When I was just a little sprout in the mid 50’s my Dad had a junk yard, which is where I grew up and had the time of my life. When I became a teen ager salivating at the prospect of getting out on the open road he told my brother and me that “if we could get it running we could drive it”, well if they weren’t junk when they got there, they were sure junk by the time my brother and me were through with them. That experience gave me a somewhat dispassionate view of cars…so my answer is “no” don’t name it just drive it.
I tried give it a name but it never stuck and naming it just didn’t seem right. Even though it remains nameless, I take very good car of it.
Absolutely, especially if it’s an older and potentially unreliable vehicle. My mom, who grew up on a small farm in Idaho, named our 1968 Mercury Montego “Betsy”. Betsy lived up to her old gray mare identity on many occasions. I inherited her with over 200,000 miles on her. She was like the engergizer bunny with rickets, she kept going and going and going. She didn’t always want to come out of the stall, but she never left me stranded. I can clearly remember my mom coaxing the car over mountain passes with a pat on the dashboard and the encouraging words “c’mon Betsy”. Say what you will, this car would have broken down on us years earlier if she didn’t have a name.
Once I had a yellow VW beetle that for some reason seemed to demand the name Bessie–I had never named a car before that one and have never named a car since then. But that car had a “Bessie personality.” Man, I loved that car. She and I had some great times. Now, my cars are just cars. Volvos and Saabs are vehicles, not companions. Maybe it has to do with where we are at a particular time in our lives. During the time of Bessie, I was living alone and maybe I needed a non-judgmental friend? Whatever the reason, she lives on as a wonderful memory. I even have a toy VW beetle that my father painted yellow and gave me back then, some 40 years ago!
Cooless
I admit I once jokingly named one of my past cars–a Peugeot 405. I named it Francois, in honor of Francois Mitterand, then president of France. He, like my car, was always rising up from the ashes after near fatal ailments–my Francois was still running when we sold it for parts! It still is my favorite car!
I have a 1974 VW Kombi that I’ve had for 18 years. She was dubbed “Gumby” by a college friend due to her pasty green paintjob at the time and it stuck. She’s now painted like a tye-dyed tshirt with all the colors of the rainbow topped with a longboard tucked into her 3/4 roofrack like a feather in her bonnet.
I added to my collection 2 years ago a 1966 Plymouth Fury III Convertible, light blue with white top and white leather interior, named Gilda. It is required when riding in her with the top down that the female occupants where cat-eye glasses, elbow-length white gloves and a flowing head scarf while the men wear a Fedora.
Most recently I’ve added a 1999 Suzuki Esteem with 124,000 miles on her named Geraldine. She’s our beater, getting 40 mpg, which we use for our 25-mile daily commute. She’s out ilegitimate little stepchild.
I think that naming ones vehicle does, in fact, make it endearing to its owner and, therefore, urges them to take better care of it that if it was simply a hunk of plastic, glass and steel. Of course, it helps if the vehicle actually has some character. I can’t imagine owning something that everyone else has.
Brett - Baton Rouge, LA
My first car was named distance. My husband’s first car was not named, but now that we are married, he knows the rules. He has a Forester named Ester and I have a Honda named Heidi. Maybe after we have kids we’ll stop naming the cars.
I have named some cars that had a real personality but I had a friend years ago who drove a fairly new car and one old 48 Chevy named shegotta. I asked why the name and he said that when the temp dropped to o and the new car wouldn’t start he got in the old car and said shegotta and she did.
We lived in East Asia from '71 to '98, so I missed the whole station wagon thing. When we came home in '98, my wife bought a brand new Subaru, and I went out to find a 1988 Buick Electra Estate Wagon. She refers to it as my “ancient luxury barge,” but I call it “General Longstreet” – because it takes a really long street to park that sucker. I give my mechanic carte blanche during routine maintenance to come up with new ideas to improve performance. Also, I repair or replace anything that starts looking seedy. All my friends & acquaintances here on Maryland’s Eastern Shore know the “Gen’rl,” and take an interest in its continued welfare. My wife regularly goes out to get a new Subaru, but when she has some serious shopping to do, she like to borrow the Gen’rl" because of its great carrying capacity.
