Texas Towns With Cool Automotive Names
By: jwilder
From Austin-to-Zephyr, we reveal 20+ Texas town names any auto enthusiast would love!
Its not just a list, you might just learn some stuff.
Austin
When you hear the name Austin, nine times out of ten, we're talking Austin, the capital of Texas, or Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas, or the corrective voice of a mom with a child that is a bit too energetic on the restaurant patio during happy hour.
However, if you are a British car fan, your first thought might be of the Austin-Healey, a British sports car maker established in 1952. But before Austin-Healey, there was the Austin Motor Company. The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. It was founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin and folded in 1952.
It's worth noting that Round Rock and Dallas have annual British car shows, each running over twenty consecutive years!
Texas All British Car Days, Round Rock, Texas. Usually held in September.
www.txabcd.org/
All British & European Car Day, Dallas, Texas. Usually held in April.
www.allbritishcarday.com/
More About Austin
Population: 947,890 (2016)
Location: Central Texas
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin,_Texas
Carbon, Texas
Carbon on your spark plugs can be quite foul. It's nothing to celebrate. However, carbon fiber is the goto material for producing lightweight car parts. Carbon black is used in the production of tires.
Carbon, Texas got its name from mineral deposits in the area. Some of its streets have petrolish names such as Lignite, Coke, Diamond, Anthracite, Cannel and Coal.
More About Carbon
Population 272 (2010)
Location: North Central Texas. 104 miles west southwest of Fort Worth.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon,_Texas
Cool, Texas
Residents claim the town of Cool is 4 to 6 degrees cooler than any other town in Parker County.
Surprisingly, there is very little information on Cool Texas online, which I find quite odd. Think of the possibilities!
For example, everyone in Cool would be driving Cool cars. And all the car shows in Cool would be Cool, by definition. Oh, we could go on and on!
More About Cool
Population 157 (2010)
Location: North Central Texas. On US 180 about 45 miles west of Fort Worth.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool,_Texas
Detroit, Texas
I didn't know there was a Detroit, Texas until a few years ago! That discovery gave me the idea for this article.
According to the Texas State Historical Assocation, Detroit, Texas got its name in 1887 when J. M. Stephens, the local railway agent, named the town Detroit for his former home in Michigan.
Detroit, Texas is definitely the location to have a American-made car show.
More About Detroit
Population: 711 2013
Location: North Texas. About 122 miles northeast of Dallas.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit,_Texas
Dodge, Texas
There are several car models that correspond with Texas town names, but a whole brand? Come on! If I were Dodge (the company) I'd have the bigest Dodge dealership in United States, right here in Dodge, Texas (because everything's bigger in Texas)! What Dodge enthusiast wouldn't make a pligrimage to Dodge, Texas to pick up their Dodge Challenger (or Charger)?
After the Civil War the H&GN Railroad arrived in Walker County. The railroad was constructed by the Phelps-Dodge Company, and the stop was called Dodge Station. When the post office was established in 1881, Dodge Station became Dodge.
More About Dodge
Pop 184 (2000)
Location: East Texas. About 70 miles north of Houston.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge,_Texas
Electra, Texas
Sexy, futuristic or downright steampunk! Electra is a shockingly cool name for a town. It just seems really space age, in a retro way. I would definitely have an annual electric car show here. And if Tesla hasn't installed a Super Charger in Electra then they are certainly missing out on the cool factor.
The town was named Electra in 1902. Electra was the daughter of William T. Waggoner, the son of Daniel Waggoner, a wealthy land owner.
More About Electra
Population: 2,765 (2013)
Location: North Texas. About 30 miles west of Wichita Falls
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electra,_Texas
Eldorado, Texas
Muy obvio! This is where I would want to have an annual Cadillac Eldorado car show!
According to Texas Escapes, Eldorado was named after the mythical location of El Dorado, "the golden one."
Meanwhile in 1952, Cadillac was planning its 50th (golden) anniversary, and chose the Eldorado name for a new model introduced in 1953. The Eldorado name was used by Cadillac for 50 years (woah!).
