# VW model names origin??



## HugoGTI (Sep 15, 2004)

I have been looking everywhere without luck to find the origin of Volkswagen model names - Golf, Polo, Passat, Bora/Jetta, Phaeton, Tourag. Can anyone shed any light on who named them, why they were named what they are named, where the names came from etc??


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## [email protected] (Mar 10, 1999)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*

Most of the names are from winds. The Touareg is from a nomadic tribe though.


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## HugoGTI (Sep 15, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? ([email protected])*

...and I've heard the phaeton was a mythical chariot or something...
anyone got any specifics??
like...why did they decide to go with the names of winds....which ones are winds and which ones are others...


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## njbongo (May 28, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*

http://www.google.com , try it, it's fun ! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## HugoGTI (Sep 15, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (njbongo)*

havent been too successful with that.....yeah it's fun....but it isnt giving me the info I want....
just thought that there might have been a true VW buff out there who knew.......


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## jetta9103 (Sep 21, 2003)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*

jetta, passat, scirocco - (trade?)winds
golf - gulf stream
touraeg - yep, some weird nomadic tribe
vanagon. eurovan - clever(?) marketing ppl
polo - the game/sport?
quantum - sounded "advanced and ahead of its time" (like quantum physics, another marketing one)
i think thats all i know


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## Hajduk (Jan 24, 2000)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (jetta9103)*

corrado - spanish word meaning to sprint or run
lupo - wolf in Italian
vento - wind in Italian
bora - wind blowing over the Adriatic sea


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## MoreA4 (Mar 15, 2002)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hajduk)*

jetta = jet stream (me thinks)


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## Switchblade550 (Mar 6, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hajduk)*

I know that Vanagon was supposed to be a hybrid of a Van and a station wagon hence the name, and Eurovan well that seems pretty selfexplanitory from what I get.
Cool Post I learned something new about the other model's names.


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## MagicBus (Oct 3, 2003)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (jetta9103)*


_Quote, originally posted by *jetta9103* »_
vanagon. eurovan - clever(?) marketing ppl


Vanagon IS a made-up word. Back in the 60s and 70s, VW buses were oftern marketed, in advertisements, as the Volkswagen Station Wagon. I guess there just wasn't a family van market yet, and they had to use a more appealing word.
Flash forward to the late 70s. Vans (FULL size vans) were in their hayday. VW buses were aplenty, but shared the roads with Ford, Dodge, and GMC vans (which boasted much more horsepower, and fancier do-dads... of course, the VW remained popular).
So, VW designed the bay window bus replacement, and dubbed it (for the North American market only) Vanagon, a combination of the terms "van" and "wagon" (as in STATION wagon). In '83 the Vanagon became watercooled ('81 and '82 if you want to get technical and count the diesel Vanagons) and went out of production in '91. Replaced in '93 by the Eurovan.


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## Fahrvergnugen (May 1, 2002)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (MoreA4)*

Jetta is actually a wind...
And a town of all things, in Saudi Arabia!


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## Boxer2100 (May 25, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (fahrvegnugen)*

Something VW's marketing people would prefer you didn't know -- 
The Touareg tribe, namesake of VW's SUV, were heavily involved in the slave trade several hundred years ago.
Methinks they should have done a little more research into that name.
Oh well, Puegeot came up with it first.


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## Fahrvergnugen (May 1, 2002)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Boxer2100)*

Yes, 
But they are only following the example the Nazis left for them, using slave labor to make munitions during WWII...








They paid for their sins, even though I think we all know that that would have been mandated by the state, VW was not much of a company before or during WWII...


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## HugoGTI (Sep 15, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*

OK - so to summarise what we have so far....
Golf - (Gulf Stream)
Jetta, Passat, Scirocco - (?trade) winds
or Jetta - jet stream
Toureg - Nomadic Tribe
Phaeton - mythical chariot we think
Polo - the game/sport?
Bora - Wind over the Adriatic Sea
Vento - Wind in italian 
Lupo - Wolf in italian (why name a car after a wolf??)
Corrado - spanish for sprint/run
Most of us seem kinda "well I THINK that it might be this..." 
Polo is up for grabs, I'm confused at Lupo cos it doesnt follow the wind theme, we are iffy on Phaeton, Anyone know where the Jetta, Passat, Scirocco winds are? And if Golf is after the Gulf Stream then why isnt it called a Gulf? 
Anyone know anything for sure? Has VW ever released some of their marketing garb to describe their model names? 
Are there any VW insiders with the info?? This is really killing me now....I kinda thought there would be heaps of VW nuts out there with all this useless trivia in their heads to share with other trivia freaks like me........


