I have always named my cars, as they are the modern era’s “noble steeds” and I do care more about a being with an identity than a mere object. My first car was a teal with white interior 1978 Pontiac Ventura and his name was “Victor”, but I called him “Vic” for short and thought the whole “Vic Ventura” put him in the same company as Sam Spade for names. Then I had a Topaz named “Titus”. After him came “Sven” Sable and then a MINI Cooper names “Maximus”. My latest car is a Honda Civic named “Pericles” because Pericles was very civic-minded. My cars have always been male; that just seems reasonable to me since they are such big powerful “beasts”.
My wife Naomi ALWAYS names her cars, and ALWAYS keeps them way too long as a result. When I first met her, she was driving an olive green Ford Pinto named Pickle. When Pickle’s doors finally fell off, he was replaced by a silver Pontiac station wagon named Reynolds (as in aluminum). Reynolds was succeeded by a red Jeep Cherokee named, of course, Eugene.
Do not name your car! My first car was a 1970 Triumph spitfire that I named Cookie. Cookie and I had a great time traveling around the finger lakes region of NYS and I even let my girlfriend Janet drive Cookie around Ithaca in the winter. Although we were having great fun riding around with the top down Janet came around a corner, slid on the ice and crashed Cookie into the side of a parked car. Janet turned to me, with a tear in her eye and said “Cookie, she crumbled.” I have never again named any car or allowed a girl named Janet to drive my cars.
benny wilson here in sunny albiet cold jackson hole wyoming we named our 1982 wv westy GRETTLE. the problem we have is when we take a long trip in her and need to refuel . after shutting down and pumpig gas we find our GRETTLE WONT START. after letting her cool down for a few hours she springs back to life. lease can yo help us stranded somewhere between BAGGS and WAMSUTTER BENNY
Love ya Love your show! My car is named “Ozzie”. When I purchased the car new, the name was printed in red by the trunk latch. The car is now almost 10 years old with 115000 miles and has been one of the best cars I have owned. It has been mechanically sound requiring only regular maintenance, new tires and replacement of a selonoid chip(?). It has a very comfortable ride. It gets 22 to 25 miles per gallon which is great for the large 8 cylinder car that it is. I think having a name gives a car some self respect and responsiblity! And definitely makes the owner want to take care of it by changing its vital fluids regularly and keeping it clean! Only problem with naming a car is that it makes it very difficult to trade it in for a new one! Ozzie is a Lincoln Continental.
Most definitely yes! My first car was a Honda Accord that I named “Baby.” It suited her perfect - I spoiled that car like she was my own baby! I just pick a name to suit the car’s personality.
Of course. My '65 bug was named Salope (french for slut), a Merc. zephyr wgn was named Zephie, Nissan Stanza Wgn was named Stanley, and my current CRV is Chuck (the truck). Not naming your car is like not namimg your dog or cat. Who calls their cat…the cat?
Cars should only have names if they EARN them. My parents bought a brand new 1955 Chrysler New Yorker wagon. We went camping a lot. That car went on numerous road trips. On a geology field trip on dirt and rock roads somehow the name ‘Jesus H. Chrysler’ became attached and stuck, shortened to ‘The Jesus H.’. I think because someone said 'Jesus - we went over that? It stuck until we sold the car to a collector about 1980. It seemed to fit. Pat Mauer
My brother and sister always named their cars and I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. But then when I was listening to Car Talk and heard a listener talk about her car named “Little Red”, I realized I had a named truck! Never really thought about it before.
The truck was given to me when it was 15 and it is a “community” truck. Friends and family, along with the friends and family of the lady who gave it to me, all use the truck from time to time. It’s an old blue Toyota truck and at some point, someone started calling it “Old Blue”. It fit, and I didn’t think twic about it. And I love Old Blue!
So I agree with those who say that the vehicle must earn its name after many years and the naming should come naturally, in sort of an organic process.
When Tom and Ray read your letter on the show today, I did a double take!
But my favorite, bar none, was a 1974 Chevrolet Impala owned by another friend, who named it “Vlad.” That’s right, “Vlad the Impala.”
Well, of course, I figured that there had to be more than one of us with that dreadful pun. My own Vlad is a 1973 2-door that my mother bought new when I was 10 years old; I’ve had vanity VLAD plates for it in both Arizona and Idaho. I wonder how many other Vlads there are out there…
Incidentally, despite the car having a name, I only use the pronoun “it” to refer to Vlad, not “he.”
