Right in my Own Backyard - Birds and cars - by Brandt Carter - Birds and cars
posted: Mar. 12, 2020
In the winter I like to read. The other day I was paging through The Bird Almanac by David M. Birds, Ph.D., when I ran across a list that piqued my curiosity. It was a list of automobiles named after birds. I was surprised that the list was very short - no match for the roster of cars named for mammals. This list included such grand monikers as Cougar, Mustang, Jaguar, Bobcat , Bronco, Pinto, and Stingray.
I would have thought many more cars would have been named for birds because of their similar attributes: speed, aerodynamics, color, and durability. Vintage autos named for birds have included the Crow, Crow-Elkhart Black, Duck, Eagle, Falcon, Golden Hawk, Power Hawk, Road Runner, Silverbirds, Silver Hawk, Sunbird, and Superbird. The Thunderbird and Tercel are current models keeping bird names alive in the auto industry.
Once this subject was racing through my mind, I was compelled to find the automakers who had branded their cars by birds. Can you identify them? Who manufactured the Eagle, Falcon, Firebird, Gull Wing, Golden Hawk, Lark, Road Runner, Sunbird, Thunderbird, and Tercel? Find the answers at the end of the column.
This Studebaker Hawk was built in South Bend, Indiana.
Then I began to think about additional possibilities - all kinds of them. A small car named for the Chickadee would be just the thing! Cardinal would be the ultimate for the reddest car in a line. And don't you think Curlew, Peregrine, Kingbird, Heron, Osprey, Frigate, or Tern could be good auto identities? I can see why names such as Vulture, Turkey, Loon, Goatsucker, Cuckoo, or Flycatcher will probably never be emblazoned on vehicles. What would you suggest if you had the chance to name a car for a bird? (This article is dedicated to all the past car dealerships in and around Broad Ripple like Bill Kuhn's Chevrolet.)
Answers: Eagle, AMC; Falcon, Ford; Firebird, Pontiac; Gull Wing, Daimler Chrysler; Golden Hawk, Studebaker; Lark, Studebaker; Road Runner, Plymouth; Sun Bird, Pontiac; Thunderbird, Ford; Tercel, Toyota.
brandt@broadripplegazette.com