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## KansasVW (Sep 13, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Hugo_Bling* »_ And if Golf is after the Gulf Stream then why isnt it called a Gulf? 



Gulf Stream in Deutsch = Golf strom


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## VWLauren (Mar 23, 2003)

you guys have only started to touch the names of vws...
what about the rabbit, santana, brazilia, caddy, sharan, safari etc etc


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## inkragonor (Oct 18, 2004)

*Re: (VWLauren)*

.... Tansporter, 411, 412, Touran, Dasher, Beetle, Kombi, Westfalia, Karmann Ghia, Thing, Saviero, Gol, Lancer (just kidding)..... 
Where did all these crazy names come from, why and what do they mean? 
We must get to the bottom of this..... we owe it to ourselves as Volkswageners!!! 
Here is the full list, lets continue to add to it until some old guy from Germany butts in and tells us everything. 
*Golf *- Gulf Stream
*Jetta *- winds?
*Passat *- winds?
*Quantum *- quantum leap? Scott Bacula?? Ziggy?
*Scirocco *- winds?
*Jetta *- jet stream
*Toureg *- Nomadic Tribe
*Phaeton *- mythical chariot we think
*Polo *- the game/sport? marco polo?
*Bora *- Wind over the Adriatic Sea
*Vento *- Wind in italian 
*Lupo *- Wolf in italian (why name a car after a wolf?? same reason to name one Rabbit)
*Corrado *- spanish for sprint/run
*Rabbit *- a rabbit?
*Santana *- never heard of it
*Brazilia *- guessing it sold in Brazil
*Caddy*- it is used to caddy things around?
*Sharan*- like it, no idea on the name?
*Safari*- never heard of it
*Tansporter*- it transported things
*Fastback*
*Squareback*
*Notchback*
*411*- some play off Porsches 911... whatever
*412 *- ditto with the Porsche 912
*Touran*- ?
*Dasher*- had one, first car. named because they were so fast! Plus, us dumb americans couldn't accept Passat just yet, until after the Quantum....








*Beetle*- Hitler??
*Kombi *- van?
*Westfalia *- Prob the name of a company
*Campmobile* - original camper
*Karmann Ghia*- Name of a company and a designer?
*Thing*- i can't remember the official name, was it Kombi?
*Saviero *- this is a Fox Pickup in Argentina
*Gol*- i think this is a Polo hatchback in Argentina, made there
I'm glad VW uses names on its cars and not numbers like BMW, MB and the **** luxury cars are doing.
_Modified by inkragonor at 12:45 AM 10-29-2004_


_Modified by inkragonor at 2:38 PM 10-29-2004_


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## ROBHARMER (Aug 26, 2004)

*Re: (inkragonor)*

The Gol means goal in some spanish language i asked the equadorian chick at my job she couldnt shed any light on the saviero or any of the other spanish ones though...


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## VJVR6 (Nov 8, 2002)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hajduk)*

I looked up corrado in a spanish and italian translator. I also tried to translate run or sprint in spanish.
Run: funcionamiento
Srint: didnt work... tried a few different rtranslator's
I also found this..
pha·e·ton 
1)A light, four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses. 
2)A touring car.


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## JohnWorden (Jul 26, 2004)

*Re: (inkragonor)*

Jetta comes from Jet Stream, maybe it's a German translation.
Scirocco is the German and Italian spelling of the hot desert wind that blows across the mediteranian from North Africa to the southern coasts of Italy and France.
Rabbit is self explanatory and only used over here.
Westphalia is a region in Germany.
Karmann Ghia is a combination of Karmann Coachworks where it was built(also Scirocco, Convertible/Cabriolet, Corrado were/are built here) and Ghia from the desgin house.
Beetle came around after the war because the "Strength Through Joy" car with it's "unique" emblem wouldn't exactly go over well with consumers. Since they do look like beetles someone after the war renamed it. It is probably mentioned in "A Small Wonder" but at the moment I don't know where my copy is.


