Having grown-up in Motown near TWO junkyards, I wonder where your Dad’s was.
Joe Tomczyk - retar’d in Blk Mtn, NC
I think failure to name one’s car is a symptom of some sort of serious emotional problem. Not naming your car is like hating fun. Why would anyone not name something they spend so much time and money on?
I had a 4cyl. 1987 Ford Taurus MT-5 that I named Ferdinand because Ferdinand really only wanted to sit around and smell the roses, but I made him compete in a few bull fights (autocross events) while I had him.
My current vehicle is a rambunkshus 4WD Nissan with enough attitude to get itself into a lot of trouble. It’s over-confident spirit and small stature has earned it the name Scrappy-Doo.
My wife has a white 1992 Buick that is always dirty regardless of the fact that it never even leaves the parking lot of our apartment complex. He’s named Pig-Pen from the Charlie Brown cartoon. As you may recall Pig-Pen wasn’t playing in the dirt or anything. All of that dirt found him when he was minding his own business. That white Buick is the same way.
When I was younger we had an 1984 blue Ford F-150 pick-up truck that was as faithful as any hound dog, and was aptly named Ol’ Blue.
If you don’t name your vehicles you probably also kick puppies and hate roller-coasters. Enjoy your miserable life.
Short answer - yes!
Slightly longer answer - as follows:
A decade ago, my work day started at 11 a.m. Therefore, family members asked me to drive my then 11-year-old niece Marisa to cello practice. I believe driving a yellow '74 Superbeetle convert capable of carrying a massive cello was a contributing factor, but then …
“You should name your car,” Marisa said one day. “How about ‘Herbie?’”
" - Herbie was a '63 sedan with a six-volt system and a canvas sunroof. I have a 12-volt '74 Superbeetle convert," I replied.
“Oh,” Marisa said.
A few days later, driving to cello practice, I had an idea.
" - Marisa, I have a name for the Superbeetle."
Well wise for her age, Marisa could see that the new name would likely be extremely corny, something Bullwinkle-like.
" - How about ‘Ol Yellow’?"
“Isn’t that the story where the boy has to shoot his beloved dog at the end?” Marisa replied, having recently read the classic.
" - Yes, that’s what I do if cylinder No. 3 (the one that gets the least amount of cooling air) overheats and throws a rod," I said.
Marisa just sighed.
Bullwinkle J. Moose would have been proud.
Michael
The owner’s manual of my husband’s little yellow MINI says that the owner should name the car. After all, when you’re talking about your road trip, one of the most important characters has to have a name, right? So we have Sunspot, or Spot for short.
My first car ended up with a name over time. I was taking high school Spanish at the time and my inherited '89 Accord had many quirks and needed a LOT of positive reinforcement, so I told it “buen coche” quite often. The name Coche stuck. I was really attached to that car - it outlasted several boyfriends and a best friend. When I broke the news that I was getting a new car, its radiator cracked in half within a few days. My husband (fiance, at that time) told me I broke its heart.
My second car, a '97 Honda CR-V, never got a name. It didn’t have much personality, so nothing seemed to fit. We just called it “the green car.” I took just as good care of it as my first car and drove it to 200,000 miles with nothing but routine maintenance.
My new car, a 2007 Honda CR-V, has a name, Blue Moon. I’ve only had Moon six months, but I’m really attached to it, for some reason. Maybe because I’ve done so much driving - it already has 25,000 miles. I greet it with “Good morning, Moon” and I apologize to it if I hit a pothole!
I’ve never assigned gender to my cars, but my husband says Spot is a he.
I have had 2 cars with names. “Pure Lux” was the name of my 1988 Buick Reatta, sadly got hit and was totalled. I also had a 1994 Isuzu Trooper (which we sold) which I called “C.O.A.” car of Amducious (amducious was a demon is some movie). I now have a 2001 Volvo V70 2.4t which I haven’t figured out it’s inner name yet. My family also has a 1999 Astro Conversion van that I call lil budda. and my dad’s 1997 Chevy silverado 3500 dually, crew cab, extended cab which we call the beast.
The only car that I owned that achieved naming status was my 1975 vw Beatle. His name was Paul. Of course I could have named him John, George or Ringo but since he was blue and Paul McCartney was dressed in blue on the Sgt Pepper’s album cover it seemed fitting. Paul passed away last year after being hit in a head on collision with a Passat, I don’t know if the Passat had a name or not, I doubt it, it seemed fairly souless to me but I might be biased.
-Wendii
I had a '99 Saturn SL2, loaded with every option except leather seats … I named it “Das UberWagen”
I’m now driving a '99 Saturn SW2, with not so many options … I named it “Das UberWagen Wagen”
Oh the naming of the cars!
When I was a kid, we had names for just about every vehicle we owned…Well, I take that back…We didn’t really name the cars, just the pick-up trucks.
My dad had this white Chevy pick up as a work truck…My younger brother named it Whitey.
Then Dad got another Whitey…
Then we had this dirt brown (with one light metallic green front quarter panel) named Benji…My brother named that too.
Another couple of Whitey’s…Then came the 93 Dodge Dakota…Dad named it Smokey. Pretty two tone gray with red pinstripe…Sweet little V* pick up that would just HAUL ***!
There was another work truck that my parents bought from my dad’s company, 1998 Chevy Silverado that they named Rocky…
And a 1991 Mitsubishi Mighty Max named Bud…
I loved Bud! Little 5 speeder, that thing would get up and go for such a little tiny truck, and drank oil like it was goin’ outta style, but it was so much fun to drive!
I don’t think my dad’s work truck now is named…Another white Chevy work truck.
My first car…1979 Chevy Malibu Classic-sport coupe! THAT was a SWEET car!
I had a love/hate relationship with that thing, and aptly so after 7 starters and a MAJOR brake job!
