F.O.B. Nameville

Gone are the clays when a prospective buyer could just bound into an auto salesroom and announce that what he saw in his future was a Ford, Buick or Chevrolet. Now, in order to choose from a bewildering selection of car names, he may need The World Almanac, a foreign-language guide, a vest-pocket bestiary, and perhaps a celestial-navigation chart. Already on the market are such prestigious monikers as Ford's Galaxie 500 XL (the XL means nothing at all), Chevrolet's Impala or Corvair Monza Spyder (apparently spelled with a y to avoid the insect image, despite Chevy disclaimers), Oldsmobile's F85 and Starfire (odes to the jet age). And there are more to come.

Engaged in a game that's known in the trade as Nameville, highly paid admen and eager auto executives seldom rest in their search for something new. Among a crop of 1964 models previewed recently in Detroit were cars yclept: the Pontiac Brougham (pronounced broom), after England's Lord Brougham (1778-1868), who designed the original four-seater carriage; the Mercury Comet Caliente, which is "hot" in Spanish and hot in Detroit; the intermediate Chevrolet Chevelle--with the additives "300," "Malibu" or "Malibu SS"; and the Chrysler 300-K, which is simply the next after the 300-J.

The smart-sounding place name is still a big favorite: Monterey, Biscayne, Park Lane. Pontiac will add the GTO--borrowed from Ferrari's GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato)--to a racing stable that at present includes the Bonneville, Grand Prix and Le Mans. American Motors' Rambler continues to chug along with its American, Classic and Ambassador models tagged according to price and polish.

What's in a name? That all depends. Says one Ford executive: "If the car is weak, its name can be an important factor in sales. If the car is strong, you can call it the Dodo and it will still sell strongly." But despite the advice of an army of research specialists, cars continue to be christened pretty much on a hit-or-miss basis. "We call in the advertising agency," explains one insider. "They come up with a list of suggested names. They go out and survey them, then report back. We pare the list down and take it to our top executive. He doesn't like any of them. Next morning he says, 'I got a great idea while I was taking a bath last night--let's call it the Zot.' Great idea, we say. So the car is called the Zot."

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