Honda Finally Brought The Hornet To The U.S. (Thanks To A Clever Deal With Ram)
If you're like most motoring enthusiasts, you've probably spent some time wondering why places like Europe and Japan get different cars and motorcycles than the United States. In many cases, the cars or bikes in question are appealing, with sleek designs and unique attributes that could make them a big success if only they were sold state-side (or so we like to believe). Problematically though, we don't get all the cool wagons that Europe gets or the tarmac kings like the epic Nissan Skyline GT-R. And the same is true of motorcycles -– there are plenty of cool motorcycles available abroad that you can't get in America. With two new Honda bikes, however, that's no longer the case. I recently attended the launch of the Hornet twins -– the CB750 Hornet and the CB1000 Hornet SP — and Honda representatives addressed the missing Hornet nameplate from the American market, letting us in on a story from behind the scenes.
In the past, U.S. motorcycle buyers have received bikes like the 599 and the 919, which were called by their Hornet name in Europe but not here because AMC/Chrysler owned the rights to the Hornet name in the U.S. It's a name that was used on a 1970s coupe, and it's still in use by the folks at Dodge today on their compact Hornet SUV. So, how did Honda solve this problem? It turns out the manufacturer had something valuable it could trade to Chrysler -– the naming rights to the Rebel.
The Rebel and the Hornet
About a decade ago Ram released a version of its full-size pickup truck, the 1500, in a trim called the Rebel, and the trim still exists in the Ram 1500 and Heavy Duty lineup today. The Rebel name also lives on in Honda's motorcycle lineup with cruiser bikes like the excellent Rebel 1100 I tested earlier this year or the compact Rebel 500 and 300 models that are great choices for beginner riders. According to Honda reps at the Hornet launch event, the use of that Rebel name on Ram trucks was traded for the use of the Hornet name on Honda motorcycles. So, the long-used European name was able to make its journey to the United States. Honda PR reps didn't get into the legal specifics of the name change, but I suspect that the naming rights were restricted to trucks on the Ram side and motorcycles on the Honda side.
It's not often that brands will exchange naming rights like this. Typically, it's important to automakers to maintain brand identity and not confuse consumers, but since one is a truck and the other is a motorcycle, confusion is probably a bit less likely. This also isn't the first time automakers have shared names — it can be added to the list of historic models that includes cars Ferrari and Pontiac GTO, the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT-R and the Nissan GT-R, and the Chrysler and Maserati Sebring.