What Are The Best Cars That Are Named After A Bird?

Photo: Pontiac

I’m not a big fan of naming cars after places or things but I’ll make an exception for birds. Naming conventions for cars don’t get much better than the timeless tradition of baptizing a machine in honor of a bird; the practice persists even to this day. And out of all the cars that have been named after a bird, which do you think is the best?

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Don’t limit yourselves to classics like the Pontiac Firebird, which is admittedly one of the greats. There are lots of newer cars and trucks (and motorcycles) that take after birds. Case in point, we’ve got the Ford F-150 Raptor and the Suzuki Hayabusa, so named after the peregrine falcon. Those count, dammit. The Ram TRX, too, since it’s named after a big chicken.

Technically speaking a Firebird isn’t a a real animal, nor is a Thunderbird. But I’ll accept imaginary birds all the same. In the end, I guess we love to name automobiles after birds because we really believe cars can fly. I’m all for that. So, tell us which cars named after birds are the best, whether real or imaginary, modern or historical.