More About Eldorado
Population: 1,809 (2013)
Location: West Central Texas. About 45 miles south of San Angelo.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldorado,_Texas
Gasoline, Texas
Only the Ghosts of Gasoline say fill 'er up. If I were rich I would buy a parcel of land in this forgotten town and put on an annual car show! And then I'd create a museum in honor of the gasoline engine! Who would not make a pilgrimage to Gasoline Texas for the Gasoline Texas car show? Anyone out there care to make me rich?
Gasoline got its name from the gasoline engine that powered the community's cotton gin, built in 1906 or 1907. Most Gins were probably powered by steam engines at that time. We know of at least one steam powered gin in Denton, owned by Gentry Thompson, the first automobile owner in Denton.
There's a historical marker about the community of Gasoline on FM 599. From Quitaque take SH 86 east about 1.3 miles, then take FM 599 south about 2.5 miles to marker. Geo coordinates are 34.342810,-101.013886.
More About Gasoline
Population 0.
Location: Panhandle. About 100 miles southeast of Amarillo.
www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrg07
Goodrich, Texas
We never tire about talking Texas! If you ever need a sponsor for a car show in Goodrich Texas, the local Goodrich dealer might be a good business to contact! On a side note, Michelin acquired B. F. Goodrich in 1989.
The town of Goodrich formed around the Goodrich train station, which was named after William M. Goodrich, a large landowner in the area.
More About Goodrich
Population: 266 (2013)
Location: East Texas. About 70 miles north northeast of Houston.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodrich,_Texas
Hurst, Texas
Let's shift gears and talk about Hurst.
Hurst Performance, Inc. of Warminster Township, Pennsylvania, was a huge name in aftermarket performance parts, most notibly, gear shifters for manual transmissions. They were also the inventors of the "Jaws of Life," a hydraulic rescue tool that cuts metal like it was butter.
More About Hurst
Population: 38,448 (2013)
Location: North Texas. About 10 miles northeast of Fort Worth.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurst,_Texas
Kemp, Texas
Time for some kustom education!
"What is Kemp? It’s a slang word used by teenagers in the late 50’s, and early 60’s to indicate a car or a truck. When you say Kustom Kemp, it means kustomized car or truck. So a kustom kemp can be any make, model or year vehicle, from 1903 to current year. The word "kemp" gained national recognition on a famous TV show called 77 Sunset Strip, where Edd “Kookie” Byrnes used it often, and in the little 25-cent Rod and Custom magazines."
www.kustomkempsofamerica.com/history.htm
More About Kemp
Population: 1,199 (2013)
Location: East Texas. About 45 miles southeast of Dallas
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemp,_Texas
Liberty, Texas
Ok, this one is a bit of a stretch, but, probably not for a small group of Jeep fans! Jeep (Chrysler) produced a model called Liberty (KJ) from 2002 to 2012.
Liberty, Texas would be a great meetup location for Jeep fans since it is so close to Houston, and there are a lot of Jeep fans in the area.
Let's not forget Comanche and Cherokee, Texas.
More About Liberty
Population: 8,836 (2013)
Location: East Texas. About 43 miles northeast of Houston.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty,_Texas
Mercedes, Texas
If you live in Mercedes, why not own a Mercedes? I think Mercedes-Benz(R) should give residents a huge discount on a new Mercedes!
There is a chapter of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America based in...you guessed it! Nope. It's actually a few miles away in McAllen, Texas.
More About Mercedes
Population: 16,352 (2013)
Location: South Texas. Between McAllen and Brownsville.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes,_Texas
Morgan, Texas
A few more and we could do a Texas Towns with British Car Names article! Morgan Motor Company is a family-owned British motor car manufacturer that was founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan. It is still in business today.
More About Morgan
Population: 478 (2013)
Location: Central Texas. About 60 miles south of Fort Worth.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan,_Texas
Mustang, Texas
According to Wikipedia "Mustang was incorporated in 1973 for the purpose of selling alcohol in what was then a dry Navarro County." Maybe not the best place for a Mustang car show? There's always Mustang Ridge!
