Tell us about your username

In reply to calteg :

True story: for years I misread it as "catleg". Sorry...

When I was 15 my Dad used to subscribe to Autoweek.  He bought "Stand On It" based on the recommendations then let me read it.  Probably my favorite book for decades.  Couldn't bring myself to use "Stroker Ace" for an username so I just used "Stroker".   

Upon reflection I prolly shoulda used a different name...

The first build I went really waaay too deep in was my 91 Galant VR4. Never had an issue with crankwalk (it was a 6 bolt crank not known for doing it) but literally everybody not in the Mitsu/DSM world always asked one of two questions: How many transmissions Ive blown up and if it had crankwalk. It just turned into a running inside joke. 

Fun fact: It ran high 11 second 1/4 mile times and regularly had my kayak on top. Surprised many a street cars in Atlanta 15 years or so ago. 

Then later it turned in to less of a sleeper:

Mine consists of the diminutive form of my first name,  a portion of my surname, and the number I wore for hockey.  My avatar is the Lotus Eleven that I built 12 years ago. 

Used this name as a gamer tag for years, started using it in car forums when I started joining them. 

Back when I joined the forum I owned a 2006 Chevy HHR, my avatar is the logo of the then-GM division responsible for engineering the platform for it, Opel.  I miss that car, may get another like it one day.

Way back in 2001, when I joined the Air Force, I was super into Mustangs. It didn't take me long to buy my first one, a 1999 Mustang GT coupe. One day while I was at work, I noticed that one of the pictures in the slideshow screensaver on the computers was an F16 firing an AMRAAM missile. I found the pic and pasted a side view of my car over the missile. That was the background on my work computer for 2 or so years. In early 2003, I signed up for Yahoo mail and needed a username. Hmmm. Missile something. Stinger missile? How about stanger missile? Yep, that works. Except I misspelled missile as missle. Now because I have had that account for so long, it doesn't feel right to spell it correctly. 

Here is 21 year old stanger_missle in 2002 talking on his Nokia phone while sitting in his car that inspired the name. What a pimp.

This was the first of many Mustangs. In the summer of 2003, I traded the white GT in on the unicorn of my destruction, a 1999 Cobra convertible:

That car was the biggest influence in my life during that time. I loved that car even though it tried to destroy me financially through tickets and frequently broken parts. It inspired me so much that I had this tattoo done:

Which is what my avatar is. Both cars are long gone now.

Bent-Valve. I just needed a name and it's related to engines.

I did blow a transmission and engine in the same vehicle in a 5 minute span, but I couldn't come up with a good name from that incident. Broken-Rod? Nope, that could be, ah, misunderstood.  The trans only had 1st and 3rd working at the end, Third-Gear? Nah.

A while after I joined GRM I got an RX-8, that is why my avatar has no bent valves!

tb said:

My friends have been calling me "tb" since high school since my first name is a very common Timothy and my middle name is the uncommon Beau. I think my friend eugene started it? Makes it easier than calling for "Tim" and having three people in the room reply "which one?"

Sounds like you're lucky he didn't decide to call you "Timbo."  I would've. 

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

Antihero was the name of the first song I ever wrote. I was also told I was the guitar antihero in a very complementary way because I didn't dress in the cliche lead guitarist way, played guitar strangely, didn't use the right equipment( apparently Les Paul's weren't guitars that lead guitarist used according to some, who knew) and didn't do drugs but I "destroyed the other guitarists that see you". Their words, not mine.

 

My avatar should be the album cover of our first album, because.....I mean.....doesn't that picture really say Interstellar Sledgehammer to you? But I can't get ahold of the artist to get permission

Use the art. He'll get ahold of you. ;)

Many, many, years ago, my screen name on message boards was "Aug", short for "Augie," which was what my parents called me to avoid calling me Mikey or Junior. One of my office mates was piddling around with MS paint one day, and had drawn a rose. We were terribly bored that day, and he was erasing it bit by bit. All that was left on the screen was a spiral, and it made me think of a snail. We jumped right in. Soon, we had a snail who was going so fast that his eye stalks were blown back in the wind, and the forward facing surfaces of his shell were heated to a dull orange. His teeth were bared from the effort, and his snail-trail was so hot that it burst into flames as soon as he wasn't on it anymore and it touched the air. (See my avatar.). We then came up with a dragonfly that was losing a race to the snail. The dragonfly was colored like a British Spitfire (camo), and wore a leather flight helmet, goggles, and white silk scarf. His face also showed great effort.  The image became the mascot for my car, a Ford Fairmont with a RHO-spec 302, heavily oxidized dark blue paint, a cracked white vinyl top, and Mustang 5.0 badges on the fenders and trunk, that was way faster than any car that ugly had a right to be. 
 

