European mountain ranges and passes such as the Alps (Alpine by Renault, Sunbeam, Chrysler and Talbot), Taunus (Ford), Tatra (eponymous), Stelvio (Alfa Romeo) and the afore-mentioned Dolomites (Triumph) were also all chosen to reinforce an image of scenic, exotic locations, plus rallying success in some cases.
Closer to home, British towns and regions tend not to conjure up the same aspirational images. Granted, post-war BMC’s quaint English cities and ‘county’ models (Austin Devon, Somerset, Cambridge, Westminster, Morris Cowley, Oxford, and so on) reinforced post-war British pride and home-grown reassurance, but would you have rushed out to buy a car named after an industrial English port, for example, such as the Tilbury?!
In France, specialist sportscar maker Martin must have thought Tilbury sounded like an attractive and appealing typically-English name for its 1930s-esque British-inspired two-seater roadster. Thankfully it never attempted to sell the Tilbury this side of the Channel, just as the French couldn’t (and probably wouldn’t) buy a Cadillac (or Holden) Calais!