A rose by any other name…
In the Fall of 1955, the Ford Motor Company had dedicated two plants to produce the new “E-car” that was to anchor its future… but hadn’t yet settle on the new auto’s name. Stumped, Ford called on one of America’s foremost poets, Marianne Moore to come up with “inspirational names.” Ms. Moore obliged, submitting a list that included: “Resilient Bullet,” “Ford Silver Sword,” “Mongoose Civique,” “Varsity Stroke,” “Pastelogram,” “Andante con Moto,” and “Utopian Turtletop.”
Ford settled on “Edsel.”
[TotH to Edsel Pages; faux ad via; Carl Van Vechten’s portrait of Moore via]
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As we ruminate on nomination, we might send speedy birthday greetings to Ferruccio Lamborghini; he was born on this date in 1916. After World War II, Lamborghini built a smal engineering and manufacturing empire, starting with tractors made from reconfigured surplus military vehicles, then air-conditioning and heating systems. As his wealth grew, he began to buy luxury sports cars, ultimately a Ferrari, the pinnacle of the day. But Lamborghini found his Ferrari (especially its clutch) wanting, so decided to start a rival sports car company, Automobili Lamborghini, in 1963. That same year he debuted its first car, the Lamborghini 350 GTV, a two-seater coupe with a V12 engine– and a killer clutch.