Then a little animated short popped into my head. Here's this mild-mannered snail, cruising down the garden, minding his own business. A dragonfly pulls up, and wants to race. The snail accelerated a little, pulling ahead. Dragonfly,  not wanting to be outdone, reciprocates. It's on. Well, it turns out that the snail is a sleeper, and he leaves the dragonfly in the dust. During his acceleration, the effects in the avatar image happen one by one, first the gritted teeth, then the eye stalks, then the red shell highlights, then the flaming snail-trail, as he slowly pulls ahead of the dragonfly. Then, the view switches to a rock, presumably somewhere in front of the snail. Then back to the snail. Then to the rock. Back to the snail. To the rock. To the snail. Rock. The snail sees it!  His eye stalks flip forward, and big comic surprised eyes happen. He slams on the brakes, but too late. In a blur, he hits the rock, and we see his shell tumbling wildly through the air, then bouncing off the ground, once, twice, then landing and rolling, rolling, slowing to a steaming stop. No movement. Is Snail dead? After a seemingly interminable pause, we see slight movement. The snail emerges from the shell, gathers his thoughts, and recommences his cruise, as though nothing at all out of the ordinary has happened. 

Here's the original car:

Mine is pretty self-explanatory.  Miatas have been my daily driver since 1995 and I have had four.

'93, '06, '97, '16

In reply to snailmont5oh :

I mean.....you aren't wrong I just would prefer it to be the easier above board method. It's a very cool piece of art

I was highly amused by a certain compilation video of various people attempting to perform a smoky tire burnout and instead creating an acrid smelling cloud of clutch smoke. 

When I was younger, I was told by a few friends I think too much.  And my initials are all the same letter. 
 

That's about it.

My avatar is a poster my dad gave me in 1985 as a way of telling me we were going to that race. It stills hangs on the wall in my office. Got into anime in college, hence the 'otaku' part of my name. (It also means "dangerously obsessed".)  I'm sure the Gearhead part is easy to understand.

When I joined the forum, I had a 1960 Mini, that I drove regularly. It was about the same time that the BMW MINI was hitting the US, so I had to differentiate real from the imposter, hence, RealMiniDriver. 

Then, for a long time, it sat in the back of the shop, in pieces, after a mishap with a curb. So, I modified to RealMiniParker.

A couple years ago, I sold it, so I have no more Mini = RealMiniNoMore.

snailmont5oh said:

tb said:

My friends have been calling me "tb" since high school since my first name is a very common Timothy and my middle name is the uncommon Beau. I think my friend eugene started it? Makes it easier than calling for "Tim" and having three people in the room reply "which one?"

Sounds like you're lucky he didn't decide to call you "Timbo."  I would've. 

Yeah, I have gotten that once or twice in my life buy never really cared for it. People using it were mostly smart enough to not repeat their mistake... except for my father although he somehow managed to keep a steady rotation of nonsense nicknames flowing like only he could accomplish. 

tb (Forum Supporter) said:

snailmont5oh said:

tb said:

My friends have been calling me "tb" since high school since my first name is a very common Timothy and my middle name is the uncommon Beau. I think my friend eugene started it? Makes it easier than calling for "Tim" and having three people in the room reply "which one?"

Sounds like you're lucky he didn't decide to call you "Timbo."  I would've. 

Yeah, I have gotten that once or twice in my life buy never really cared for it. People using it were mostly smart enough to not repeat their mistake... except for my father although he somehow managed to keep a steady rotation of nonsense nicknames flowing like only he could accomplish. 

Dads are like that. 

Mine is easy, it is my last CP car, a 1981 Camaro. It's the car in the avatar if you didn't guess already.

I've always got all types of music playing and I was in a particular Marley phase when I was figuring out what to call my "race team" (me and occasionally one friend at the time). I was (and still am) going at the whole racing thing with a miniscule budget and an out of the ordinary car. Small Axe is a Marley song about the small, seemingly insignificant axe taking down a powerful tree. Metaphor. 

Small Axe Racing.

I started calling the Healey, Axe.

AxeHealey.

The E21 goes by the name Hatchet. 

My avatar is my daughter at some point in my, now her, Cozy Coupe. 

I think I've shared mine before.  Way back in 95 or so I was going to my first base from tech school in the Air Force.  My new base got my file and they were all making fun of my last name Stamps months before I even got there.  That evening on the Simpsons Bart got a pet Elephant and named him Stampy.  The next morning they all decided I would be called Stampy.  When I finally got to the base they told me right off that was my nickname.  I replied that's fine as long as I get to choose how to spell it.  That's why I'm Stampie.  I would say that more people know me by that than my real name.  My avatar is Stampy from the Simpsons.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

My kids saw your name and asked if you were Stampie Cat which I guess is some "famous" YouTuber. 

In reply to chandler :

There's some minecraft YouTuber that goes my Stampie also.  I remember when Lil Stampie was in first grade some of his classmates thought I was cool  because of my nickname.  Doesn't get any better than being the cool dad of the the first grade class.

Back in my early days online I had an account through AOL.  When trying to set up the account I needed a screen name.  Time for back story.  At that time I had a 1972 Super Sport Camaro that was my project car.  It seemed anytime I talked to someone about my Camaro I was asked if it was a Z-28.  I was annoyed by this I went as far as the license plate on the car said NOT A Z.

Fast forward back to AOL and needing a screen name.  I tried NOTAZ, NOTAZ28. NOT A Z and it seemed several hundred other combinations that were all in use.  My wife saw my frustrations and suggested NOD A Z (In use on aol) well then use NODD A Z which became Noddaz.

Bingo.  In use ever since.  And the Camaro is long gone.  

Side note, I do have an Eclipse but I will NOT change my name to Not A Vmpr.  Just no.