It was my grandmother’s car that we had taken from her when she got too old to be out driving around. It sat in our driveway for a few years until I was old enough to drive, but my and my brother’s favorite thing was to go start Grandma’s car.
You could sit with it idling and just watch the gas needle dip lower and lower.
I got it when I turned 16, and my cousin named it the Enchilada Car (I never have figured out why)…
It was banana cream yellow, with a taupe-ish/tan-ish interior. It was also known as The Yellow Submarine due to the fact that I was totally in love with The Beatles in high school, and because the hood on that thing was so big it looked like a submarine.
Then I got a 92 Cavalier for graduation in 99…I myself didn’t name that car, but my best friend at the time called it the Rolling Massage Chair because it vibrated so much sometimes.
After the Cavalier, I had a 91 Grand Am that gave me nothing but problems the first six months I drove it. It had an oil leak, then the guy we bought it from said he’d fixed it, but on a spur of the moment weekend trip from Dallas to Albuquerque it started shuddering REALLY REALLY bad…I didn’t even make it out of town…Head was cracked.
So, my parents next door neighbor and my dad put a new engine in it…Then the oil pump went out and blew the engine again. Luck of luck eh, so technically, it had three engines in it.
That stupid car got me just about everywhere though…And eventually I named it Mabel. I was puttering down the highway one afternoon when I was home for a weekend (I used to drive trucks) and I felt like it was really trying to go faster, it just couldn’t. I was thinking, “STUPID GRAND AM!” Came up with Mabel from thinking of Grand Am switched around spells Grand Ma.
Got a slightly used 2006 Altima in October 2006, and I haven’t named it yet…I’m waiting for something to hit me.
I drove trucks for four and a half years, and only really named my orange trucks with the first company I drove for. I called the first one Sally Schneider Truck and the second one was Temperamental Journey.
I didn’t name any of the trucks I had with the second trucking company…just didn’t have the want to name them…
I have a '71 F100 named Betsy (from the folk song Sweet Betsy From Pike) and a '92 Jetta named Midge. They’re both feminine but I had a girlfriend once that would only call my Ford “Elmer Fudd.” Fortunately my wife is willing to accept Betsy for who she is. So many vehicles (and sometimes their people) are devoid of personality and not worth naming any more than naming each of the forks in your kitchen. However, our dear vehicles are part of the family and express their feelings about life just as much as any of us!
I’ve had several cars with great names. A Subaru named Suzie, a Yugo named Victor (Victor Yugo) and a now have a 61 Corvair van named Stanley and a 61 Willy’s named Lazarus (raised from the dead). The best name I’ve heard however was from an old roommate who had a 67 Valiant that we were going to name Prince (Prince Valiant) but it ended up being named The Valiant formerly known as Prince.
the first car i named was a mazda—her name was mazey—2nd named car a 1984 chevy celebrity --BMW (beats mama walking)–lastly a lavender neon called lily…getting ready to get another car–need to find a good name for a green suv…
I like your attitude, jmfay3! I used your “she takes us everywhere and in all kinds of weather” statement in my blog post on how to name your car.
I would not name my car, it’s a little silly, I do however believe that people naming their car do take better care of their vehicle since they’re probably more emotionally attached.
Unless a car will come when it’s called, I wouldn’t go to the trouble of naming it. I name a dog so that it will hopefully come when it is called. Naming a cat, however, is about as useless as naming a car. Cats only come to you if they want to.
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My car had a name. It was the “NIghtmaremobile.” It was a 1980 GM and it would die, every single day, as I drove home from work. It was always about 5 miles from the house. Never 10, never 2 always about five miles from my destination. This went on for weeks. No one could fix it. Finally I junk the &*+%#@ thing. All this was a long time ago. You’d think I’d look back on it now with a sort of fondlness. But no I still hate that car, even today.
We bought a Caravan last year and our greatgranddaughter disliked the color so much that she called it “Sea Weed”.
My 1st car was a 1964 Chevelle and I, being a 19 yr old girl back then, gave it the name “MAX.” My theory: that men give their vehicle a female name & women give their vehicle a male name.
Dear Tom and Ray,
The topic came up when the guy called about his concern about the name “Mike” for his new truck. The real problem, IMHO, is that you guys don’t even name your vehicles! It is certainly a lack of respect for a faithful machine!
Minerva, my 2003 Silk Green Mini, will never be sold by me. We have a committment to “death do us part”. When I am gone, or done driving, she will go to a grandchild or a son. We just plain take good care of eachother, next week she gets a new headliner. My Dad’s red Chevy Blazer was called “Red”. Many years ago, when the kids were young, we had a green VW Bug named Jerome…after "Jerome, the Frog who did Princely Deeds (a much loved children’s book).
So, I know I am not going to teach you two old dogs any new tricks, but isn’t it cold to refer to a given vehicle by Make/Model/Year? I can’t imagine having to remember all that !
Much love from a faithful listener, Carol
The most neglected high gas mileage car seldom mentioned on your show is named Lola after the movie Run Lola Run. I named our 2003 Jetta TDI Lola in tribute to Lola in the movie who runs through the majority of the film and that is what our 90 Hp 4 cylinder diesel does at 39 to 47 mpg at highway speeds 75 to 80. Top speed somewhere over 130 (not personally tested). We have crossed the US many times (154k miles on the odometer) in our Lola and she is a cruiser.
I’m a convertible girl and when my '99 VW Cabrio needed to be replaced I really wanted an Eos, but a friend of ours who sells cars got a used Toyota Solara as a trade-in and he could give us a sweet deal…I drove the Solara and thought it was nice, but I said to my husband “it looks like it has a bubble butt!” He said "Honey, we prefer Apple Bottom…so that is the name of my '07 Solara - Apple Bottom!