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lindsey_ca

Have you named your car?

Lindsey_CA
10 years ago

I think it's so cute that Gazania and her hubs named their 1979 Pacer "Donna Pacer." Got me to thinking about naming cars, and how I haven't really had names for all of the cars I've owned - only some of them. Never named the first three cars I had. Then, I had a 1972 Pontiac Catalina that I referred to as "the tuna boat," but that's not really a name. I had a 1981 Toyota Celica that I named "Bessie." Don't know why I picked that name - it just seemed right at the time. I had a 1993 Toyota Camry that I sometimes called "Cammy," but I just didn't use the name that often.

I bought a new car in January of this year, but haven't named it yet...

Have you named any of your cars? If so, what name?

Comments (53)

  • OklaMoni
    10 years ago

    No, I haven't. I also don't really name my bikes, but one is called schnecke, which is snail in German... that's my slow bike...aka, touring bike.

    Moni

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    10 years ago

    I've never named cars but I did have an emotional attachment to one...which surprised the hell outta me as I left it with the young man who bought it. It was the first car I had purchased on my own, after a divorce. I had it for about 15 years (it was when Camrys were worth a darn), and sold it to a young man who I knew would take care of it. I cried when Robert drove me away, I kid you not.

    I'm laughing now (sort of), but my heart ached about that car!

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  • gazania_gw
    10 years ago

    Our daughter named her first car "Wanda". Can you guess, it was a Honda. Our 1989 truck is called "Big Red". Big Red went to Chicago to fetch Donna and he takes care of her out there in the garage. Years ago our all white Gold Wing motorycle was "Ghost". Not just because he was white, but also because he was so quiet and often snuck in and out of the garage without me hearing him.

  • dedtired
    10 years ago

    I used to have a car named Chuck aka Chug. It was a 1952 Buick. The thing was a tank. It had belonged to my MIL and she passed it along to us, although it was already on its last legs.

    The thing was enormous. My husband's family had named it Chug. His grandmother lived with them and was hard of hearing. She thought everyone was saying Chuck, so we started calling it that, too.

    We finally backed Chuck into a scrap yard because it would no longer go forward. It was probably 15 years old, back in the day when cars did not last as long as they do now.

    Rhizo, I felt the same way about my 1996 Honda Accord when I traded it in last fall. I'd had that thing for 16 years, the first I'd bought entirely on my own. It took me to almost every job I ever had and was so reliable. It was my companion through some real changes in my life. I hid some lucky pennies in it before I said goodbye. I wish I still had it.

    Now I have a silver Honda Accord and I don't love it. I swear I see at least five of the exact same car every time I go out. It is so bland maybe I will name it Bobby Blue for Bobby Blue Bland.

  • Fun2BHere
    10 years ago

    I don't name my cars, but I've certainly called them a thing or two when they let me down.

  • YogaLady1948
    10 years ago

    I had a VW Vanagon for 13 years, then my DH bought me a Honda Odyssey, we kept the VW'd also~~~my then little DGD said grandma let's name the vans so when you tell us to get in one we will know which one~~smart girlie. So the VW became 'Vanessa' and the Honda which I still drive 13 years later is 'Tammy'~~~~I am always in the parking lots begging Tammy to open one of her sliding doors for me~~time for a new car;)

  • lindaohnowga
    10 years ago

    We have always named every vehicle we've owned. Our black and white truck was Petunia and had a little skunk mascot inside. Our Ford Taurus wagon was Taury and had a little bull mascot. The orange mustang was OJ for orange juice, the Cougar was Boop, my silver 1975 Mustang was Mousie and that is just a few of the ones we've had in our 43 years of married life. Currently the brown Volvo wagon is Brownie and my bright yellow Scion XB is Tweety. I have Tweety decals on it.

  • momrox4
    10 years ago

    My dark red Honda Ridgeline (truck) is named Ruby. In the sun, her gold-flecked paint reminds me of the ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz.

  • nanny98
    10 years ago

    We really don't name our vehicles, but I did call my DH's new 2000 Excursion "Baby", because DH wanted it so badly and babied it so much (still have it, and it is a gas hog)). Then our GS (who has autism) named our 34' motorhome Big Al, and the tow car little Al......now we have a 36' beautiful Blue Winnebago, and he named it The Blue Dandy. He names everyone's cars. Dad's is "Stella"...and he remembers all of them.

  • chisue
    10 years ago

    We've never named any, but I've been known to hide when a new owner came to claim some: My Austin Healey 3000; an orange Datsun hatchback we had when DH was a baby; a 12 cyl. Jaguar XJS.

  • jeaninwa
    10 years ago

    I have a Chevy Aveo..I named her Maria...Aveo Maria...get it?

  • chloecat
    10 years ago

    We name all our cars. My current ride (red Veloster Turbo) is called Roux...

