THE BEST ITALIAN CAR NAMES
01 Quattroporte {TRANSLATION: four-door}
Maserati didn’t exactly vacillate over what to christen its first multi-aperture saloon when it first built one way back in 1963. “It’s got four doors, unlike our other cars, so how about... uh... that?” It’s recycled it for every generation of its biggest, baddest four-door since.
02 Competizione {TRANSLATION: competition}
‘Competition’ is not, in English, a particularly evocative word. But, when articulated in Italian, comp-e-tiz-i-on-e becomes a gloriously exotic mouthful. And it tends to be worn by some rather interesting cars too, from the Alfa Romeo 8C to the Ferrari 812 and, erm, the Abarth 595.
03 Testarossa {TRANSLATION: redhead}
Yep, it’s the ginger Ferrari. Except, the Testarossa’s name doesn’t really owe anything to playground jibes about hair colour after all. It’s simply a literal nod to the rosso-painted four-valve cylinder heads of its 180-degree V12 engine, which delivered 385bhp.
04 Superleggera {TRANSLATION: superlight}
Caterham once simply called a hardcore version of its Seven the Superlight. But if you’re building something more posh... Lambo titled its stripped-out hardcore Gallardo the ‘Superleggera’, and Aston Martin revived the moniker for its latest part-carbon DBS V12.
05 Scuderia {TRANSLATION: stable}
The F430’s mad alter ego bore the name ‘Scuderia’ as a tribute to stables of Italian racehorses. And given Ferrari’s not exactly subtle association with prancing nags, it went down a lot better than if Bentley called its next limitededition Continental ‘the Horsebox’.
06 Pista {TRANSLATION: track}
Picture the scene. Ferrari is all set to launch its lighter, faster, nastier version of the 488 GTB, but someone’s just pointed out the car it replaces was called ‘Speciale’. Suggestions, anyone? “It’s for the track, guys – why don’t we just call it the ‘488 Track’?” And lo, the 488 Pista was born.
07 Disco Volante {TRANSLATION: flying saucer}
As understandings of aerodynamics appreciated after the WW2, Milanese coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring set about wind tunnel testing streamlined bodies for Alfa’s then known as 1900 C52. Once someone spotted the resemblance to those alleged UFOs, it became the flying saucer.
08 Squadra Corse {TRANSLATION: racing team}
“Hello, we’re the Lamborghini Racing Team”. Yep. We know who you are. But now try that in Italian. “Buongiorno. Noi siamo il Lamborghini Squadra Corse.” Just better, isn’t it? You still have all the information, but now it sounds lIke you’re a crime fighting vigilante crew.
09 Countach {TRANSLATION: OMFG holy s**t}
Back in the Seventies, Marcello Gandini presented a sketch to one of his draughtsmen who exclaimed “contacc”, which was basically a gasp of ‘bloody hell, that’s naughty’. Gandini liked the sound of it, and asked late test driver Bob Wallace for his thoughts: thumbs up.