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Excerpt from Car and Driver 9-21 Elana Scherr:"Frunk" is a portmanteau, a combo of "front" and "trunk," like "brunch" is made from "breakfast" and "lunch," "motel" from "motor" and "hotel," and "brony" from—never mind, you get the point. Previously, there was no need to differentiate where your trunk was, because most likely it was in the back, and if it wasn't, you were probably in a Porsche or something Italian, and part of the fun of ownership was snickering at the unsophisticated schlub who went behind your 911 to stow their bags. C/D first used "frunk" in a McLaren review in 2012, when it was a rarity. Now we must refer to this area more often, and I really don't want to say "frunk." Ugh.
Because I don't believe in complaining without offering a solution, I have made it my duty to come up with an alternative. First I looked to Porsche, since it has a long history of front trunkin'. Where do suitcases go in Stuttgart?"Kofferraum," said Frank (not Frunk) Wiesmann, a Porsche spokesman. No matter where it is? "No matter the location. Literally translated, it means 'space for suitcases.'" I like Kofferraum better than "frunk," though it does sound as if your car might be about to hack up your luggage like a cat with a hairball.
Much of Europe goes with "boot" instead of "trunk." Jaguar briefly tried to make "froot" happen, but that works better for sugary cereal than for cargo space. Swapping the root words doesn't help either. "Trunt"? The less said about that, the better.
Don’t need to go to Europe for a name, GM made about a million Corvairs! I had several, the last had every HD option Chevy offered in 1967. Quick Steering, HD Susoention, Metalic Brakes etc. I added Plus 1 performance radial tires and wheels, headers, aluminum pan and valve cover for better cooling etc. Great car.
The Corvair Spider with a turbocharger had 180 hp, more than Porsche at the time. We just called it a “Trunk.”
The C8 Owners Manual calls it front and rear storage. The thing you open to get to the storage is called a hood for the front and a hatch for the rear.
No matter, the term frunk is here to stay. Merriam-Webster has it on their Words We're Watching" - which means it will likely be added to their dictionary.
What to KnowFrunk is a popular portmanteau of front and trunk referring to cars that have their storage spaces in the front rather than in the rear, as is more typical. It should be noted that our definition of trunk does not require it be located in the back in the first place.
If there is only one trunk, I’d call it a trunk regardless of where it is. The C8 is one of the rare cars that has both, so as much as I hate the word “frunk”, it’s a one syllable word and easy to distinguish between the two.
The C8 Owners Manual calls it front and rear storage. The thing you open to get to the storage is called a hood for the front and a hatch for the rear.
No matter, the term frunk is here to stay. Merriam-Webster has it on their Words We're Watching" - which means it will likely be added to their dictionary.
With the HTC the term “hatch” seems off. Hatch sound like the giant piece of glass that hinges from the roof.
Last edited by Majestic94; Aug 15, 2021 at 02:15 PM.
If there is only one trunk, I’d call it a trunk regardless of where it is. The C8 is one of the rare cars that has both, so as much as I hate the word “frunk”, it’s a one syllable word and easy to distinguish between the two.
ah yes, there are numerous words I just won't say. have always been that way. My wife laughs hysterically when she stumbles upon one. and "frunk is most definitely one of them. I say "front trunk" or "rear trunk". clear and easy to understand and no dopey slang term. I really like the Brits with their "boot" and "bonnett", but virtually no one in this country would have a clue what I was saying....
ah yes, there are numerous words I just won't say. have always been that way. My wife laughs hysterically when she stumbles upon one. and "frunk is most definitely one of them. I say "front trunk" or "rear trunk". clear and easy to understand and no dopey slang term. I really like the Brits with their "boot" and "bonnett", but virtually no one in this country would have a clue what I was saying....
I like the Brit’s version but it sounds pretentious when we say it.
lol, I used to live on a destroyer so I’m well aware of that kind of hatch. I meant the car kind. Most people don’t see a car’s hatch as a passage way.
Last edited by Majestic94; Aug 15, 2021 at 02:57 PM.
The point is that it in no way implies a "giant piece of glass that hinges from the roof". - an opening of restricted size. Did the destroyer giant pieces of glass for hatches?
The point is that it in no way implies a "giant piece of glass that hinges from the roof". - an opening of restricted size. Did the destroyer giant pieces of glass for hatches?
Of course not. Those were the passage ways your definition implied. In the colloquial sense, for cars, most of us think “giant glass that hinges from the roof”.
Don’t need to go to Europe for a name, GM made about a million Corvairs! I had several, the last had every HD option Chevy offered in 1967. Quick Steering, HD Susoention, Metalic Brakes etc. I added Plus 1 performance radial tires and wheels, headers, aluminum pan and valve cover for better cooling etc. Great car.
The Corvair Spider with a turbocharger had 180 hp, more than Porsche at the time. We just called it a “Trunk.”
But the Corvair only had one "trunk," The C8 needs to distinguish between two of them.
The simple question is what do you call the access panel to the engine? A hood. We just have a engine compartment with a storage compartment. My C8 has a trunk, and a hood.
Don’t need to go to Europe for a name, GM made about a million Corvairs! I had several, the last had every HD option Chevy offered in 1967. Quick Steering, HD Susoention, Metalic Brakes etc. I added Plus 1 performance radial tires and wheels, headers, aluminum pan and valve cover for better cooling etc. Great car.
The Corvair Spider with a turbocharger had 180 hp, more than Porsche at the time. We just called it a “Trunk.”
We did too, the Corvair had a front trunk. The trunk was massive, and the rear engined Corvair was excellen in the snow country I was raised in. The engine sounded really cool too. The C8 I refer to it as; front trunk. I see that Chevrolet calls it; front and rear storage.
Last edited by Skid Row Joe; Aug 15, 2021 at 11:42 PM.
What the Frunk?