  • lisa_fla
    10 years ago

    My white minivan is 'the Marshmallow'. DD's first car was Betsy, her new car is Eleanor, her BF's car is Erica. Don't think I've ever named my cars, but I think she will name any future cars for me. Personally I would call my minivan The Money Pit-far more fitting!

  • dedtired
    10 years ago

    My son's boat was Escapade and the dinghy he towed was Escapod.

  • clubm
    10 years ago

    Yes,I drive a Nissan Altima and her name is Annie.

  • jemdandy
    10 years ago

    I once had a Model-A Ford. I called it "Betsy", and when the radiator leaked, she became "Betsy Wetsy".

  • Lindsey_CA
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    OMG, I love all of your replies! I've laughed out loud of several of your posts. :-)

    Rhizo, I feel your pain about the Camry. I loved, loved, loved my '93 Camry. I ended up donating it to a charity that gives the cars to people in need. I made my husband stay home the day they came to get it, and I went to work. I just didn't have the heart to see it leave...

  • Country Sunflower
    10 years ago

    My Elantra is "The Silver Bullet" and the Mercury Grand Marquis is "The cruiser"..

  • Lindsey_CA
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Country Sunshine, I'm guessing that the color of your Elantra is silver, eh?

    My new car's color is called Fire Agate Pearl. I could call her Aggie, I guess... but I'm not really fond of that name...

  • rob333 (zone 7b)
    10 years ago

    Yes. Cari. It's short for carnelian. She has so many shades of red after 23 years. She started out bright red and now, not so much. I hugged her steering wheel I was so glad she was back after my bro replaced the fuel pump from the big flood of 2010. She's still running after the big flood! She's very dependable.

    Funny that cars are seen as much "shes" as boats. Not too many male names or references to "him". Ray Charles is a cool dude! Good Georga car name.

  • Louiseab
    10 years ago

    My son's first car was a Jeep grand cherokee that he called Jerry 1.0. So of course when we replaced it with a newer Jeep it became Jerry 2.0

  • dees_1
    10 years ago

    We had a Dodge Van that we called Bessie. She went F-A-S-T as she had a pretty big engine. Sounded like an old muscle car and when I punched it, some guys thought it was a nice car going by. Then they saw her and just turned back to what they were doing. Poor Bessie had to be put down because she had osteoporosis. Poor girl; we still miss her after having her for 12 years.

    We have a new Dodge Truck with a bigger motor and she's named Betsy. Betsy is young and likes to run. She's been known to race cars smaller than she and beats them. We should have called her Helen....Helen on Wheels.

    Motorcycles don't have names; other vehicles were not named. Just these two. Even the old 20s Dodge we had for 40 years didn't have a name. It was hard letting that one go (to a museum). Dad made me come over so he wouldn't cry.

  • bonebloodyidle
    10 years ago

    Mine is called "The Armchair" because it is so comfortable.
    After I went under the knife to have my spine repaired I needed something with decent lumbar support and an automatic gearbox, and this Opel Vectra had it all.
    My wife has called all her cars "Jessy". The Austin Metro, Nissan Micra, Vauxhall Astra, Daewoo Lanos, Ford Fiesta and Peugeot 206. All of them called Jessy.

    But then every cat she has had since 1975 has been called James.

  • lindaohnowga
    10 years ago

    Bonebloodyidle, that is funny that your wife has named every cat James. Our neighbor in Ohio named all of her cats Sam. She said that way she never forgot their names. One of her cats she gave to me. I renamed him Samurai, like the wrestlers.

  • ravencajun Zone 8b TX
    10 years ago

    We do name our GPS units, one is Sami short for Samantha.

    I don't normally name my cars or our Harleys, we have been thinking of what we are going to name the RV however. My brother in law had named one of his big sail boats Bayou Self which I loved. I do like Raveneaux there is a big country club near here with that name. It sorta sounds like Raven on the go.

    About animal names I knew this lady that named her 2 pets Sam and Ella so when she was out calling them it sounded like she was shouting Salmonella.

    The Jessy and James thing is funny.

  • bigfoot_liz
    10 years ago

    my current SUV ford escape is 'ode to austerity' (aka the escape to austerity LOL NOT) got it 2007 and instead of buying what i really wanted and could afford I decided to err on the side of cheap for my financial karma ;-)) I believed that by getting something far less than what I really wanted I was buying myself some good financial karma LOL...yea I'm nuts about karma LOL ~ liz

  • angelaid
    10 years ago

    I keep reading the title as "Have you named your cat" and thinking, who the heck doesn't name their cat? LOL

  • pekemom
    10 years ago

    My husband bought 4 older vehicles from the auto auction which he is routinely fixing..a Buick Century, a Chevy Blazer, a Cadillac Seville and a Isuzu Rodeo. I call them names but nothing I could post here....

