No. My daily drivers are appliances, like a toaster. Normal people don’t name their toaster.
While I like my vintage cars because they seem to have character, I know they are still just pieces of metal.
Sometimes, when I bust my knuckles on their rusty bits, I’ll call them a piece of something else but that’s where it stops as far as naming cars is concerned.
That reminds me, I need to fix my toaster, Mrs. O’Leary.
She burned my toast again this morning…
All of my pickups are named “Bubba”, of course!. The first (Ford Ranger) was “Bubba”. The second (Chevy S-10) was “Son of Bubba”. The current truck (Nissan Frontier) is “Bubba-San.”
But I’m very concerned about someone who would give a pickup a female name. Wouldn’t that result in substantial automotive gender confusion?
P.s. In the late '70s I bought a used Pinto. The name for that car is unprintable, but referred to the vehicle as a container for manure.
I’ve always named my cars, and I believe that EVERYTHING is alive, although maybe not life as we think of it. My cars have generally been very considerate in breaking down in my driveway instead of out in the middle of nowhere, and I think it is because we respect each other.
My current car, Harvey, a 2000 Chevy Impala, was left to me almost new by my uncle when he died. The very first time I got behind the wheel, I felt “at one” with the car, almost like we were some sort of cyborg. I took it out on the interstate and drove it REALLY fast, and I could feel the car falling in love with me. You see, my uncle was old and afraid to drive on the interstate. He subjected Harvey to the stop and go driving of downtown streets. Harvey LIKES to go fast. Very, very fast. And so do I.
I use a 2-door, 4-wheel drive, red 1986 Subaru Justy when I’m in Norway. I bought it from a retired reindeer herder named Johannes, so the car is called Johannes. My term of endearment is “vesle Johannesbilen min” or my little Johannes-car. It’s not as old as the original Johannes, but it doesn’t have a lot of energy on hills, so I pat the dashboard and say soothingly, “vesle Johannesbilen min” and we get up the hills more easily (or so it seems). All my friends call it Johannes bilen, too. It’s quite natural for this car to have a man’s name.
I name my husband’s cars. Upon it’s death in 1997, I memorialized his '81 5 series BMW beginning the obit with “The Old Grey Mare is dead”. It’s cataract ridden vision caused temporary morning sun-diffusion blindness, whereby it careened into an ill parked dump truck. Fog lamps dangled as vital fluids oozed from it’s body. Totalled! (Driver suffered injured pride.) The current driving machine is a 1994 528i, mileage over 250k. I have named it the Flintstone Mobile, in anticipation of my feet penetrating the floor. Each time the doors are closed, more of them shed unto the earth. The suspension is shot which greatly enhances the road feel, as we frolic around the prehistoric roads of the Blackstone Valley (DPW please have mercy). I’m certain the neighbors now refer to us as Fred and Wilma, and the Flintstone auto name gives great opportunities for timely interjections of Yabadabadoo.
Have never named a car but always name motorcycles. A BMW 1150R named Bette, a Harley Dyna Glide named Mabel and a Ducati Monster named la strega. One should always be on a first name basis with something that is going to kill them.
I treat my car like my baby! I am a female college student and I own a 2003 Ford Mustang. I’ve never taken better care of anything in my life. I’ve had this car for four years. I was so excited when I bought it that I immediately gave it a name! I named it Wiz for two reasons. 1. My baby is going to wiz by whatever vehicle you are driving! 2. My car is Yellow and black and an artist by the name of ‘Wiz’ Khalifa has a song called “black and yellow.” therefore I’ve named my baby Wiz!
My parents vehicles also have names, and i know alot of people of all ages whose vehicles have names, so I dont find it odd at all, and if you do, you don’t know what it’s like to have a little fun! I think of it like this… I worked really hard to get my car and it just shows that I really care about it!
1st You don’t have any classic English cars on the pull down list for “your car”!!! shocking!. We named our cars so we could name the excel spreadsheet where we logged all the (gasp) expenses. 1976 MGB wife’s car (Emma), 1962 TR4 (Ralph), 1972 TR6 (Teddy), 1968 Mini Moke (Moke), 1970 Mini GT1275 (Mouse), 1968 TR250 (Rusty) It came from Mass!. current project 1930 Model A sedan with Mustang II front end, Corvette engine, Turbo 350 tranny and of course a Jaguar IRS hence the name FrankenFord !
