First of all, Happy New Year, everyone! To celebrate, I thought I'd give you a taste of some of the funniest car names I know. Feel free to help me add to the list!

It may just be because I'm a smutty guy, but what do you think of when you hear the name: Buick YJob (pictured)? Admittedly, it was only ever a concept, and back in 1938, no-one would have ever heard of the various "jobs", but I still like to think that it was a good reason it never made production. The phrase "I just got a YJob downtown" has a fantastic ring to it, doesn't it? You could even say how much you paid to get your YJob. What would the "Y" even stand for, anyway? Nevertheless, it was one of the world's first concept cars, and that's why I wanted to celebrate it here. But it was called the YJob.

Chevrolet's done some dumb ones too. You might not think this one's particularly funny, but I still thought it was a really silly name for a car: Chevrolet Celebrity (pictured). You know a car has a silly name, when you say the phrase "I just bought (or got) a..." and it sounds as stupid as "I just bought a Celebrity." By the way, remember the Holden Gemini of the 80's? Want to know what it was known as in the US? The Chevrolet Chevette. Weird.

Naturally, there are some car names have the effect of making you sound like a boring old toff - take the Dodge St. Regis, for example. Would you like a cup of Devonshire Tea with your St. Regis, sir? Or a Ford Country Squire (pictured)? Perhaps the Chrysler Town and Country is more to your liking? The Nissan President is rather evocative, I must say. I still like the Mercury Wrist Twist Park Lane concept, myself. Although you can't go past the Volvo Elisabeth I concept for regality.

Some names are meant to sound cute, but sound rather camp, instead - think about the Bedford Rascal, sold here as the equally embarassing-sounding Holden Scurry. Not to be confused with the Mazda Scrum. Or the unfortunate Nissan Cedric. Other camp names? Try Nissan Sunny, or the Lancia Jolly, which is only bettered by the Lancia Superjolly. Which in turn is trumped for campness by the Lincoln Mardi Gras concept. Although the Suzuki MightyBoy (pictured) runs it close. If you like your boys nice and meaty, I would suggest you buy a Toyota Deliboy.

Honda are responsible for some shockers, too. My personal favourite would have to be the Honda Life Dunk - followed closely by the Honda That's. I'm not joking, that is actually what they are called. Other Honda notables include the Honda Today, and the Honda Logo - which confusingly, is a car, not a logo. Oh, and don't forget the Honda Hobio - which is one solitary letter away from being the Honda Hobo.

There used to be a truck manufacturer called Fargo Trucks (pictured), before the Chrylser Group shut them down and discontinued their models. Awesome brand name, huh? But then again, the newest supercar from Germany is called Gumpert. The Gumpert Apollo. But I'm sure the most depressing brand name has to be the Standard Motor Company. Thrilling. But not as thrilling as Daewoo - which means "Great Universe" in Korean. And then there are just car makers with names that make you snigger, like Donkervoort Automobielen of the Netherlands. Ah well, for brand name perfection, we can always look to Goggomobil. And there's also the German company Yes! - I'm not kidding, there is such thing, it stands for "Young Engineer's Sportscar". Mmm... right. You like exclamation marks? Then the Th!nk City is for you. Oh, by the way, anyone fancy a Hillman Wizard?

But you'd think that a company with the name "Bond" would have some great sounding cars. WRONG! What would you say to a Bond Bug? Perhaps you would prefer a Plymouth Cricket, then? There was also the Opel Frogster concept, and the Renault Racoon concept. Pets are always a good theme, as Toyota believed when it released the Toyota Toyopet. While we're on animals, how about the Daimler Dingo? It must have been a rather good name, because Mitsubishi went ahead and named a car the Mitsubishi Dingo many years later. Reliant Kitten? Bedford Beagle? Fiat Panda? Daihatsu Bee? Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon?!?! Did you know that the Volkswagen Golf is badged as the Volkswagen Rabbit in North America? If you like fish, there's always the Citroen Nemo (pictured) - which happens to be a van. Vans like being named after animals - it's apparently cuter if they're spelled wrong too, like the Renault Kangoo.

But evidently, the Mitsubishi Lettuce sounds infinitely more appealing. Tasty, too. Mitsubishi like cars that sound edible, because they named another car the Mitsubishi Pistachio. And another, the Mitsubishi Zinger... burger. For a more healthy option, try the Nissan Cherry. Followed by a Suzuki Cappuccino for dessert.

Some car names are more indicative of what they are - take for example, the Daihatsu Midget. and the Holden Nova (which was actually a rebadged Corolla, and not in the slightest redesigned) means "doesn't go" in Italian and Spanish. If you knew the Nova, you'd agree that this interpretation is rather apt. And the Ford Popular (pictured) actually was quite popular, even though it had a longer nose than a Frenchman. And when Hyundai names a truck, they give it a really tough name, like Hyundai Mega Truck, so you get the picture. Although sometimes, in their descriptive nomenclature, Hyundai becomes a little contradictory. Certainly, I'm thinking of the Hyundai Super Truck Medium - which courteously informs us that although their truck is "Super", massive, tough and huge, it is also "Medium". Speaking of size and indicative names, none do better than the Tata Nano - which is only 3.1 metres long, with a 24kW engine, and sells in India for US$2,500.

But if you like cars that describe their owners, try the Subaru BRAT - which stands fo bi-drive recreational all-terrain transporter. And if you understand what that means, then you too are a B-R-A-T. A brat, you idiot. Or the Volkswagen Thing, which implies you are neither male nor female, but somewhere in between. The king of cars that describe their owners must be the Volugrafo Bimbo - a young woman's perfect first car.

There are heaps of cars that, like the Holden Doesn't Go, are lost in translation - the Mitsubishi Pajero is Spanish slang for "wanker", but this was not known to Mitsubishi on launch in 1982. Consequently, the Pajero was renamed the Montero in spanish-speaking markets, after a "slow" start to sales. The Fiat Ritmo (known in Europe as the Bravo) was going to be exported to the US as the Ritmo, until Fiat remembered that "Ritmo" is a brand of tampon in North America. Oooooh, awkward. Trucks aren't immune, either - the Izuzu GIGA 20 Light Dump is a classic, as is the Izuzu Mysterious Utility. But that's just baffling, not mysterious.

But of course, you want the names that have dirty connotations, don't you? What dirty minds you all have. I can tell you that the Daihatsu Naked (above right) is not exactly naked, primarily because cars don't wear clothes. Or why don't you have a Rinspeed X-Dream - and leave the details to yourself, please. And possibly the wierdest of all is the Venturi Fetish (below right) - which unsurprisingly comes from Monaco. And no, before you ask, I don't have a car fetish. I reckon telling your friends "I just bought a Fetish" will just make them stare at you blankly, before you hear this question in return: "Really, you couldn't just think of a fetish, you had to buy one?"

So which one's your favourite?

FEATURE STORY: Have a Laugh with these Car Names