All the Great Car Names Have Been Taken
11th October 2026
Elon Musk is not a funny man. Well, not the sort of funny that makes you laugh until your ribs ache. Forward-thinking people in the U.S. and beyond initially embraced Tesla for its all-electric foresight, and techy types recognized the genius of its software integration. But did anyone notice the company’s tongue-in-cheek naming strategy? There was the Model S, followed eventually by the 3, X, and Y. Arrange them in Musk’s preferred order and you get S-3-X-Y. See what he did there? Never mind the pesky numeral—or, for that matter, the actual order in which the cars arrived. Musk isn’t the sort of guy who’s lets a minor linguistic or chronological irritation get in the way of a grand plan. The aberrant digit only crept in because Ford owned the rights to Model E and wasn’t interested in selling. Still, 3 works, right… ?
It’s conceivable that all the great automotive names have been taken. Let’s hope not, but inspiration is increasingly difficult to come by. I was in the room—the Sky Lounge of San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid, in fact—when Ferrari executive chairman John Elkann revealed that the company’s first electric car would be called Luce. In Italian, it means “light,” as in “seeing the light,” rather than the opposite of heavy. Quite clever, really, although English speakers invariably pronounce it “Lucy” when, in fact, it’s “LU-chay.” Judging by the online reaction to the car’s launch, pronunciation issues are the least of its challenges. Turns out Ferrari’s ardent fan base is curiously conservative. Still, I admire the bravery.
I like the name ‘Bumbershoot’. I would buy such a car.