The term "spider" actually predates the automobile, as being the name of a
type of small horse-drawn carriage. Its use by FIAT, etc., does not refer to
the arachnid but to this usage, as a term describing a small open car.
This begs the question of how the carriage got the name, but I suppose that
is irrelevant to this inquiry.
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
on 6/3/03 12:56 AM, Glenn Schnittke at schnittke@mindspring.com wrote:
> This subject just came up an hour or so ago in the XJ list;
>
>> I know this thread is, gosh, hours old, but does anyone have a clue as to
>> how long car companies have been naming their products after animals?
>>
>> The earliest high production American model that comes to my mind is the
>> Ford Falcon (but did the Chevy Impala predate it?), but I'm sure there's
>> more than a few examples way earlier here in the States. The earliest
>> Britcar I can think of is the Kestrel. And the rules of the game must
>> include production numbers (one-offs will come under their own heading) as
>> well as spelling- is a "spider" a "Spyder" or a "Spider"..? And does a
>> spider qualify as an animal?
>>
>> Just how did a spider come up as something good to name a car after?
>
> Those are the rules of the game. The earliest homologated car, somewhere in
> the world, named for an animal without being a deliberate misspelling
> (allowances for language differences).
>
> Prizes include a free round trip airfare from Toledo to Paris (Texas), four
> nights stay at the fabulous Beachside Holiday Inn in glorious Galveston,
> two front-row seats at the next Broadway roadshow to play the the Strand
> Theater in beautiful downtown Shreveport, LA, an appearance on radio staion
> OKKK with host Arles Struvy, and an all-expense-paid trip from Boise, Idaho
> to an un-named destination to be determined later.
>
> Glenn
>
> _________________________________
> Glenn Schnittke
> Vice-President
> Tennessee Spokes Sports Car Club
> schnittke@mindspring.com
> Safety Fast!
> ---------------------------------
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