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A car’s name can make or break its reception by the public
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–> by Andrew Gutman
5 hours ago
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by Andrew Gutman
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Aside from things like design and specs, a vehicle’s name is one of the most important factors in how it is perceived by consumers, and that extends to the vehicle’s trims as well. Over the years, there have been some excellent trim names, as well as some less-than-perfect ones, but we want to know: what’s the most badass trim level name ever?
It’s worth noting this list will be dominated by American cars, which we believe is not only because Americans seem to name their cars more aggressively than the likes of other countries, but also because they tend to use more actual names rather than alphanumerics (which admittedly do make it easier to understand trim structures).
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One that immediately jumps to mind is Cadillac’s Blackwing, which strikes just the right balance between classy and aggressive, and adds in a little mysterious flair for good measure. We’d also say that the name is very fitting of the cars it’s bestowed upon. The vehicles that currently wear the Blackwing moniker are the flagships of Cadillac’s CT4 and CT5 lineup, a pair of high-class sports sedans packing a twin-turbo V6 and a supercharged V8 respectively. Even the original use of the Blackwing name — a handbuilt, 550 hp (558 PS / 410 kW), twin-turbo V8 engine for the short-lived CT6-V — was a good one at that.
It’s also hard to talk about cool trim names without mentioning Ford’s Raptor designation for the F-150, Ranger, and Bronco. Speaking of the Bronco, another good trim belonging to it is the Sasquatch package, which perfectly matches the off-road SUV’s beefy nature. There’s also the Boss Mustangs from the 1970s and 2010s, whose names are just as imposing as the cars they’re attached to.
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Over at Stellantis, there’s Ram’s rival to Raptor, the TRX, as well as the aptly muscular Power Wagon. Dodge also has the Challenger Hellcat and Demon, both of which do a fantastic job at conveying how raucous those cars are. Another good one from Dodge is the Omni GLH, which doesn’t really sound all that special, that is until you consider what the acronym “GLH” stands for: Goes Like Hell.
If we’re talking cool vehicle names rather than just trims, we’d throw the Jeep Gladiator’s name into the hat as one of the top picks. There’s also the Dodge Viper, as well as just about any model from Dodge (see: Challenger, Charger, Avenger, Caliber, Magnum, Rampage, Nitro, etc.). From Europe, we’d nominate the Triumph Spitfire, because it’s hard not to love a car named after a fighter plane, as well as the Lamborghini Diablo, which we feel is self-explanatory.
Can you think of any other badass trim names we might have missed? Let us know in the comments.