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## CarolinaRocco (Aug 10, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (VJVR6)*

wikipedia entry for phaeton ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaeton
wikipedia rocks!


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## jetta9103 (Sep 21, 2003)

*Re: (inkragonor)*


_Quote, originally posted by *inkragonor* »_
*Golf *- Gulf Stream
*Jetta *- winds?
*Passat *- winds?
*Quantum *- quantum leap? Scott Bacula?? Ziggy?
*Scirocco *- winds?
*Jetta *- jet stream
*Toureg *- Nomadic Tribe
*Phaeton *- mythical chariot we think
*Polo *- the game/sport? marco polo?
*Bora *- Wind over the Adriatic Sea
*Vento *- Wind in italian 
*Lupo *- Wolf in italian (why name a car after a wolf?? same reason to name one Rabbit)
*Corrado *- spanish for sprint/run
*Rabbit *- a rabbit?
*Santana *- never heard of it
*Brazilia *- guessing it sold in Brazil
*Caddy*- it is used to caddy things around?
*Sharan*- like it, no idea on the name?
*Safari*- never heard of it
*Tansporter*- it transported things
*Fastback*
*Squareback*
*Notchback*
*411*- some play off Porsches 911... whatever
*412 *- ditto with the Porsche 912
*Touran*- ?
*Dasher*- had one, first car. named because they were so fast! Plus, us dumb americans couldn't accept Passat just yet, until after the Quantum....








*Beetle*- Hitler??
*Kombi *- van?
*Westfalia *- Prob the name of a company
*Campmobile* - original camper
*Karmann Ghia*- Name of a company and a designer?
*Thing*- i can't remember the official name, was it Kombi?
*Saviero *- this is a Fox Pickup in Argentina
*Gol*- i think this is a Polo hatchback in Argentina, made there


Gol-at least during the 70's, it was a Golf/polo-looking thing w/ a beetle (aircooled) engine in the front! so they thought "why not just take the "f" off")
thing-it actually was sold as the Thing in N.A. it was called that because...it is just a...thing
karmann Ghia-yea, the 2 main designers who collaborated on it
Beetle-VW never actually sold the car as a "Beetle" or "Bug". it was called this as a nickname because of how it looked
santana-the U.S.'s quantum. no clue on the name
caddy-it's a truck (in most places, its like the Rabbit pickup was in the U.S.). i guess it acts like a caddy (in golf, the game, maybe)
rabbit-why isnt this one obvious? a rabbit is 'fast"...
sharan-maybe (this is a stretch) because they share design/rights w/ Ford?
westfalia-never an actual model sold by VW. theyre the company that did the conversions to the Type 2's (until the Vanagon's, right?), so that was like the trim line. likewise, campmobile wasnt an actual vehicle sold by that name either.
touran-so you can tour places in it?(since it is a passenger van?)


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## Hajduk (Jan 24, 2000)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (VJVR6)*


_Quote, originally posted by *VJVR6* »_I looked up corrado in a spanish and italian translator. I also tried to translate run or sprint in spanish.
Run: funcionamiento
Srint: didnt work... tried a few different rtranslator's


Try corra in spanish.


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## phaeton (Nov 30, 2002)

*Re: (inkragonor)*

*Golf *- Gulf Stream
*Jetta *- Jet Stream
*Passat *- German Trade wind or Old German ship
*Quantum *- quantum leap? Scott Bacula?? Ziggy?
*Scirocco *- wind not sure which wind
*Jetta *- jet stream
*Touareg *- Nomadic Tribe
*Phaeton *- Son of Helios Chariot rider
*Polo *- Sport-same time Golf/Caddy/Polo was named some sporting nut
*Bora *- Wind over the Adriatic Sea
*Vento *- Wind in Italian 
*Lupo *- Wolf in Spanish it is built in Wolfsburg.
*Corrado *- spanish for sprint/run
*Rabbit *- a rabbit?
*Santana *- never heard of it
*Brasilia/Igala *- Beetle replacement in Brazil/Igala a Yoruba word for Gazelle
*Caddy*- Sport-same time Golf/Caddy/Polo was named some sporting nut
*Sharan*- Some one said sharing seems correct to me?
*Safari/181/Trekker*- The Thing
*Transporter*- it transported things
*Fastback* -it was a Coupe
*Squareback* -it was a Wagon
*Notchback* -it was a Sedan
*411*- Type Designation
*412 *- Type Designation
*Touran*- Tour around in similar to Sharan
*Dasher*- had one, first car. named because they were so fast! Plus, us dumb americans couldn't accept Passat just yet, until after the Quantum....