  • marilyn_c
    10 years ago

    I haven't named any cars, but I have named several trees.

  • frogged
    10 years ago

    My vehicles have not always had names but did have genders. They were mostly older cars and you wound talking to them. I often told them good boys when they made it to the gas station before running out of gas or when trying to start on some very cold mornings. But my current truck I call the "Beast" Simply because it is the biggest vehicle I have ever had and takes up more space on the road in the parking lot and takes more gas then the others hence he is a beast.

  • petaloid
    10 years ago

    I'm getting a kick out of this thread - such cute names!

    Only our last two cars have had names: a Sienna minivan named Betsy (like jemdandy's Model A) and the current little Impreza hatchback named Zippy.

  • susie53_gw
    10 years ago

    My little tracker! Color is wildfire red so I call her "Wild Red". She's been a honey of a ride for me. She has hauled everything. I can get 25 bags of mulch in the back end!! She never complains!! She just celebrated her 10th birthday.

  • monica_pa Grieves
    10 years ago

    It has never occurred to me to name a car...and I've never heard anyone around here refer to their car by a name.

    I guess it's a regional thing.

  • rob333 (zone 7b)
    5 years ago

    Kicking it back up, because it's always a fun topic.

    I have finally named the car I bought two years ago. I have Cari (see my June 2013 post), and now Doc Hudson, the strong sturdy blue work horse that's got a race car past. He can go fast, just doesn't.

  • aok27502
    5 years ago

    Fun thread! We've never been into naming cars, but our friend named a couple of ours for us. We have a Dodge Ram pickup which is dark red so he took to calling it Big Red. When I got my dark blue Jeep Liberty she became Little Blue. I think he's the only person who uses names for our vehicles.

    His first GPS unit was christened Chatty Cathy. :^)

    And on the subject of pets, my sister had a male cat named Brian. She let the neighborhood kids name him.

  • Louiseab
    5 years ago

    Not our cars, but our roomba is called Rosie, after the Jetsons maid.

  • OklaMoni
    5 years ago

    my bikes have names... but not my car... hmmm maybe, cause I love riding a bike much more, than driving?

    Moni

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    5 years ago

    I used to name my cars but haven't recently. Oddly, they were all foreign models - my vintage VW Beetle I drove for years was Otto and my Fiat Spyder was Gina (after Gina Lollobridgida). A VW Scirroco was Bat Car - cuz it moved like a bat out of hell!!

    The only American made car that was named was an incredibly ugly, very well used lifted '76 Dodge Power Wagon short bed pickup my DH at the time dragged home from somewhere. That was named Rick after the character in the old TV show Simon and Simon that drove a similar vehicle. And then there was the Hyundai Elantra named Lemon.......for obvious reasons!!

    My recent vehicles - all American made SUv's - don't seem to lend themselves to naming. Or I just outgrew it :-)

  • User
    5 years ago

    I had one car with a girl name, she was too finicky. All the rest have been boy names. Has a single girlfriend that gave her car a male name so she could say she was going out with "insert guy name".

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    5 years ago

    Yes, it is The Car.

  • phoggie
    5 years ago

    GD named it Lizzy

  • Lars
    5 years ago

    Never named mine, but a roommate in college named his 1956 Cadillac "Bertha". He bought it for cheap, but it was expensive to keep running.

  • jrb451
    5 years ago

    My wife does. "Traveller" is her current car.

  • marilyn_c
    5 years ago

    I see that I responded to this several years ago, where I said I don't name cars but I had named several trees....but I was going to say, I'm doing good to name my dogs and cats.

  • randy427
    5 years ago

    My dad had a 1937 Buick with a touchy clutch. We called it Leapin' Leena for the way it bucked before moving forward if the driver was less than expert. It was stolen one time but abandoned a block away. I guess it wasn't much of a joy ride for them.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    5 years ago

    We've named our vehicles...I remember I named my first bike when I was a girl "Cassandra". Little did I know I'd make a career in forecasting...

    '74 Datsun B210 was Derryl

    '78 Ford Fairmont was Freddie

    '79 Honda Prelude was Handy

    '81 Honda Prelude was Dashielle

    '85 Cutlass was Carrie (station wagon)

    '88 Mercury Tracer was Tracey

    '95 Subaru wagon was Alvin

    '99 Acura is Casey

    '08 Impreza is Kirby

    Our pick up trucks don't seem to get a name, though we had one called Fannie as the important part of the truck is the back end.

    Heck I've even named the recycle bin Beulah.


  • marylmi
    5 years ago

    My husband named our 1989 Cadillac Coupe Deville " Maybellene" from Chuck Berry's song of Maybelline.

  • patriciae_gw
    5 years ago

    Raee, you and I named our cars the same name!

  • wildchild2x2
    5 years ago

    Nope. I don't think I've ever given an inanimate object a name. At least not past early childhood.