from the history channel web site.....
on this day in history
1959 A Car with No Name
The first Plymouth Valiant was produced on this day at a plant in Hamtramck,
Michigan, although it was not known by that name until 1961. Originally code
named "Falcon" after the 1955 Chrysler Falcon, plans for the new model went
awry when the Chrysler marketing team found out at the last minute that Ford
had already registered the name "Falcon" for its compact car. The news
resulted in a wild scramble, for the logo castings had already been made and
marketing plans finalized. A company-wide contest was held for a new name,
and "Valiant" emerged the winner. However, there was no time to make new
logo castings, so the car was simply introduced as the Valiant, featuring
only a mylar sticker on the engine for identification. It wasn't until 1961
that the Valiant became the Plymouth Valiant, new logo castings and all.
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