Does a car deserve a name? I think some cars deserve names. My old '96 Toyota Camry, Elizabeth Taylor, certainly deserved hers. She didn’t have a name for her first 6 years, however in her 6th year I had to replace her transmission. Being somewhat broke (and naive) I let my mechanic order a rebuilt transmission from a company he had never used before. Luckily I bought a warranty. The first transmission they sent broke down in the first few weeks… After a couple of weeks trying to convince the transmission company to honor their warranty they, they sent a new one. A new mechanic installed this transmission, however the car would not start… the transmission was faulty. SO my car got a fourth transmission… this one helped the car start, but broke down during the mechanic’s test drive. At this point I named my car “Elizabeth Taylor,” for she went through transmissions like Elizabeth Taylor went through husbands. The fifth transmission was a charm, it worked for several months before my engine light came on again. By this time Elizabeth Taylor wasn’t looking so hot… she had some plastic surgery after the ice cream truck (YES, the ice cream truck) backed into her while she was parked in front of my house. In any case I finally divorced Elizabeth and bought a Honda. The new car and I are very happy together.
Four years ago I bought a Miata Shinsen Version. Since I live in Anchorage, it’s only a summer car (although a know of several Miatas that are driven year around).
When I was completing the paperwork, I was talking to someone at the dealership and asked about getting a vanity plate and was told that I could order it from the DMV website and then she asked what name I wanted. I told her that since I am originally from Kalamazoo, MI, I was thinking of Kazoo. She told me she thought she had seen that name already and that it was taken, so then I said … well, maybe I’ll get Kazoom. She responded “that’s perfect since the Miata is Zoom Zoom” and my baby was named.
When I ordered the plate from the state, Kazoom was available and I completed the transaction. After getting offline, I wondered if Kazoo really was taken, so I went back on line. It wasn’t taken … so I immediately ordered it for my 1992 4Runner. So now the 4Runner is Kazoo and the Miata is Kazoom.
Shortly after that, I discovered that the Miata club in my former hometown is called Kazoom, so I contacted them and I am an honorary member.
Cars should only be named if it’s clever. I drove Atilla the Hyundai for 5 years. I’m not nostalgic over the car…just the name.
532 responses before mine… I haven’t waded through the lot yet, so tell me, has anyone else commented on what I think is the most disturbing element of this whole uproar, namely that Robert is not so much upset that his truck has a name, but that his truck has been given an identity that, from Robert’s perspective, is the wrong gender?
Good gravy - how insecure about your identity do you have to be to be freaked out over someone else’s whimsical label for an inanimate object?
It stinks of fear, fear, homophobic fear. Chill out bro. A boy truck doesn’t make you a 'mo.
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I to was reminded of the one and only time i named one of my junkers. I was a young pup and didn’t have a lot of money to fix up my 1950 Ford pick up, which needed a couple of broken valve guides replaced. And I’m sure you are aware that if a exhaust guide in a v-8 Ford flat head is cracked, you are going to get that heat into the cooling system, so I added a electric fan to the front of the radiator to suck the heat out (that was cheaper then tearing into the engine), and named my truck Lucifer cause it ran so hot you just had to figure it was from HELL!
I’ve got a buddy whose wife just bought a pink late-model Cadillac Sedan DeVille. Since she loves all things DISNEY, in a moment of divine inspiration,she immediately christened it “Cruella DeVille” (from the A HUNDRED & ONE DALMATIONS movie).
Priceless! Walt and Mickey would be so proud!
Cadillacjeff
Some vehicles earn and deserve a name. I had a rusty red 1978 GMC pickup for many years. It’s idle was just a bit fast and I could never get it just right for very long. It never failed to rumble to life and haul loads of wood, gravel, hay, or feed and was appropriately named the “Rumblesaurus” as it startled many nearby when it came to life on various occasions.
Sometimes you just have to…
Our 1924 Model T Ford, covered in wicker when it was new, what else could it be besides the “Basket Case?”
My wife’s 1931 Model A Ford Tudor Sedan, purchased for our 25th wedding anniversary - how could we NOT call it “The Jewel”?
The new cars are transportation, soulless and without character…at least for another 60 or 70 years!
do not name your or your lawnmower…MAN LAW
NO NO NO!!! I don’t name my cars, nor do I put clothes on my dogs!
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