GIVE NAMES TO MOTOR CARS

The New York Times
April 12, 1914

Latest Fad of Parisians—Machines of Weird Shapes.

Special Cable to The New York Times.

PARIS, April 11.—Sportsmen have long been accustomed to give names to their favorite bobsleighs and boats, and the custom is now spreading among Parisian enthusiasts to automobiles.  Several have already been seen bearing in gold letters the titles of "Greyhound,"  "Firefly," "Vulcan," &c.

Machines are also being built in the eccentric shapes of canoes, fish, and torpedoes, and are often painted in bright colors, causing consternation to horses unaccustomed to the novelty.  Weird sirens with a particularly intense note considerably heighten the effect, the result being that the modern French autoist practically realizes the ideals of the inventor of the Chinese war dragon to general terror and amazement.