More About Mustang
Population: 21 (2010)
Location: Central Texas. About 62 miles southeast of Dallas.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang,_Texas
Mustang Ridge, Texas
I don't know if there are any good locations (like a ridge!) for a car show in this town. But maybe a local Mustang club should scope it out! Mustang Ridge just sounds like a place Mustangs should be.
More About Mustang Ridge
Population: 926 (2013)
Location: Central Texas. About 20 miles south of Austin.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_Ridge,_Texas
Nash, Texas
The Nash Motors Company is probably most remembered (at least by me) by the small cartoonish car called the Metropolitan. As a automobile manufacturer that was founded near the beginning of the automobile age, Nash had a pretty long run, from 1916 to 1957. But competition with the Big Three eventually drove them out of business.
Nash is a good size small town. It would be quite the novelty to have a Nash car club or regional get-to-gether.
Like many Texas towns, the name of the town was connected with the railroad. In 1906, the town was named Nash, in honor of Martin Manny Nash, the Division Superintendent for the Texas & Pacific Railroad Company.
More About Nash
Population: 3,081 (2013)
Location: East Texas. About 10 miles west of Texarkana and 173 miles east of Dallas.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash,_Texas
Petrolia, Texas
It just counds cool. Sort of British (petrol) and Italian (Mamma mia!). It would make a killer car company name also. Something like, the Petrolia 3000 Type R (roadster, or course).
Petrolia must be the sister city of Electra, 46 miles away.
More About Petrolia
Population 685 (2010)
Location: North Texas. 18 miles north east of Wichita Falls
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrolia,_Texas
Ranger, Texas
Edsel, a Division of Ford, produced a model called Ranger for model years 1958 through 1960.
Ford later used the Ranger name as a styling package the Ford F-Series pickup truck sold in North America between model year 1965 and 1981. Interestingly, the 1965 Ranger package included bucket seats from the Ford Mustang!
Ford used the Ranger name again for a compact pickup truck sold in North America for the 1983 model year through 2011.
The Ranger was a General Motors car brand which lasted from 1968 to 1978, but lets not go there.
It also looks like the Ford Ranger and Bronco are coming back in 2019 and 2020!
Which made me wonder... Is there a Bronco Texas, and will this article ever end? The answer is yes, and yes. Just a few more towns left.
More About Ranger
Population: 2,451 (2013)
Location: North Central Texas. About 85 miles west of Fort Worth.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger,_Texas
Van, Texas
Oh yeah! Respect the Van! We'll leave it at that.
More About Van
Population: 2,650 (2013)
Location: East Texas. About 73 miles east of Dallas.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van,_Texas
Vega, Texas
There are not many Chevy Vegas left in the world. They were good looking cars and had a long run from 1971 to 1977. But apparently they tended to break down, rust and are of little or no interest to most collectors. I think most of them ended up being crushed or modified for the dragstrip.
I did a quick Google search and couldn't find any Texas Chevy Vega car clubs.
The name Vega, which is Spanish for "meadow," was chosen as the name of the town because of the vast prairie and surrounding countryside of the area.
Vega is also right smack on Old Route 66!
More About Vega
Population: 916 (2013)
Location: The Panhandle. About 36 miles west of Amarillo.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega,_Texas
Zephyr, Texas
The name Zephyr, means soft, gentle wind. Zephyr was also the name of Lincoln automobiles produced between 1936 until 1940. The Zephyr was positioned as a more affordable mid-size luxury car.
Zephyr was also the name of a new streamline designed locomotive that debuted in 1934.
More About Zephyr
Population of 198 (2000)
Location: Central Texas. About 14 miles east of Brownwood.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zephyr,_Texas
The End. Yay!
But wait, that's not all! I want to mention a few more towns, such as Bronco, Comanche, Cherokee, DeSoto, Durango, Lincoln, Magnolia, Matador, Mercury, Murphy, Plymouth (gone), Saginaw, Van Horn, and Wheeler.
Did we miss a town? Let us know. Email us with your discovery, and we might ad it to our list.
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