Nigerians are car lovers. This explains why you find them cruising around with all kinds of car models across the country. There are hardly any car brand and model that you cannot find in the country. The good, the bad the ugly, they are all here.
But if you are in doubt that Nigerians love cars, be it luxury or classic, just visit any Night Club on the Lagos Island any Friday night, and you would be shocked with he kinds of cars you will find. Some of the cars you think don’t exist in the country you will discover are really the ‘big boys’ toys.
They include powerful luxury models, classic models, and ulta luxury cars from renowned car manufacturers.
But this is not the story for the day.
The story is: the funny names that Nigerians give to car models aside from the registered names given to them by the original car manufacturers. Interestingly, most of the names are in Nigerian local languages. Imagine names like: Tokunbo (for used cars from abroad), Keke Marwa (for a tricycle), Korope (for an imported used seven-seater bus). These names have so resonated with these vehicles that people know them better than their original names by their manufacturers.
These funny names however do not reflect exactly the character and performance of the cars. While some promote the cars, others demarket them.
The names could sometimes be derived from the personality or even class of people using such vehicles at a particular period. For instance, at a particular time, Honda cars were associated with people from the northern part of the country, and some people would say Honda is a car for the Hausa people. This is because they know it was the preferred model for Nigerians from that part of the country, just like Nissan micra is the preferred model for taxi drivers in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Shagari Model
Let us start with the first funny name, which is linked to the then Nigeria’s president in 1979, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. There was a model of Mercedes S-Class limousine, which was his official car then. This luxury limousine became so popular during the time and was simply known as Shagari model and the name stuck until the car went out of existence.
Many prominent Nigerians who could afford the Shagari Mercedes model bought and saw it as a status symbol.
Another Mercedes Benz model, which got a funny name, was the first model of Mercedes ML Sports Utility Vehicle, which goes by the name Armoured Tank.
This name was derived from the fact that the car was rugged and the body was made with strong steel. Even panel beater can attested to this. In traffic, other drivers avoid any collision with the ML, and this earned it the ‘armoured tank’ title.
Another funny name given to a particular car model due to its visibility is Pure Water. This is the name Nigerians gave to the Volkswagen Golf because it was affordable and many people bought it in the 1990s.
Most people believed that the VW Golf (Pure Water) was affordable like satchet water. At that time, the tokunbo model could be bought between N300,000 and N450,000, and it was affordable by most young men. Because of the low price the car was bought by many people and it was everywhere. Nigerians tagged it Pure Water.
There was this old Honda Accord that they tagged Bullet simply because of its speed and swift take-off. This model was produced around 1986 and it later came into the Nigeria market in the mid 1990s as tokunbo. It boasts spacious interior and very clean upholstery seats. Apart from the Bullet, there is another Honda that found favour in the minds of Nigerians. That was the one that 2003 model which they gave the name End of Discussion. This particular model was available in 2- and 3-litre version. At that time, the car was regarded as so beautiful that there was not much you needy in an automobile in that segment that you could not find in this car. Yet it reigned and fizzled out.
Discussion continues
Another Honda Accord that succeeded it was tagged by Nigerians as Discussion Continues. This model, unlike its predecessor, was muscling and powerful too. The Honda distributor in Nigeria, Stallion Group knows how to position these cars in the minds of Nigerians and in the market too, hence they usually come up with captivating local names for these cars and it usually sticks.
While the Honda Accord keeps on swimming in these beautiful names, its competitor, the Toyota Camry of 2003 was not lucky with its own funny name in Nigeria. It was tagged “ Big for Nothing” which in the actual sense does not reflect its high performance and high acceptability in Nigeria.
This Camry is the highest selling car in its segment in Nigeria up till tomorrow. It is well sought after, yet Nigeria gave it a wrong name. It is like giving a dog a bad name, as they say, to hang it. But the Camry refuses to die. It remains the best in its class.
Tiny lights, Muscle
The Camry that came before this model was identified by the Nigerian public as Tinny Light or Pencil Light. This Camry is regarded as one of the strongest cars ever designed by Toyota. Some mechanics believe that even if you use kerosine to fuel this car, it will deliver. But it has the record of one of the cars that could easily be stolen because of its high demand. Some people argue that the engine can even be used to power a boat. This, I can not confirm. But it is a very rugged car. Owners of this Camry always add extra safety device like extra lock and tracking system to prevent it from being stolen.
Here comes the Camry that is know as “Muscle”, the 2005 to 2008 model. Unarguably one of the best looking Camry ever, the Muscle’s design has remained very timeless since its debut. Over time, Toyota has tried to create something to supersede the design of the Muscle to no avail, in my personal view.
Apart from all the Toyota Camry and Honda and their funny names, another car in this segment in the late 1980’s that ruled the market was the Volkswagen Santana. It was described as outstanding and its catchphrase campaign then was “There is nothing more to add”.
