I was driving into work this AM when I heard an update on the radio about the North American Auto Show in Detroit where the Crossfire was mentioned.

I had not yet had my coffee and so I repeated the words slowly....Crossfire....Cross....Fire. Hmmmm interesting. I know what crossfire is...Lines of fire from two or more positions crossing each other at a single point. But when I said it slowly....the image of a cross...on fire....briefly entered my mind. I thought....interesting...I wonder if there is any particular demographic that might find this to be a not so pleasant momentary mental image.

The Crossfire is a beautiful car from what I can tell....I was just a little surprised that in todays media...no group or outspoken individual has made a stink about the possible interpretation or imagery of the name.

Im not on any crusade so please dont slam me....just looking for any opinion or pointers to any voiced concerns.

 

Now that's really a stretch!!! What about GMs (I think) "Crossfire Injection" There are several other products that use "Crossfire" . CNN has a show called "Crossfire", "Crossfire Audio"....

I think it would take a mind looking to make waves to glean any kind of negativiy from the name "Crossfire"

 

In the UK we used to have the Cortina.Say that slow now and you might be offending some women,or maybe not.

 

See, now I thought the literal meaning was a bit odd for this car.

Being "In a Crossfire" is generally a very bad thing. :?

 

Living through "Being in the Crossfire" is very exhilerating!!! (Viet Nam 1970 - 1971)

 

Anyone who would object to the name on religious grounds would be a humorless pud by definition and therefore would not buy a Crossfire under any circumstances.

 

Maybe you've stumbled onto why Lamborghini really hasn't sold a whole lot of Diablos.....that and that they're very expensive, of course.

 

Hey I'm from Alabama and I resemble that remark. You gonna see Goober later on, well tell him I said Duh-Huh, he'll know what you mean.

 

I personally don't think "Crossfire" is a bad name.

There have been worse names for cars. Actually, one cultural example of a bad name was Alfa's full-sized sedan, the 164.

This car came out in the 90s and after its introduction in Asia, they had to change the designation of the car because 164, spoken in Cantonese (a very widely used Chinese dialect), sounds like "Die along the road".

So they changed the model to 168 which sounds like "Prosper along the road".

 

The classic example of this would be Chevy trying to sell the Nova in Mexico. "No va" in Spanish literally means "no go".

But cultural or language clashes when moving into a foreign market are not really what I think the original poster meant, since he specifically brought up a potential image brought on by the English meaning of the words.

In those terms, I'm not quite sure what to say. As someone else pointed out, there are numerous other uses of the name Crossfire in popular media and culture. I know I for one have never had the image of a burning cross come to mind when I've heard or read the term. But I can see the point. There is a certain segment of the population that sees nearly everything through the filter of race, and seems to almost actively look for any chance to complain loudly about anything they can manage to label as racist by even the most remote stretch of the imagination. Now that it's been brought up, I have to say I'm surprised that none of these self-appointed activists or leaders have ever complained about the term "crossfire" being at least insensitive.

Fortunately, I think some of the other uses of the term (such as the TV show) are a bit higher profile, and thus are more likely than our car to draw such attention if it ever arises.

Greg

 

This never Crossed my mind...

Wana know what PT-cruiser sounds like in French when "spoken out in dialect" well it sounds like PD and this means gay... so you ever driven a ****? Another thing the crossfire has is the dual zone airco how would this be called in South Africa...

If some person (and I don't mean you) thinks there is a link between one another that person has a big decease. Some call this political correctness to the bone, I think this is stupid and it always comes from the left political side. If you mean good say it like it is and don't be scared to say it and do not avoid it.

I never say a coffee with no milk and with no sugar, no I just like it black.
Nean

 

AMEN! Neander 8)

 

Hey Mouserider, where do you get those cool esoteric and eccletic facts?
Do you read a lot or have you been a world traveler at some time? :?:

 

I spent quite a few years in Asia and I've travelled quite a bit in the Northern hemisphere. Odd thing is that my business has never taken me to the Southern hemisphere.

Crossed all the major oceans and have some stamps on my passport from countries that don't exist anymore.

Ah, those were the days. At the top of my travel calendar, I was on UA's 1k Club with over 100k flight miles per year.

 

Wish my job took me places. I have been to cad-cam school in Charlotte twice, but other than that I usually jest get to go to some greasy stinking steelmill or heaven forbid ala. proteins(dog food plant-P-U). I really enjoy talking to everyone on this forum, hope a bunch of us can meet sometime next summer. I know I saw something on the meets post, I think about some folks going to Fl. sometime. I'm in b'ham al. could atleast meet in atlanta for dinner or something. Almost forgot, our luggage came in Friday, it's way too cool 8) . Need to make a few more shavings before quitting time(2AM CST) Thanks again for the tip on who to call about the luggage. Later,
Scott

 

Food for thought:

If I called you an ***, it would be politically incorrect for you to argue on the grounds that you might offend me. :twisted:

Everyone's got their own rules and beliefs, mine happens to be "Eye for an Eye" or "Leave me alone and I'll try to stay out of your way"

Scott