Why call it a Victoria?

[johnbuckley]

Can anyone account for the naming of the Victoria? The bustle connection I find difficult to believe - surely Ford would not have wanted their latest model associated with a dress fashion that had finished over 2 decades previously? Was it simply a regal sounding name after the Tudor . Any other suggestions and/or evidence?

 

[Phil Brown]

Queen of the lineup ?

 

[J Franklin]

I think it was a holdover name from a type of horse carriage.

 

[Gary WA]

There is a International Victoria Association I bet they have your answer.

 

[alexiskai]

Victoria was a name used by several marques to denote a two-door closed-car body style, usually upmarket or with premium trim, with a back seat that was slightly smaller than a sedan. Luxury marques tended to offer the "Convertible Victoria," which had a fold-down fabric top. The name comes from the victoria carriage.

 

[Tom Endy]

It may have had something to do with the "Bustle" worn by women during the Victoria era. The newsletter of the Victoria Association is called "The Bustle". The Victoria's made by several car makers had a prominent bustle as part of the body style.

Tom Endy

 

[johnbuckley]

Victoria was a name used by several marques to denote a two-door closed-car body style, usually upmarket or with premium trim, with a back seat that was slightly smaller than a sedan. Luxury marques tended to offer the "Convertible Victoria," which had a fold-down fabric top. The name comes from the victoria carriage.

Ah, not heard that before, Alexiskai. What other marques had Victorias listed?

 

[alexiskai]

Hudson: https://www.prewarcar.com/290543-19...oria-worldwide-auctioneers-the-auburn-auction

Cadillac: https://classiccars.com/listings/vi...-victoria-for-sale-in-st-louis-missouri-63028

Packard: https://hymanltd.com/vehicles/6872-1930-packard-745-waterhouse-victoria/

Duesenberg: https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/187767/

 

[rotorwrench]

The Ford Crown Victorias of the mid 50s were top of the line Ford cars. The 51 Victoria was Fords first 2-door hard top and it was a winner too. They were top of the line Ford badged cars back in the earlier years.

 

[dave in australia]

Because New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia or Tasmania wouldn't have sounded right for a body style. Other Australians will understand what I mean.

 

[Bob Bidonde]

I am guessing you-all want to know that, in the record of surviving 190A Victoria Coupes kept by the Victoria Association, there are currently 654 known survivors not including hot rods. Conditions of the 190As in the record include basket cases, unrestored runners & non-runners, originals unmolested and restored cars.

 

[Will N]

Automakers tended to use the name of horse drawn carriage types when naming their body styles. Notice the phaeton, cabriolet, coupe, victoria, berline, landau... It just sounded fancy.

 

[CHuDWah]

From Wikipedia:

The victoria is an elegant style of doorless four-wheeled open carriage, drawn by one or two horses, based on the phaeton with the addition of a coachman's seat at the front, and with a retractable roof over the passenger bench.

Named for Queen Victoria,[1][2] it was possibly based on a phaeton made for George IV.[3] The type was made some time before 1844, but acquired the name victoria around 1870,[4] after one was imported to England by Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, in 1869. Drawn by one or two horses, it became a fashionable style of carriage for ladies riding in the park.[3]

The first "horseless carriages" were just that. So body style names already in use for the horse-drawn versions were applied to them.

Queen Victoria died 30 years before the Model A was born but she still was well-known then as she is now. And although the US had divorced from England 150+ years earlier, the monarchy fascinated Americans just as it does now. Henry, or perhaps more likely Edsel and the marketing department, were astute enough to take advantage of that name recognition.