From Alfa Romeo Milano to Panda, all the cars that have been renamed at the last minute – Corriere.it

The name changes a few days after the first official will go down in the history of cars: impossible The transition from Milan to Junior was not an international affair, putting Alfa Romeo under controversy. But the truth is that this is not the first time and maybe not the last, for different reasons. Among other things, in the history of Biscione there was a similar case connected with the name of the city that gave birth to the brand in 1910. In fact, already Giulietta should have been called Milanobut at the end of 2009 during the publication of the official photos distributed to the press, the name of the Lombard city had disappeared, leaving room for the Giulietta. There was also a third Milano, the 75 for the American market which was eventually named that: the only Alfa Romeo car that could be named after a Lombard city. Strange in the foreign market.

How Panda was born

Remaining in the Italian context, the case of the second generation Fiat Panda it is very reminiscent of the new Alfa Romeo Junior. The car, of course, It was presented at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show as the Gingo: a fantasy name, as playful as the car itself, but at the end same as Twingo. This is why in Turin, after contacting Renault, they followed their steps and renamed the car as Panda during the summer, more than a month after the commercial launch. As a result, Fiat found itself having to revise the sheet metal, use and maintenance manuals, internal documents and much more like Alfa Romeo in the future. Thanks to production in Poland and short deadlines, however, An unknown number of Gingos (apparently a few dozen) were sold with this name, ending up who knows where in Europe and becoming a kind of rarity collector. In addition, twenty examples were used as sponsor cars for the 2003 Tour de France In any case, the gearbox in the race was one of the best choices in Fiat’s history.
Instead of being able to sell Ritmo also had to change its name in English-speaking markets. The new name, Strada, was chosen because Ritmo brought to mind the word “rhythm”, colloquially used to refer to the menstrual cycle.

Tribute to Enzo Ferrari

Other changes are underway, which have been largely successful: Porsche presented its unique sports car (without an engine) at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show as the 901.and then went into production with that name in 1964. A simple number that no one could take seriously, except Peugeot which demanded the use of three-digit names with a zero in the middle: to avoid trouble with the House of France, the car will be given the name 911 after only 82 examples were produced under the name 901. A few years later the French did not show patience and aggression towards Ferrari, considering that in the 70s and 80s they allowed the models of the Maranello company to use the abbreviations 208 and 308, too. for the market beyond the Alps. Agreement due to an act of respect and love on the part of Peugeot towards Enzo Ferrari.

When it comes

Another conversation between the developers – which went well but without changing the fate of the model – took place in 2015. between the FCA group and Audi to prevent the German company from using the Q2 abbreviation used for the Alfa 147: it was a version that had a different locking system, named Q2. In the end FCA agreed and the Q2 name ended up behind the small SUV from the house with four rings. The same is the case of BMW which asked Citroën for permission to use the XM acronym – used by the French company for the first Berlin from 1989 to 2000 – for the new mega SUV that was released regularly. But it is also true that the second came out in 2022 when Citroën abandoned the theme.

Since ICKX a IX

Soon there was a story connected to the ICKX off-road brand of the DR Motors group. The choice caught the attention of Jackie Ickx, who would not appreciate the use of a name easily associated with him, especially following an advertising campaign by a well-known retailer, correctly considered the relationship with the former Belgian driver. So the trial in the court of Turin for the illegal use of his surname, obtaining a precautionary order that prohibited its exploitation. As it turned out, despite DR’s absolute refusal to pursue the brand in racing, the brand’s registration was changed to ICH-X.