My first car was a 1957 Plymouth flathead six. I named it “Brand X” and painted the name on the tail fins. Everything that could break did.
The name fit.
I am currently driving Holly Honda the Fourth…as you can easily guess, this is my fourth Honda! My husband is driving Harold Honda the Second - he hasn’t had as many new cars as me! HH IV currently has almost 240,000 miles on her and I’ll be driving her until she leaves me stranded! So, YES! Cars need names!
I have a purple MINI Cooper named Spartacus, which I found particularly fitting for my small-but-mighty vehicle. I even had a license plate frame (which my father took the liberty of removing because he was too embarrassed to drive with it on) that said “I AM SPARTACUS”, both as an identifier for the car and as an homage to that famous scene in the movie. It always made me giggle.
Car naming always felt too cutesy and weird to me, however, there was one vehicle I owned that created its own name. It was a 1994 Dodge Dakota club cab. I bought it used in 2002, and I believe that it was haunted by the ghost of a crusty old man who worked as a handyman. It wreaked of cigars, and there were dirt stains imbedded on the steering wheel and just about anything else one would touch. I am a petite woman, and this truck was a beast. So much so that anyone who would see my truck for the first time would exclaim, “that thing is a beast!” It happened so often that me and my friends just started referring to the truck as “The Beast.” Conversations about my vehicle sounded like this: “Let’s go to the store. Should we take The Beast?”; “Where did you park The Beast?”; “Can I borrow The Beast to pick up my new couch?” It’s like the truck chose it’s own name. I had nothing to do with it, and it felt natural. I will never force a name on a vehicle, but sometimes they just choose their own. RIP, The Beast.
I had a 1982 Rabbit for 15 years and he was always a boy. I never really named him until a friend asked me how Odie was doing. I asked “who?” he said “Odie, your car”. Thus a name was born. I had window decals of Garfield and Odie, his dog friend. If you have ever seen this cartoon character, his personality fit my car to a T. Whenever I took him to his garage, my mechanic would argue with me. Frankie was a tiny and round little Italian man and we would discuss at great length that “all cars are girls!!!”. One time, I told him: “Herbie was a BOY!!”. He through up his arms and stormed off to the office while the rest of his mechanics tucked their heads back under the hoods of their respective projects, giggling but not wanting to get caught. He was a great car and I compare all cars to his legacy.
Since we were kids, we’ve named cars. The first I remember naming was a new 1954 Lincoln Capri which as a three year old, I named Lincolny. Since then I’ve had numerous vehicles including a Toyota Land Cruiser named Jessie, a Mercedes named Katherine, Hondas named Mary Jane and Blue and my current 4Runner named Skippy. All my vehicles are female thus avoiding car farts and messy oil drips in the garage. Cars like ships are traditionally female.
my '09 suzuki sx4 is named Rocket. My brother had a beautiful TR6 named Blue Tease. He crashed that.
Autos all ready HAVE names. When talking about your car you either say something like “My car is having AC problems…” In which cars name is “My Car”. Or you talk about your car as “The Gray Ford F150” Which case your cars’ name is “The Gray Ford F150” Why not give it an easier to say name? Instead of saying “The Gray Ford F150 needs an oil change”, you can say “Wayfarer needs and oil change”. It just sounds nicer.
Men who give their cars names treat their cars like wives and their wives like cars. There’s a basic lack of understanding of reality, unless it’s done in the spirit of being cute. And who wants “cute” in a grown-up? A person who names their car - and actually thinks there is some voodoo attached, as today’s caller did - cannot be taken seriously. Thanks, Tom and Ray, for speaking so frankly on this.
I have always named my cars. My very first car was a male Clyde (Nova) and it ran terrible! Since then all have female names Amanda, Kelly, Lillian, and Bonnie. All names usually relate to the color or temperment of the van. My last one is name Louise after Louise Jefferson on the television show she is a Charcoal Town and Country van. I feel like I am moving on up when I drive her. I think you name your vechile thinking it will take care of you and will never leave you beside the road alone on a dark night if you take care of her.
Even a soulless mechanical unmitigated trash heap deserves a name. Mine truck (used for business) is “Freak’n Truck”.
