Pagani

When it comes to a car’s identity, its name is arguably the biggest defining factor. Yes, even more than the styling; would the Mustang be the smashing success it has been for almost a quarter century if it had been called the KB112-C? Would the Jaguar E-Type still be one of the sexiest cars of all time if it had instead been christened the Diabetic Chestwaxer? We’re guessing the answers are “No,” and “No.”

However, for all the brilliant car names sprinkled across the annals of history, there are some that just make you ask a) “What was the marketing department on?” and b) “Where can I get some?” Here are what we feel are 20 of the loopiest labels in automotive history.

As young as Italian supercar manufacturer Pagani is, it has had a profound impact on the megabuck, megaperformance car landscape. With a normally aspirated AMG-tuned Mercedes-Benz V12 of some form or another mounted amidships, the company’s first production car line – the Zonda – evolved from the more-style-than-sizzle C12 to the full-tilt-track-burner-boogie R over the course of the last decade.

But the curtain has finally come down on the Zonda, and considering what a four-wheeled rockstar it was, the pressure was on Horatio Pagani and his team to make the Zonda’s successor at least as special. They would have to make sure it bore a familial resemblance to the Zonda in terms of design and engineering, while still being a clear step forward in response to marketplace competition and regulatory hurdles. Based on what we know about the car you see here, we say, “Mission accomplished.”

With a fresh world record set about half a year ago, and a stable of fast, unforgiving and powerful automobiles set to launch this year, 2011 should be a great year for lovers of tire-burning acceleration and unbridled velocity. Here are the cars that promise to make 2011 the year of speed.

There are more than a few people who have been quick to jump on Kazunori Yamauchi and his company, Polyphony Digital, for the glacially-slow gestation of Gran Turismo 5, the latest installment in the Playstation-exclusive cash cow franchise. After all, trans-Pacific rival Turn 10 Studios has released a pair of Forza Motorsport titles – numbers 2 and 3 – since GT5 development began in earnest about five years ago. Surely the Tokyo-based developer couldn’t have anything up its sleeve to make its latest product worth all that waiting…right?

Well, at last year’s E3 it was announced that GT5 would feature licensed content from both NASCAR and the World Rally Championship, and this year’s E3 saw confirmation of collaboration with your favorite motoring program and ours, Top Gear, as well as damage rendering that includes rollovers and variable time-of-day. But for those of you who thought Yamauchi and Co. had run out of awesome bombs to drop, guess again. In fact, at this week’s Gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany, they brought enough awesome bombs to lay waste to a city’s worth of naysayers.