Five cars named after women

As every 8th of March, it’s International Women’s Day and we want to pay you a special tribute, because many cars have been named after women. Furthermore, these models have become true landmarks in automotive history. There are models for every taste and not all of them are here; we could spend days and days getting to know the cars named after women that matter most in history.

Although it isn’t a car as such, we’re going to pay a special tribute to Mercedes-Benz. It is named after the daughter of Emil Jellinek, a Daimler distributor. She was not called Mercedes, but Adrienne Manuela Ramona, though her father affectionately called her Mercedes.

Lancia Aurelia

The Lancia Aurelia began to be developed during the Second World War, under the leadership of Gianni Lancia. The Lancia Aurelia became part of history for featuring a V6 engine. It is worth mentioning that it is not the only car named after a woman from Lancia; we cannot forget the Lancia Ardea, the Lancia Artena, the Lancia Flavia, the Lancia Augusta, the Lancia Fulvia, the Lancia Musa or even the Lancia Phedra.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta

The Visconti brand has also used women’s names for its cars, especially for the most inspiring ones. We are talking about the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, which was born in 1954 thanks to the design of Bertone. Soon, this sporty compact aroused the interest of visitors to the Turin Motor Show that same year. The name is inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. The Giulietta is not the only Alfa Romeo named after a woman; we cannot forget the Alfa Romeo Giulia and its sporty versions.

Renault Clio

Although you may be thinking we’ve gone mad, the Renault Clio has a woman’s name and was born in 1990. Clio is the muse of history and epic poetry. In Greek, Clio means honour, glory or fame. It is not the only model from the diamond brand that uses a woman’s name. The model is much more modern and it is the Renault ZOE, a city car with five seats to enjoy the city.

Lotus Elise

The Lotus Elise could not be missing from the selection of cars named after women, as it is a legendary model. It was born in 1996 and became one of the most outstanding models of the 1990s. It is a sports car with a mid-mounted engine and two seats. The owner of the brand, Romano Artioli, named it after his granddaughter, Elise. Furthermore, the last unit of the Lotus Elise is owned by Elise Artioli herself.

Nissan Silvia

The Nissan Silvia could not be missing either, as this sports car still lives in the hearts of many fans of Japanese cars. It was hand-built to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. It is a coupé with a front-mounted engine, and its name comes from Roman mythology; Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

Although we have only looked in depth at five models, you may also recognise cars named after women such as the Fiat Samantha, the Fiat Elba, the Fiat Siena, the Skoda Felicia, the Skoda Octavia, the Opel Zafira and even the Citroën Xsara, whose name comes from the queen of Babylon.