Namesake Motors is a project that implies bringing together cars and their namesakes, not for advertising purposes, but just for the fun of it.
This hilarious project was brought to reality by Art director Jim Lasser and one of his friends, photographer Ray Gordon. However, the idea belongs to the former as the result of working for many years in advertising for such companies as Chrysler and Dodge.
As Lasser declared for Jalopnik, “I have always been interested in history, and began to wonder about the origins of some of the names of the cars. It raised a lot of questions for me: who was Chief Pontiac? Would Lincoln drive a Lincoln? What would Queen Victoria think of all these cops driving a car named for her?
I had the idea of staging these characters in classic (or un-classic) cars of their names. A photographer friend of mine in Portland, Ray Gordon, was someone I immediately thought of to capture this kind of thing. He loves cars and loves weirdo ideas like this. When I pitched him on it he loved it, but told me he didn’t want to just “talk about it”, he wanted to do it…so we did.”
It should be noted that in some cases, the cars have the exact names of the celebrities they are photographed with, in others, the names are loosely related. Alice Cooper’s Mini Cooper, pictured in the first image, fits in the first category, while Adam Carolla’s Corolla in the second. The above image depicts the famous Lone Ranger along a Range Rover.
Queen Victoria was photographed beside a Ford Crown Victoria, which is still used as a Police Interceptor for operations of law enforcement.
Next is Homer beside his Odyssey. Honda Odyssey, that is. As you probably know, these two weren’t exactly contemporary, as Honda Odyssey has been manufactured since 1994, while Homer lived in around 850 BCE.
Abraham Lincoln is pictured standing beside a Lincoln, one of the most iconic brands of the American car industry.
Last, but certainly not least, is Chief Pontiac, the fourth celebrity from another era. Obviously, the car to go in his case couldn’t have been anything else but a Pontiac.
In case you didn’t find the above pictures funny enough, then maybe you should know that Jim Lasser modeled for all the photographs. And yes, that means that he played the role of Queen Victoria, fact that demanded him to stay in the public dressed as Her Majesty, while also wearing make-up. Another spicy detail about the creation of Namesake Motors is the fact that Lasser had to shave himself bare. After all, art demands sacrifices, doesn’t it?
If you liked this post, please check these 26 geeky car mods and 21 awesome Smart car designs.
