The language barrier

 

Hands up all who recall the Ford Cortina – first built in 1962 and named after the Italian ski resort – the original name of “Consul” having been dropped.

Here’s one: (albeit a Lotus version!)

But, for anyone who went abroad in those early days of foreign holidays, you’d never see one on the road and indeed, when Ford of Germany produced a similar looking vehicle, it was named the Taunus – the name by which all German Fords were once known.

Of course, the name has something to do with it and as “cortina” means “curtain” in Spanish, you can begin to see why it would have been a marketing blunder of mammoth proportions to try and sell a car with THAT name and meaning here in Spain. A bit like the Nissan “Cedric” I fear.

 

But, we still have different names today for cars because of language/marketing problems:

Here’s what you know in the UK as  Mitsubishi “Shogun”…..and a fine off-roader it is.

 

 

 

But it’s only a Shogun in Britain because Mitsubishi decided – probably correctly – that the English couldn’t handle a name like “Pajero” by which it’s known in most of the world. If I had to spell it phonetically, that would be something – in English –  like the three syllables of  P-A-C–K   A-I–R   R-O-W.

 

Here’s one I saw the other day in Cortes – an older model than the one above:

 

 

But, here’s also another one I saw on the same day  – same Mitsubishi – same model – and it’s called a “Montero”.

 

 So what’s going on?

“Pajero”, in Spanish, is a rude slang word for what is also euphemistically known as a “merchant banker” in cockney rhyming slang!

So why do they have them in Spain?

Well. If you buy one in Spain, or the Americas (not Brazil)  it’s badged as a “Montero”, but if you import one from elsewhere in Europe or the world (except Britain), it’s a “Pajero”

So, if you see a Mitsubishi “Pajero” on the roads of Spain it’s been imported and the driver is driving a “w@nker”.

Just thought I’d share that with you!