I have owned A Bessie (200sx) a Rosy (Rx7), a Dagney (CRX Si), and now Charlotte (914). I have had a bunch of cars in between including a Miata, Scirocco 16v, Integra GSR, Jetta GLi 16V, Fiat 850 Spider, Mercury Capri, Suzuki Samurai, minvans, etc... I've only named those 4.
Do you name your cars? What are they and why did you pick those names?
The GT6 is casually named "Smurf"
When I first saw the car in primer, I blurted out to a friend it looked like a Smurf, she even went as far as buying a trio of stuff Smurfs for XMAS one yr.
dougie
New Reader
11/8/08 11:21 p.m.
My mom has named every car she has ever owned. Her names are usually tied to the color like, "Gray Ghost" & "Bonnie Blue". She once hit a deer with the Mercury Cougar she had at the time hence, "Cougar Killer".
There's been quite a few.
TR3only
New Reader
11/9/08 6:06 a.m.
I've thought of naming 1 or 2 of the cars I've owned...tho not with names repeatable in "nice" company (I'm thinking of my '54 Plymouth Savoy, and unfortunately, my Volvo PV544, both long gone).
bmw327
New Reader
11/9/08 6:00 p.m.
I've named a few or have had friends name them and the names stuck:
1986 Audi Coupe GT was the Teutonic Sh*tbox. It was a great car. Totally cheap, a little worn and ugly, and totally reliable. Great brakes and a whorehouse red leather interior to boot. Sold it to a guy in Indiana who drove it home and intended to restore it.
1989 BMW 535i was the Bavarian Nightmare. Also a great car - a little rough around the edges, but the best drivetrain I've ever had in a car.
1984 Fiat Spider was Bastardo. That poor thing had been abused terribly and took alot of sorting, but was strangely free of rust.
1938 BMW 327 project is the Teutonic squad car.
What else would you call an Italian sports car with a vindictive personality but Fiona, at least I think I'm correctly associating the memory with the car, and not a crazed woman from my past...
ddavidv
SuperDork
11/9/08 6:23 p.m.
I've always thought naming cars was a bit juvenile. However, when you own a Mini it is required that you give it a name. So, 37hp seemed like a good reason to name it Cecil.
My '65 Ford pickup is called "big red" simply because we had two Ford trucks at one time and this one is big and red.
The BMW race car has no name other than the Bavarian Curse when it breaks, which is actually pretty rare.
Cecil is a great name, but IIRC Cecil was packing some serious HP. LOL
I got to thinking about this when I watched am interview with Richard Hammond where he talked about his car Oliver. If you haven't seen that episode of Top Gear, I highly recommend it.
When I first met my wife's family they had a 1978 Chev Monte Carlo that her mother called Bessie .
And when I was in High School I had a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda that my friends named the Snatchbackaruda . That was a really fun car .
Gary
Reader
11/10/08 8:29 a.m.
The concept of giving human names like Angus or Betsy or Mrs. Jones to cars never appealed to me. My '68 Spitfire is merely "the SpitRod," sort of a term of endearment but not human. BTW, I like "Snatchbackaruda."
Rusty, the Land Rover, got named for his color, not condition. When I first brought him home he had a oxidized red paint that looked like rust. My wife took one look at him and called him Rusty... it stuck. And now he is known by that name in Landy circles.
I have tried to name other cars but they just didn't stick. I did have a green VW Westy that was called Booger.
The J-H driver is named Casper because it's white and was very nearly a ghost before I rescured it.
The rotary Spitfire is the Abomination because any purist who is into British cars or old RX7's claims my hybrid is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord.
The current J-H race car project is tentatively named the Jensenator, that may change once it's running.
I had an RX7 which was affectionately named Stinky after an incident involving large amounts of oil consumption.
For whatever reason, my daughter named my Trooper 'Tucker'.
Of 41 vehicles I have owned, only one was named and that was by my 16 year old nephew. It was an old white Ford F150 with 361,000 miles on it. "JohnJohn," the Kid said the first time he saw it, "this truck should be dead but it's still living and looks like a ghost. Can we name it Casper?"
What could I say? It was Casper til the day I sold it and is still affectionately known as that.
NOHOME
New Reader
11/10/08 7:12 p.m.
I have.
The Bugeye is called L'il, cause she is such a litttle car.
Maggie is a 67 MGB GT, also known as "The GT from Hell" due to an appetite for transmisions.
The Miata is "NO HOME" because when I bought her (18 years ago) I lived out of it.
When it comes to giving a car a name, this craiglist guy hs got to have the best I ever heard! I laughed out loud while reading it because it is so true!
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/904522967.html
Sure, meet Sophia. She acquired that name when I first pulled her home with the help of my friends.
http://gallery.italiancarclub.com/56424-2/DSC_0172.jpg
Sure, meet Sophia. She acquired that name when I first pulled her home with the help of my friends.
Ian F
Reader
11/11/08 9:45 a.m.
Our LBC's all have names, '03 MCS: Nittany; '07 MCc: Dougal; '79 Spifire: Baldrick; '78 Spit 6 Goblin
There was an attempt to name my Dodge Cummins truck... but it never caught. Likewise, neither my '03 TDI nor our Volvo 1800ES's have names...
The Spit 6's Goblin name came with the car from the previous owner (who named all of his LBCs - probably as an easier way to keep track of them all). My g/f doesn't like the name and there was an attempt to rename it Lord Melchen (in keeping with our Brit-Com theme), but Goblin just seems to fit better (not to mention being faster to type) and she gave up.
Gary ,
I've owned two Barracuda's . The snatchbackaruda was bought from my grandfather when I was 14 it had the 273 V8 . The second one was bought from a Marine Corps Major when I was stationed at Camp LeJeunne . That car had the super 225 slant six .
I wish I had never sold either one .
I like sophia , she has a perma smile .
No names for the race cars (Just "red car" and "green car").
The street MGB is just "MGB".
Street Miata is just "Miata".
But I sometimes call our white '08 Accord "The Appliance"
And our grey Ford tow-van is "Vanna Grey".
Carson
Reader
11/14/08 5:55 p.m.
This is Bluebell. Have no idea where the name came from but she's always been Bluebell.
I cannot get myself to name my car because it just isn't my style, but I have found a few nicknames for my Buell Blast. Either "little smokey" because it smokes like a locamotive or "quick-shift McGee" because the clutch or 2nd gear are going out and I have to quick shift to keep from slipping.
No, they already had names when I got them.
I named my X1/9 Lilith during a fit of her not wanting to run (solved with Megasquirt)