A Testarossa by Any Other Name

In this day and age our names have lost the meaning, nay, the honor that they once held. It is a rare sight these days to see two men meeting at dawn, ready to take seven steps, turn and fire pistols at one another over the honor of their name sake, albeit it’s a damn shame.

But car companies, especially exotic ones, have never lost sight of the heritage that a name can carry. The name of a car can make or break a car, that is, if you can pronounce it.

For years Lamborghinis have worn the moniker of famous Spanish fighting bulls, names that are not even Italian, but evoke a sense of heritage, honor and tenacity, just from a simple name. A name many simply cannot pronounce.

Although there have been some simple names from the Italian marque, such as Diablo, an appropriate name for both a devilishly handsome car and a famous fighting bull; most have caused heated debates amongst car enthusiasts as to the pronunciation of their meaning-filled names.

When the Lamborghini Murcielago was originally released, nary could a single English speaking person pronounce the name correctly, the situation was only compounded when Lamborghini released the Gallardo. In Italian the two l’s are pronounced just as they look, but the double l in Spanish is read with a y sound. And since it was named after yet another Spanish fighting bull, it was correctly pronounced the ‘Guyardo.’

But recently, it seems as if the privilege of owning a multi-million dollar exotic also comes along with being part of an exclusive group of people who are able to correctly pronounce the cars name. Take the Pagani Huayra for example, even as you were reading that you were doing one of two things, either struggling to pronounce it in your mind, eventually giving up and skipping over it, or reminding yourself there isn’t even an h sound in the name. It is in fact pronounced ‘wai-rah’ which means God of the winds in Quechua, the language of the Inca Empire.

It is an appropriate name for a car whose six-liter, Mercedes sourced, twin-turbo V12 can rocket the car to 60 mph in a scant 3.3 seconds, and continue on to a top speed in excess of 230 mph. It arguably creates more wind and power than any other car on the planet, its 720 bhp is, well god-like.

Then you have the Konigsegg Agera, this may be the best example of this growing trend in supercars. First of all, the Swedish marque’s name is a nightmarish looking one to pronounce to everyone but the initiated. The brand is, I dare say, esoteric within the realm of exotics. That is to say that it is a very familiar name to those of us who religiously worship carbon composites wrapped around a high revving, low displacement power plant; but to outsiders, it looks as if it the name would more likely adorn a piece of Ikea furniture.

The name Agera (a-gee-air-a with a hard g), comes from the Swedish verb meaning ‘to act’ or ‘to take action.’ In this case the Agera’s name is a bit of an understatement. The Agera produces a bone-rattling 940 horsepower which allows the car to bolt from naught to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds, and on to a top speed near 260 mph. Konigsegg is known for its cutting-edge engine technology and it spared no expense on the development of the five-liter V8 that powers the Agera. Gone are the twin-superchargers that sat atop the previous generation’s power plant, replaced by a pair of turbos. It is rumored that Christian Von Konigsegg, the company’s proprietor, will soon launch the world’s first camshaft-less motor. The technology will most assuredly make it into the next iteration of Konigseggs.

No matter the name bestowed upon any number of supercars, I can only imagine that once you purchase one, you are escorted into some sort of back room high-rollers lounge, where they hand you the card with the phonetics of how to pronounce the name of your newest acquisition, along with the stipulation that you don’t tell poor people how to properly say it.

Whether a supercar is named after a wind god, a Swedish verb or a fighting bull, you can rest assured that the appellation bestowed on your favorite supercar is carefully crafted and represents years of prestige and heritage. Unless, of course, you name it La Ferrari. Really? The Ferrari? Real original.