Trademarks have been filed for the following names (in alphabetical order):
- Airon
- Angra
- Hera
- Tempus
- Tera
- Therion
- Thron
- Tukan
Airon appears to have no clear meaning, but the word “Ayron” is a name that means “mountain of strength.” Angra is far more interesting as it has multiple meanings. In Portuguese, the word means inlet, cove, or bay. In Old Norse, it means to grieve, vex, or distress. It’s also a genus of burrowing insects and a species of fish, and the name of a Brazilian power metal band. We kept digging and found that Angra Mainyu is the name of a destructive spirit, or evil, in the Zoroastrian faith.
All these are fascinating, but we think Volkswagen had something else in mind when choosing the name. In the mid-1980s, a company called Angra Industria e Comercio de Carrocerias produced a vehicle described as a cross between a sports car and a buggy. This used air-cooled VW mechanicals and fiberglass bodywork, so perhaps VW intends to revive the vehicle for Brazil, where the original was made.
