This came up on the morning radio a few days ago. They said that something like 75% of the people they polled gave their cars a name. About 55% of them thought of their car as female. 20% of those polled said they talked to their car.
Me:
Yes, my last car was a purdy metallic blue 91 Plymouth Laser RS that I named Lazarus, complete with a vanity plate that said so. Lazarus was a play on the model name of the car, but also because of 3 accidents I was in that nearly totaled the car yet the repair shops were able to bring it back to life, and Lazarus is a favorite character of mine from Heinlein novels.
Now I have a blue 01 Dodge Caravan that the kids and I decided to call Boogey Van (after a monster truck that my son likes). I have them convinced that the van is alive because whenever we approach it I hit the lock button on the remote key fob and it honks at them as they wave. It also knows when to turn on the interior lights whenever my kids say “Van, lights on!” or “Van, lights off!” while I’m busy flipping the switch out of their view.
My Laser was male. The Boogey Van is of indeterminate sex.
I talked to my Laser sometimes, as in “C’mon Lazarus, let’s see if we can overtake this guy that’s just slowing us down.” I never carried on meaningful conversations with him though, nor did I confide any secrets in him.
What about you? Got any special bonds with your vehicle that you’d like to share? Don’t worry about feeling foolish, the poll says that you’re in the majority.
I have a minty-green 1966 Dodge Coronet. “It” didn’t have a name until a lady-friend of mine told me that “it” deserved one. We put our heads together and Miss Minty-Green is now officially known as “Ten Ton Tina”.
I didn’t name my car. A friend of mine did. She was going through a phase where she named everybody’s car - this was highschool, and not everybody could drive. She said my car was “curvy,” so she decided it was female. Due to her interest in Othello at the time, she named it Emilia.
If anyone’s curious, Emilia is a black '92 (I think) Pontiac Grand Am. An appropriate name, since Grandam is an old-time term for grandmother, and the car runs like one sometimes.
I once had a 1956 VW bus called 'Ludvig". He took me from Scandianvia to the UK to East Germany to Cyprus. He got an engine overhaul in Turkey. He ended up (I think) as an ambulance. That was back in 1972. Since then, none of my vehicles have had names.
Unless you live in Russia, where ships are male. They always refer to ships as “he,” not she.
And my car’s name is Simon, thank you. My Girlfriend’s car is named Katya, though we just call her “the baby car,” since it’s a Ford Festiva. However, my truck’s name is Cindy, or on a cold winter day when she doesn’t want to start (diesel, you know) she is “Cynthia Q. Ribbentrop,” as in, “Cynthia Q. Ribbentrop, you better start if you know what’s good for you, you evil bitch.”
