Today is World Animal Day, which I believe is a particular good day to commemorate George Holmes. Holmes was the man behind the Camber GT and it's later incarnation the Maya GT. That was in fact named after his wife’s riding horse and the car was given a new logo with a running horse, not totally unlike that of Ford’s Mustang. That's one. But what may make it even more suitable is that Holmes was tragically killed in a road accident in 1968 while driving his own Maya GT. He saw an injured bird on the road, stopped and went out to rescue it. But another driver had not noticed him and ran him over, killing him on the spot. What a sad end.
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Maya GT, named after George Holmes' wife's horse. He was killed when he tried to rescue a bird
Picture Jeroen Booij archive
I found that a great number of Mini based cars were actually named after animals. This is my list of them:
AF Spider
Andersen Cub
Ashley Gnat
Austin Ant
BAL Salamander
BSE Badger
Banham Bat
Badsey Eagle
Bandicoot Mini
Banshee
Brookland Swallow
CJC Bison
Capricorn
Cavallo Estivo
Charlatte La Puce
Dandy Dragonfly
Deerstalker Mini
Domino Pup
Dougal Bug
Everson Cherub
Fargo Tiger Special
Fireball Midget
Firefly
Flying Falcon
Galloping Maggot
Gecko
Gnat
Grantura Yak
Hare 3-wheeler
Hollier Mosquito
IGM Minbug
Ibis
Kingfisher Sprint
Ladybird Special
Leonhardt Tiger
Luna Bug
Lynx
MG Wasp
MMP Gnat Sports
Mamba BLMC
Mini Beaver
Mini Mongrel
Mini Mouse (UK)
Mini Mouse (US)
Mini Mutt
Mini Puma
Mini Robin
Mini Shark
Mosquito
Octapus
Onyx Bobcat
RD Wasp
Ranger Cub
Redbird Mini
Sarcon Scarab
Scorpion Mini
Seagull
Silver Flea
Siva Mule
Stimson Midi Bug
Stimson Mini Bug
Stimson Snow Bug
Terrapin
Wildgoose