Anybody out there who names their cars and is not ashamed to admit it?
I've always named my cars. My first car (a white 1984 Ford Tempo) was named "Son of Buick" - the name is because I traded my parent's 1975 Buick Century wagon towards it. My second car (a red 1988 Honda Prelude) was named "Speed Merchant" - the name of one of the New Haven Railroad's failed lightweight train experiments in the mid-1950s.
As I've noted in several recent posts, my current car (a red 1999 Ford Contour) is named "Sarah". Over the years, I've had several co-workers and friends by that name. As such, I've always liked it and decided it fit.
For many years, my best friend had a blue 1993 Ford Escort hatchback he named "Concorde" (think the Monty Python "Denis Moore" sketch, and not the airplane). He got rid of the car when he and his wife moved to New York City for graduate studies.
I've only owned one car that I named. I named it because the person I bought it from said I had to; apparently, it already a history of being named by its owners. It was a 1987 Toyota Corolla hatchback (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Toyota-Corolla-hatchback.jpg) (this was in the early 2000s). My (then) roommate came up with the perfect name for it, and it stuck: Red Velvet.
(This is the second "have you named your car(s)" thread I've seen pop up today, interestingly.)
I give my cars female names. My 1991 Prelude shell is Alessandra, my 1993 Prelude is Brittany (after a paint color I was considering repainting it), and my 1997 is Valentina (or V for short; V symbolizing the 5th gen Prelude). My dad had two different names for the 91 and 97 when he owned them. I also have names picked out for future cars I'm interested in buying someday. I'd name an Acura TSX (drove one with a manual yesterday and it was amazing) Astrid, a Civic Jenny, and a BMW M5 Katja.
Something about giving your car a name strikes me as being obnoxiously pretentious. There is nothing special about my car compared to any other 2009 Ford Focus, so that is as specific a name as it deserves. Now, if you've heavily modified, personalized, or otherwise pimped your ride, then you are entitled to name it because now it's unique.
I named my 2004 Buick LeSabre "The Action Buick" because of an inside joke with my roommate at the time about what an action figure of me would come with. I didn't name my 2007 Jeep Liberty CRD, at least not that I remember. My 2012 Ford Focus SEL is "Justice". I'm thinking about naming my next car "Tostada", which was the name of Jack Pattillo's sheep in a Minecraft "Things to Do In".
Yes, names have been given to the vehicles.
The Aries was "Bessy", like an old, dependable mule. The Spirit was named "Raptor" due to its accelerator (Jurassic Park had just come out when we got the car). The Grand Caravan was named "The Blimp" despite my father's protests. And my car (Caliber) has acquired the name "Bubba" for some reason.
My first car (technically Mom's car but I drove it daily) was a white 1987 Chevy Celebrity. I called it White Lightning.
Since then, I have had a tradition of naming computers and cars after cartoon kids (including anime characters). My current car, a red 2000 Chevy Cavalier, is named Koyuki. But it's also called Double O Shiny, which is a reference to its still-shiny paint finish, James Bond, and Attention Deficit Disorder.
My Camry was Tommy, for TOyota caMrY. (shrug) Haven't named the current car, no plans to.
Quote from: Steve on July 25, 2013, 12:33:25 AM
Haven't named the current car, no plans to.
Call it Esteban Danger.
I always felt naming a car was like naming your shoes -- worrisome.
A co-worker has a lime-green Mazda 2.......he calls it "Kermit"
Quote from: Pete from Boston on July 25, 2013, 01:01:05 AM
I always felt naming a car was like naming your shoes -- worrisome.
Why? I don't keep my shoes for ten or more years, but my car will be around well after I've worn out several pairs of shoes.
I call my 2004 Acura TL "the Acura" and my 1988 Mazda RX-7 "the Mazda."
If I need to distinguish the Acura from Ms1995hoo's 2003 Acura RSX Type-S, I call it either "the TL" or "my car" (the latter works because even though I hold the title to the Mazda in my name, she owned it prior to 2005 and sold it to me–we were not married then).
I knew a guy in college named Brendan who drove a Saab and called it "Baab." That idiocy kind of turned me off the idea of naming cars.
I named the BMW 3-series sedan I owned from 1996 to 2008 the "Yuppie Scum-mobile", playing off both the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" and the stereotype of BMW owners. But I've never been tempted to name any of my other cars, even the ones I've owned longer.
Quote from: Brandon on July 25, 2013, 06:40:59 AM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on July 25, 2013, 01:01:05 AM
I always felt naming a car was like naming your shoes -- worrisome.
