Chrysler’s hot new sports coupe, the Crossfire, has a name that does justice to the car’s edgy, explosive looks. Somebody high up in the marketing department had the insight and fortitude to ignore the usual Chicken Little focus group negativity and do the right thing.

Imagine the feedback when the name was tested:

• Isn’t it dangerous to get caught in a crossfire?
• Don’t people get killed in a crossfire?
• Don’t we want people to think our car is safe?
• It’s the name of a TV show, why not pick something unique?

Chrysler understood that consumers don’t participate in this kind of literal, negative deconstruction, but rather accept things in the context provided. The failure to recognize this simple truth is what dooms other automakers to give sexy sports cars androgynous names like; M5, S4, 28O Z, SC 430 and C32 AMG.

Says Blandor the Imponderable: “Crossfire? I don’t get it. It has no meaning in Greek or Latin. However, the strong opening ‘C’ sound, the pair of snakelike ‘s’s and the slow, plodding ‘f’ combine to form a name that is tres automotive.”