*Beetle*-Advertising agencies dubbed it beetle because of it's shape
*Kombi *-A van with many different Combinations
*Westphalia *- Prob the name of a company
*Campmobile* - original camper
*Karmann Ghia*- Name of a company that built it and a designer?
*Saviero *- this is a Fox Pickup in Brazil
*Gol*- named after Brazil's love affair with soccer Brasilla replacement.
*Parati* a beach in Brazil near Niteroi (Fox Wagon)
*Iltis* Polecat VW military 4WD
*Kubelwagen* Bucketcar
*Schwimmwagen* swimming car
*Kommandeurwagen* Commanders car or Command Vehicle
*Taro* a VW rebadged Hilux a starchy Potato.
_Modified by inkragonor at 2:38 PM 10-29-2004_[/QUOTE]
Note Golf was named after gulf stream but Caddy/Polo seemed to match at the time.


_Modified by phaeton at 8:55 AM 11-3-2004_


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## Hajduk (Jan 24, 2000)

*Re: (phaeton)*

The Gulf is a current not a stream.


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## bobturk (Aug 19, 2004)

*Re: (phaeton)*

kubelwagen is an abbreviation of kubelsitzwagen which means bucket seat car, because it had bucket seats up front.


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## Eolair (May 10, 2001)

*Re: (phaeton)*

The Passat is one of the big global winds, it´s responsible for the rainy season in Tropical areas. I think the English translation is trade Wind.
The Scirocco: From: http://www.fact-index.com/s/sc/scirocco.html
The scirocco or sirocco is a strong southerly to southeasterly wind that carries hot, dry and dusty air from North Africa towards the Adriatic Sea and southern Europe. It reaches its peak in March and November, with a maximum speed of about 100 km/h (55 knots, hurricane-force). Scirocco is the Italian name, while in Croatia it is known as the jugo. The scirocco reaching the south of France contains more moisture and is known as the marin.
The German word for Jet Stream is Jet Stream. There´s no German word for it, so Jetta isn´t German. 
Golf in German is not gulf stream, just gulf, like in the Gulf of Mexico.
Polo is indeed named after the game, since they had so much succes with Golf.
The Iltis name came from the Bundeswehr tradition of naming vehicles/tanks after animals. The replacement is called Wolf in Bundeswehr-speak (Mercedes G).


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## Ryan70 (Mar 14, 2004)

*Re: (JohnWorden)*

Fastback - The back of the car drops fast
Squareback - The back of the car is square
Notchback - The back of the car is a notch further back than the Fastback








Something like that I would guess


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## jetta9103 (Sep 21, 2003)

*Re: (Ryan70)*

kubelwagen...wasnt it just "bucket car", because...that's what it was?


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## bobturk (Aug 19, 2004)

*Re: (jetta9103)*

look at the wikipedia definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubelwagen


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## omygolf (Sep 30, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*

From what I remember from newsapaper sometimes ago.
Golf's named because its shift knob looks like a golf ball. Try to track
the appearance of shif knobs from standard GOLF MK1 to MK3 to prove that.
That's what I read and remember.
Rabbit's the name to use instead of Golf when it first started selling in North America in 1974.


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## honkey (Dec 5, 2003)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (omygolf)*

what about gti? what the hell does that mean


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## bobturk (Aug 19, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (******)*

GTI= Grand Touring Injected


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## honkey (Dec 5, 2003)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (bobturk)*

that doesn't make sense. the first gti was carburated not injected.










_Modified by ****** at 4:43 PM 11-4-2004_


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## CarolinaRocco (Aug 10, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (******)*

the wikki entry is wrong.. early kubelwagens had AWD later switched to rear only as an econonmy measure (the lightweight kubel didnt NEED AWD)


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## Fahrvergnugen (May 1, 2002)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (******)*


_Quote, originally posted by ******** »_that doesn't make sense. the first gti was carburated not injected.