Not always but I have had 3 with names–a 1958 VW bug named Sammy by the previous owner–a 1964 Mercedes 190D Acquired in 1984 named Melissa by my mechanic–and a 1984 suburban with flow master, painted primer gray, 15 years old when I got it. My son called it “the ghetto mobile” until my daughter renamed it “the tank”
As a psychologist I can answer this question. Most vehicles are souless, inanimate objects that are virtually interchangeable. Naming them is as silly as naming your sofa. BUT once in a while, you are joined with a vehicle that has a personality, has lived a life or two, and been to hell and back. That vehicle becomes an entity in your life and deserves, no requires a name.
We once picked up a used car for $200 to use as a spare vehicle. It was a huge white sedan with red velvety interior. I don’t remember the year of the car but I remember that one of our minature dauchunds found a hard boiled Easter egg under the front seat the first day we drove it - in September. That car was always and only called Uncle Buck (after the John Candy movie). We had to look on the outside of the vehicle to remind ourselves that it was a Mercury Marquis in case any one wanted to know what Uncle Buck was exactly.
Uncle Buck took us on many a road trip and then served as transportation for two of our kids when they could drive. One of the kids used it for paint ball target practice and rust ate through everywhere a paint ball had hit. But Uncle Buck kept on going and only ever needed basic maintenance until his death on the side of the road in North Carolina where our oldest daughter abandoned him after an accident. We still talk about Uncle Buck to this day. Just like any other family member, gone but not forgotten.
My Dad had an old white Ford truck from the 60’s that could decimate anything in it’s way. We sat in the floorboard as kids because we were afraid that we’d be smashed by the metal dashboard (no seatbelts). Dad named it Bessie.
I had a 1994 Saturn SL (gold) until recently. Some desperate soul bought it for $500 from me. It’s name was the Golden Bullet. When I got my '92 Saturn SL, I carried on the name as the Maroon Bullet. Not as cool. Now that I have the Montero Sport (one week old to me), I have to think of a new name. Suggestions?
Here’s one for your Department of Vehicles in Literature…
"The Envy of Sysiphus’ was the name of a car that “went very nicely when pushed uphill” in the short story “Tobermory” by Saki.
Giving names to inanimate objects is not limited to cars. Sailing vessels have been named for ages. Remember the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria?
Hurricanes are also named. Before the age of political correctness, hurricanes were all named after women. Years ago I heard that the reason hurricanes were given feminine names was because they were ?unpredictable?, much like many women. Maybe that?s why Henry Ford?s Model T was affectionately known as the ?Tin Lizzy.?
Keeping in mind that early cars did not have the reliability of modern-day cars, early car owners had to learn the peculiarities of their car to keep it running right. (i.e.: to start it on a cold morning, pull the choke out 1 inch, pump the gas pedal 4 times and crank the engine no more than 10 seconds with the gas pedal depressed ? down.) In effect, each car developed its own ?personality.?
As a result, car owners of old often gave their car a name that reflected the car?s personality, frequently feminine names (for the same reason as hurricanes.) I called my car ?Betsy? when it was running right, however, when it became cantankerous, I gave it other names.
It is likely that the practice of giving names to modern-day cars has diminished because they are so reliable that little ?personality? shows through.
Maybe ?Stepford? would be a good name for modern cars because they all act the same. (From the novel: ?The Stepford Wives?.)
I don’t know that you should name your car or not, but it sure makes it easier to yell at it if it has a name!
My first car was a true junker - a rusted out 1982 strip-model Chevy Cavalier that was held together with duct tape. My father quickly named it “Bob”. It was so easy to yell at Bob when it wouldn’t start, when it stalled, when the locks froze, that sort of thing. It wasn’t until we thought to ask dad why he picked the name Bob that we learned how great the name REALLY was. It stood for Bucket-Of-Bolts!!
There is nothing wrong with naming a car. Afer all, consider how many hours you spend in it- almost as much time as you spend at home with your real family, especially if you commute!!
My dad got me started on naming vehicles. The first one I remember was a truck that my parents bought from a dealer who (unknown to them)ran a chop shop as a side business. Nothing on the truck was stolen, luckily, so they got the truck back from the IL State Police after he got busted. What my dad learned, though, was that the truck could have been the inspiration for Johnny Cash’s ‘One Piece at a Time’. Almost nothing on “Da*n Truck” belonged to a 1978 GMC. When something broke, he had to take the piece in to the parts store and say “match this”!
Anyhow, my first car was a red 1986 Grand Am I named “Baby”. My second car was a 1993 Saturn named “Kitty” that I bought new of the lot and had for 11 years.
Three years ago, my dad and I each bought Ford Explorers within a month of each other. Dad promptly named them “Lewis” and “Clark”. (I own Lewis)
