No, this is not an ode to a certain TV series or the setting*, but rather an expansion of a vital part of it.
The inspiration is one of the main characters, a spaceship of the Firefly class the characters live their lives in. Notice how the overall shape suits the class' name, and the propulsion nicely goes along. During the series, the ship has clearly shown character, and made itself extremely easy to personify. It suited the crew well, too.
And so the characters were not merely traveling from A to B on some XYZ4567, they were flying with a ship of distinct qualities - even the NPCs were quick to recognize the type, and swiftly made assumptions about the crew (mostly not very favorable, though).
The idea and challenge of this thread, then, is to create space-worthy vessels, that have character of their own. Have fun!
(*But of course, go watch it, because it's great. ;) )