The Great Mr.'s

[rowan782]

I.ve heard of Mr. Ford ,Mr. Chevrolet ,Mr. Chrysler, Mr. Nash Mr. Buick, Mr. Olds, Dodge Bros, Studebaker Bros, etc. Was there a Mr. Plymouth ,or Mr. Desoto?

[oldcarfudd]

Plymouth was named for the town in England from which the original pilgrims sailed, and/or for the rock in Massachusetts upon which they disembarked. DeSoto was named for the Spanish explorer who was the first white man to find the Mississippi River.

Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

[CarlLaFong]

Actually, Walter Chrysler named the car after Plymouth binder twine.

[LI_BENTLEY]

Plymouth Twine was manufactured in Plymouth Mass.

[Rusty_OToole]

There was an Abraham Lincoln. Henry Leland who started the Lincoln company was a Lincoln fan. The first presidential election he ever voted in, he voted for Lincoln.

There was a Mr. Hudson, he ran a department store. Like Buick, he got his name on the radiator because he was the company's financial backer.

There was a John North Willys. A Childe Harold Wills who built the Wills St. Clair. A Harry Stutz. A Ned Jordan. Even a Howard Marmon and a Herbert H Franklin.

And of course, James Ward Packard.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

Le Seur de la Mothe Cadillac founded Detroit. LaSalle explored the Mississippi River. Pontiac was an indian chief. Rockne was a football coach before he was a sedan. Erskine was head of the Studebaker company.

William C. Durant was head of GM, twice, before he started the Durant company. Joseph Frazer worked for some of the giants of the auto industry before he went on his own.He's the one who suggested the name Plymouth to Walter Chrysler. Henry J Kaiser was an industrialist famous for building liberty ships before he turned to Kaiser and Henry J autos.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

Preston Tucker, K T Keller,Earl "Madman" Muntz, and Stanley "Wacky" Arnolt were real men although we aren't too sure if their car companies were real.

In the case of the Delorean, Davis and Dale the cars may have been real but the men were phonies.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[D Yaros]

DeSoto was named for the Spanish explorer who was the first white man to find the Mississippi River.

So, There in fact was a Mr. DeSoto!

[keiser31]

So, There in fact was a Mr. DeSoto!

Yes....Hernando DeSoto.

[Rusty_OToole]

How about cars named after women? We can start off the list with Diana, Electra and Mercedes.

[john2dameron]

Henry Ward Packard's partner was his brother William Doud Packard. Also lets not forget Mr. Bentley, Mr. Rolls, and Mr. Royce.

[CarlLaFong]

So, There in fact was a Mr. DeSoto!

Senor DeSoto

[CarlLaFong]

Preston Tucker, K T Keller,Earl "Madman" Muntz, and Stanley "Wacky" Arnolt were real men although we aren't too sure if their car companies were real.

In the case of the Delorean, Davis and Dale the cars may have been real but the men were phonies.

As far as the Dale, Liz Carmichael was a real man, for a while

[Dave@Moon]

How about cars named after women? We can start off the list with Diana, Electra and Mercedes.

In 1954 and 1955 Swallow Manufacturing (the side-car manufacturer spun off by SS Cars Ltd. just before it changed names to Jaguar) came out with the Swallow Doretti, named for (and by) Dorothy Deen who ran Cal Sales (the west coast distributor for Standard-Triumph, on which the Doretti was based). The name was first used on a line of accessories, and was chosen because it sounded vaguely Italian.

[28 Chrysler]

Forget not the Mr. Edsel Ford or Frank Duesenberg.

[Bleach]

I was expecting to see Mr. Earl in the thread.

Edited October 28, 2012 by Bleach (see edit history)

[61polara]

And don't forget Mr. Toyoda (Toyota)

[CarlLaFong]

I'm guessing that Frank must have been the silent partner of Fred and August

Forget not the Mr. Edsel Ford or Frank Duesenberg.