Why? I don't keep my shoes for ten or more years, but my car will be around well after I've worn out several pairs of shoes.
I have a pair of shoes I bought in August 1990 that I still wear. They're kind of worn out and so I only wear them for things like yard work. But if I don't get ten years out of a pair of shoes, I feel like I didn't get my money's worth.
My Honda Civic's name was Boomer. My Pontiac Sunfire's name is Blitz (that name was chosen by a friend of mine.)
I've never named any of my cars, although a roommate from college called his Geo Metro "the little car that could".
Quote from: 1995hoo on July 25, 2013, 07:37:32 AM
I knew a guy in college named Brendan who drove a Saab and called it "Baab." That idiocy kind of turned me off the idea of naming cars.
Idiocy? More like comedic zen!
Quote from: vtk on July 25, 2013, 10:24:45 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on July 25, 2013, 07:37:32 AM
I knew a guy in college named Brendan who drove a Saab and called it "Baab." That idiocy kind of turned me off the idea of naming cars.
Idiocy? More like comedic zen!
I am a Saab
A Saab named Baab.
I drive on rocks
I drive on socks
I drive over locks
But never off of docks.
My engine purrs
My engine rumbles
If trouble occurs
My owner grumbles.
I'm made of metal
Like a tea kettle
My owner didn't settle
He presses my gas pedal
Like it's a sewing treadle
It tests my mettle.
I live outdoors
Even when it pours
I stay nice and shiny
From my hood to my heinie.
I am a Saab
A Saab named Baab.
My 2011 Honda CR-V is called Chester A. Honda, although I was being asked to name it ChetR-V instead. Seeing that I live in the same general area where Chester A. Arthur, the Dude President, attended college, I thought it was fitting, plus I have an affinity towards the Presidents of the Gilded Age.
Cars? No. Computers, on the other hand... (you can actually figure out the names of my laptop and desktop by looking at the images displayed in my website's error pages ;))
My car's name is Alan.
Okay, maybe not. I haven't named my car, but an ex-girlfriend of mine named it Rhonda. It ceased to be known as Rhonda when we broke up.
The War Wagon.
My brother has a Chevy Suburban that's jacked up high over wheels too big to fit in the wheel wells, and he and his wife cart the kids around in it like a minivan. I've heard that neighbors to their previous house nicknamed the vehicle "Lurch".
My motorcycle is named "Leonardo" as it is a Blue Ninja. My bicycle is named "Lassen", my old one was named "Shasta". My old car, a 1994 Toyota Camry Wagon, never got a name.
Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on July 25, 2013, 09:18:18 PM
My car's name is Alan.
Okay, maybe not. I haven't named my car, but an ex-girlfriend of mine named it Rhonda. It ceased to be known as Rhonda when we broke up.
If it failed to start, you could sing a well-known song while trying to get it to crank.....
Quote from: Brandon on July 24, 2013, 10:45:01 PM
Yes, names have been given to the vehicles.
The Aries was "Bessy", like an old, dependable mule. The Spirit was named "Raptor" due to its accelerator (Jurassic Park had just come out when we got the car). The Grand Caravan was named "The Blimp" despite my father's protests. And my car (Caliber) has acquired the name "Bubba" for some reason.
Of course, "the Blimp" is a better name than "the Hindenburg."
I personally haven't named many (if any) of my cars, but I have sometimes accepted and used them when given by family members or friends.
Over the years, I've had a red '64 Ford Falcon - the "Red Baron", 60's green Ford Galaxie - the "Green Hornet", a silver '82 Toyota Corolla-Tercel - "BEC" [Bug-Eyed Car], and a '98 blue Saturn SLII - "Telesto."
I've probably had about an equal number of unnamed vehicles, including my current ride.
My car us Rebecca because her license plate starts out BEKK.
I had a 1968 Plymouth Satellite that I called The Tank. That thing was indestructible! I was in my 20's and dumb (and high), hmm maybe one was the result of the other :). I'd have a carload of buds errr friends and we would play "whatever you do dont....", it went something like this someone in the car would say "whatever you do dont run over that road sign or dont hit that mailbox or whatever", it was crazy. Those were crazy times, the car was indestructible and we thought we were too. Sadly we found out we werent as some of them died young :no::-( . Strange we lived in a village named Little Heaven in DE.
Quote from: 1995hoo on July 25, 2013, 07:37:32 AMI knew a guy in college named Brendan who drove a Saab and called it "Baab." That idiocy kind of turned me off the idea of naming cars.
Most car-naming I've encountered has been similarly cutesy, and there's only so much of that I can take.