Not to my knowledge...


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## Boxer2100 (May 25, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (omygolf)*


_Quote, originally posted by *omygolf* »_From what I remember from newsapaper sometimes ago.
Golf's named because its shift knob looks like a golf ball. Try to track
the appearance of shif knobs from standard GOLF MK1 to MK3 to prove that.


That's not accurate. The Golf _was_ in fact named for the Gulf Stream (Golf being the German spelling of Gulf).
The shift knob came later.
And the early Golf _GT_ was carburetted. The GTI was always fuel injected.


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## phaeton (Nov 30, 2002)

*Re: (Eolair)*

Thanks for the corrections everyone as a group we can figure it out but not any single on of us can do it by ourselves.
Also isn't Passat one of the last Great Trading Ships


_Modified by phaeton at 10:57 AM 11-5-2004_


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## bobturk (Aug 19, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (CarolinaRocco)*

Actually the kubelwagens were always RWD, they were built off the KdF Wagen (Beetle) platform. Adolf Hitlers original specifications for a "jeep" were AWD but since the kubelwagen performed well enough without it he accepted it with only RWD. Any way how does RWD vs AWD have anything to do with the name of the vehicle?


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## badbunny1984 (Nov 3, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Boxer2100)*

Something VW's marketing people would prefer you didn't know -- 
The Touareg tribe, namesake of VW's SUV, were heavily involved in the slave trade several hundred years ago.
Methinks they should have done a little more research into that name.
Oh well, Puegeot came up with it first.

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Kinda like when Chevrolet marketed the Nova in Mexico just to find out when translated it meant "No GO"! Funny huh and these are engineers!


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## roshlioBG (Nov 5, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*

I have one for JETTA= *JET* (with ) *T*urbo *A*cceleration


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## honkey (Dec 5, 2003)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (fahrvegnugen)*

thats my mistake. I'm talking about the 1974 "sport golf" that had a 2 stage carb. the first golf named the "gti" (1975) had a fuel injected engine. sorry. your right. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

_Modified by ****** at 8:04 AM 11-5-2004_


_Modified by ****** at 8:05 AM 11-5-2004_


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## kraut_pauer79 (Oct 27, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (Hugo_Bling)*

I read somewhere that Jetta means "a cool breeze from the north"
Golf: A stupid little game that everyone plays in Palm Springs where you stand on a piece of grass and hit a MkI GTI shift knob thats been painted white into a little hole with a chrome stick


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## BmF Tech. (Oct 21, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (kraut_pauer79)*


_Quote, originally posted by *kraut_pauer79* »_
Golf: A stupid little game that everyone plays in Palm Springs where you stand on a piece of grass and hit a MkI GTI shift knob thats been painted white into a little hole with a chrome stick

hahahaha good one
now how about the origins of 337 
and 20th/25th A/E (depends on where your from)
easy i iknow, but haven't been mentioned. 
how about Getta and JTI and ummmm .:R32 and GLI


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## bobturk (Aug 19, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (BmF Tech.)*

oooooooo you forgot the "rat"


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## kraut_pauer79 (Oct 27, 2004)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (BmF Tech.)*

hmmm well 337 was the code name that VW engineers used for the very first GTI back in the early/mid 70's. 20th AE cars came out in 2003 because it was to comemorate(sp?) 20 years of the GTI in the USA. The first GTI came to the states in '83.


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## TBerk (Oct 9, 2000)

*Re: VW model names origin?? (omygolf)*


_Quote, originally posted by *omygolf* »_From what I remember from newsapaper sometimes ago.
Golf's named because its shift knob looks like a golf ball. Try to track
the appearance of shif knobs from standard GOLF MK1 to MK3 to prove that.
That's what I read and remember.
Rabbit's the name to use instead of Golf when it first started selling in North America in 1974.


Uh, NO. The name GOLF is based on the Gulf Stream CURRENT.
btw- there is also a wind assosiated with the Gulf Stream, simular to the Jet Stream but to talk about it invites flame wars.
The Golf was later tied to the game of GOLF, hence the shifter knob. 
Of course the spelling of Scirocco is different depending on who you ask, the Germans (and Italians?) spellit with a C but the entry you find i most dictionaries is 'Sirocco'.

TBerk


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