The Logic behind the Names of Fiat Automobiles
PUNTO OF VIEW
I have recently read something about the Brits liking the sound of Italian words as they don't understand their meaning; the author went on to comment on how disappointed they would be if they could speak the language, and gather that the exotic phonetics usually relate to a very down-to-earth concept. Taking examples from the car industry, the process would implode intriguing model names like the Fiat Punto, Tipo, and Uno to the diminutive and lesser entities of Fiat Point, Type and One.
Punto' taken. But those very names are the interesting result of Fiat's attempt to encapsulate the core of its philosophy behind each car; the idea has always been to christen a new model with a name which would immediately conjure up the idea of uniqueness (Uno, One), or personality (Tipo, Type: in Italian, La ragazza e' un tipo' means the girl is a type', i.e. somebody effervescent and charismatic even without the looks of Gina Lollobrigida), or being the expert in a given field (Punto, Point: the correct translation should actually be Full Stop', meaning end of story', making the point, in a fist-banged-on-the-table sort of way, having the last word'.
Naming an object whose purchase is tinged with such a wide range of emotional nuances, as a car undoubtedly is, is no easy matter. Fiat ran marketing forums and hired the services of the best professor in linguistics and philology, pilot groups were fired up in different regions and different countries, all to get the perfect name which would cradle the car's essence and deliver it everywhere with the same effect.
Admittedly, translating those names in English is a bit like plucking the peacock's feathers: all you're left with is an ugly body.
However, there are car names which an English AND Italian speaking person may appreciate even more than the mono-lingual. I am thinking of the Lancia Aurelia, Fulvia, and Aprilia, Alfa Giulietta, Alfetta, Nuvola, Quadrifoglio, and Ferrari Testarossa.
An Italian speaker may well be au fait with the evoking charm of names such as Aurelia, Fulvia, and Aprilia, as they all come from Latin, and whose original meaning is deeply rooted in the world of ancient Mother Nature, with its muses and animal powers (Fulvia, the fiery redhead, and Aprilia, the Spring) or precious materials (Aurelia, the Golden; not a bad choice for the car powered by the first production V6 engine in the world, and clutch/gearbox/differential unit block at the rear for perfect weight balance front-rear).
In the Italian language, adding the suffix etta to a name automatically alters it into something smaller and chic, lending an endearing aura to the original; both Giulietta (small Giulia) and Alfetta (small Alfa) convey that idea.
Alfa Nuvola has a different approach altogether. The concept car, shown in 1996 for the first time, never made it into production, but will always be remembered for its looks and technology beyond them (an aluminium spaceframe chassis would have allowed the Nuvola to be all things to all people, from a sportscar to a sportswagon, and keep it economically viable even in small numbers). In Italian nuvola' means cloud', itself not particularly exotic, but in fact the concept car took its name from the racing driver Tazio Nuvolari's surname, shortened to Nuvola'. An Italian-speaker would probably have a better chance to know Tazio Nuvolari's name, making the link between historic car racing and the beautiful coup.
Rarity is not a quality unique to the British or Italian cloverleaf, so an Alfa Quadrifoglio (75 or 164) will have an evocative symbol wherever, and in any language.
Finally, a Ferrari Testarossa (Redhead) does not just mean camshaft covers painted a brilliant red: a redhead is fiery by definition, and Italian redheads are even more incandescent trust me on that, I am one.
In the end, a country which could call a humble colour in the Alfa Romeo Montreal colour chart luci del bosco metallizzato' (lights of the metallic forest) is not likely to come up with boring names for the truly exciting things in life: I suppose that the Lancia Dedra was just an exception, but what an apt name that was.
