Poet Marianne Moore was once asked by the Ford Motor Company to help name a new car coming out in 1955. She suggested Resilient Bullet, Ford Silversword, Varsity Stroke, Pastelogram, and Utopian Turtletop. Ford settled on Edsel, leaving the other possibilities unused. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Poet Marianne Moore Proposed “Utopian Turtletop,” “Resilient Bullet,” and “Pastelogram” as 1955 Ford Car Names”
I learned something interesting the other day about poet Marianne Moore.
Did you know that she was once asked by people at the Ford Company to help name a new car?
Did she?
Well, she tried.
She tried to come up with some names for this new car that was coming out in 1955, and she thought about it for a while.
And here are the inspirational names for the new Ford car.
They included Resilient Bullet, Ford Silversword, Varsity Stroke, Pastelogram, and my favorite, Utopian Turtletop.
Okay.
What did they end up using?
Edsel.
Oh.
I had no idea, but apparently this is in…
It helps to have good source material.
Yes.
Maybe she just wasn’t inspired by the machine.
I think Utopian Turtletop, I would buy one of those in a second.
You wouldn’t.
I might rent one.
There’s no marketing department alive that will let that name stand.
I’ve heard worse.
What about Probe?
Oh, okay.
Who wants to be rear-ended by one of those?
