In 2006, DaimlerChrysler generated a hive's worth of buzz and many other groan-worthy insect puns when it debuted a subcompact concept car at the Geneva Motor Show. With its aggressive stance, extensively reconfigurable interior, and blue-tinted glass, the concept itself was intriguing enough for a boxy, upright, front-wheel-drive five-door, but what really had every car journalist talking was the name, Hornet, which had surfaced from the German-American carmaker's vast repository of heritage nameplates, this time under the Dodge brand. Sixteen years later, it now appears Chrysler product planners have greenlit the Hornet nameplate for production, though as a CUV with little in common with its Hudson and AMC namesakes.

As it first appeared in 1951, the Hornet name stood for performance. Hudson introduced the Hornet largely as a platform for the company's new H-145 engine, a high-compression flathead 308-cu.in. six-cylinder good for 145 horsepower, more than the eight-cylinder engine that powered the Commodore. (The now-famous Twin-H dual-carburetor setup — initially available only as a dealer option before Hudson made it a factory option in early 1952 — bumped output to 160 horsepower.) Not only did the Hornet prove an immediate success on the sales floor with a full selection of coupe, sedan, convertible, and even Hollywood hardtop body styles, it also lit up the stock car circuit with drivers like Marshall Teague, Herb Thomas, Tim Flock and Dick Rathmann campaigning the Hornet in NASCAR.

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