of the GM J-Car, was inspired by an Aboriginal word meaning 'slight breeze'. One of the names seriously considered was Apollo, the name eventually given to the Camira replacement, Holden's late-80s to early-90s Toyota Camry clone.

While on names, 'Barina', was first considered for the small 1967 4-cylinder Vauxhall Viva which was sold in Australia as the Holden Torana. Torana has since become synonymous with muscle, after the hot six-cylinder GTR-XU1 and the later V8 SLR-5000 and SS A9X claimed touring car titles, Bathurst glory and traffic light credibility. Somehow, the image of a bogan with a mullet and an AC-DC T-shirt saying to his mates that he 'dragged off a Falcon in my Barry' rather than Torrie, just doesn't gel. Especially when you consider that the name Barina was later used on Holden's 1980s-to-early 90s Suzuki Swift clone. The Swift-based Barina was replaced by the Opel Corsa-based Barina, the latest version of which won Wheels Magazine's 2001 Car of the Year award. Mightly accolate but it's still a girls car. What could have been, eh?

The Holden Monaro, the mighty muscle car of the 60s, now reincarnated for the Naughties, takes its name from the Monaro Highway in New South Wales, Australia. Monaro was an adaption of a local Aboriginal word, 'Monaroo' which meant, depending on usage either 'small hill' or 'woman's breast'.

It has often been speculated that the Mitsubishi Starion was a mis-spelling or adaption of 'stallion'. This would figure, as Mitsubishi already had the Colt (Mirage in international markets) and the Canter light truck on the Australian market at the same time.

Toyota effectively had two crowns on the market at once - the luxury Toyota Crown, top of the range in many markets including Australia, and their mid-sized vehicle, the Corona - Spanish for 'crown'.

Holden got a bit space-aged during the 1980s. It actually started in 1975 with the Gemini - both a star sign and the name of a NASA space program. In the 1980s, Holden sold a Nissan Pulsar-clone as the Astra, a name pinched from Vauxhall. While not strictly a word, Astra does conjure images of astronomy, astrology and other astral stuff. The Toyota Corolla-clone that replaced the Astra was dubbed the Nova, while the Toyota Camry clone was the Apollo - both a Greek god AND another NASA space program.