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800k car names trademarked globally, suddenly alphanumerics seem reasonable

What's in a name? This cliched phrase probably gets tossed out at every marketing meeting that happens when a new car gets its nomenclature. We know the answer, though: everything. The name of a car has all the potential to make or break it with fickle customers that are more conscious than ever about what their purchases say about them.
That's giving headaches to marketing folks across the automotive industry. "It's tough. In 1985 there were about 75,000 names trademarked in the automotive space. Today there are 800,000," Chevrolet's head of marketing, Russ Clark, told Automotive News. Infiniti's president, Johan de Nysschen, echoed Clark's sentiment, saying, "The truth of the matter is, across the world, there is hardly a name or a letter that hasn't already been claimed by one car manufacturer or another. You can go through the alphabet - A, B, C and so forth - and you will quickly see that almost all available letters are taken."
What has that left automakers to do? Get creative. In the case of Infiniti, it made the controversial move to bring all of its cars' names into a new scheme, classifying them as Q#0 for cars and QX#0 for SUVs and crossovers. So the Infiniti G, which was available as the G25 and G37, is now the Q50. The FX37 and FX50 are now the QX70.

Jay Leno gets pulled over while roaring in a Corvette Z06 convertible

No one is above the law, even if that person is a certain silver-haired auto enthusiast with a popular weekly video series about the cars in his garage. This week, Jay Leno experiences the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z06, but he also gets to have a meeting with some of California's Finest immediately after a high-speed blast. As opposed to the full-bore Z06 coupe with the seven-speed manual, Leno gets behind the wheel of the slightly heavier convertible version with the eight-speed auto. Being a droptop doesn't bother him too much, but Leno makes it obvious he wishes that he could be shifting for himself. Even if the auto is technically quicker, Leno says that swapping gears gives him something to do while driving. Of course, one of the major advantages of the convertible is the ability to listen to the Z06's thumping V8 unimpeded. With 650 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque from 6.2-liters of supercharged muscle, it already puts down impressive numbers, but the sound might just be the best part of all. Around town, the 'Vette is quiet enough to easily blend in with the rest of traffic. However, tip the throttle down and the valves in the exhaust open up to turn the engine into roaring monster. Be careful where you make this thing howl, though, because it's pretty easy for the police to take notice. The host finds that out the hard way in this week's episode of Jay Leno's Garage. Related Gallery 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Convertible View 18 Photos News Source: Jay Leno's Garage via YouTube Celebrities Chevrolet Coupe Performance Videos Jay Lenos Garage chevy corvette stingray chevy corvette z06

Question of the Day: Worst year of the Malaise Era?

The Malaise Era for cars in the United States spanned the 1973 through 1983 model years, and featured such abominations as a Corvette with just 205 horsepower (from the optional engine!) and MGBs with suspensions jacked way up to meet new headlight-height requirements. There were many low points throughout this gloomy period, of course. The horrifyingly low power and fuel-economy numbers for big V8s during the middle years of the Malaise Era make a strong case for 1974 or 1975— the years of Nixon's resignation and the Fall of Saigon, respectively— as the most Malaisey years. But then the GM-pummeling debacles of the Chevy Citation and Cadillac Cimarron could make an early-1980s year the low point. 1979, the year of the ignominious Chrysler bailout? You choose! Related Video: