The naming started with the kid referring to it as “old car.” Old car was an 83’ Malibu wagon kept for 25 years. The replacement was quickly named GM Dandy as in “Jim Dandy to the Rescue.” GmDandy came along as Old Car was going to the junkyard, final resting place of all my vehicles. GMDandy has indeed performed many rescues as it has been completely reliable and carries a load.
This naming policy would never have happened without the kid interest in naming everything. It has been a convenient conventions.
I also had a Horizon of that vintage - so, how many door handles did you go through? I think I went through about three.
I think Jim’s new Mustang has become Blu, too.
I think my silver Corolla is named Silver now, which doesn’t sound very original, but it’s after the Lone Ranger’s horse, since the Corolla is such a workhorse of a car.
The car naming thing for me is sporadic. The first car I named was The Antelope, named for the vessel in “Barrett’s Privateers”; she had a “list to the port” (the bumper was starting to rust off on the left side) and her “sails (seats) in rags”. She was a '78 Maverick.
Later on, I had a Geo Metro named Murrey (because it was cranberry colored, and I’m a herald), but due to finances at the time, Murrey got repo-ed.
Our '87 (mostly) Thunderbird with the Cougar nose/hood/front fenders was the Thundercat - of course.
Our current cars are Kermit (green Malibu) and Gandalf (silver but white in bright sunlight Cadillac SRX).
Naming cars is a very personal thing. Some earn them, some don’t.
I’ve had some truly great (and not so great) cars over the years, but naming any of them seemed so wrong to me. “Paloma” (dove) has been the name of all of my SO’s cars (each one white) which seems so silly to me but we agree not to talk about it.
I’ve named all of my vehicles except the ones that came pre-named (hand-me-downs). The most memorable ones were Teddy Roosevelt ('67 C20 pickup) because he was a rough rider, Mean Green Machine ('73 Catalina) named ironically, Kitty Cat ('83 Lynx), Betty Jean ('84 Marquis) because she looked like an old lady’s car, Pinky ('88 S10) for its pink squiggles and the current (‘03) S10, Lil’ Red.
Someday, Celtling will come to realize that vehicles have personalities and hence, should have names.
For my birthday a number of years ago, my wife gifted me with a vanity plate that says “MY ELF”. So ever since then, every car we’ve owned has been referred to as “the elf.”
I don’t name anything that won’t respond to its name. That basically limits me to dogs and children. And I haven’t been asked to get involved in naming any children since I suggested to my sister that she name her newborn twins Charles and Mambo.
My first car was a Nissan Sentra I unimaginatively named “Nathan.”
My next car was a Civic LX I named Cecil* Zander**
My current car is a blue Fit and when I was buying it the guy doing all the paperwork was a real card. He was cracking me up the entire time. I was writing out the check and asked “Oh by the way, is this car a girl or a boy?” Without even blinking he picked up the page with the VIN on it and said (with a perfectly straight face): “Girl. Know how I know? Boy cars numbers end with a ‘0’ and the girls end with a ‘1’.”
I named it “Hazel Viola” because it vaguely resembled my great aunt Hazel’s blue VW bug, and Viola after this dotty old woman from my mother’s home town. Her name was Viola Damm and ran the Damm Theater, a name that caused us much mirth as kids. “Let’s go to that Damm Theater!”
*After guess who?
**Get it? LX Zander
My husband had a truck he called “Truckey”. His second truck was called “Truckey 2”. His current truck is “Truckey 3”. :rolleyes:
To be fair he had a Pinto station wagon named “Esmerelda” which is pretty boss.
My first new car, a little black Miata, was My Baby. The second, a silver Miata, is My Lucky Heart.
I collect charms and there is a great tattoo design of a heart with a white ribbon that reads Lucky Heart. I made a 3-D version and then hung it from an air vent. It’s got about two dozen tiny charms, for travel and such, I’ve collected or made.
I shudder to think what might have happened without them-- my car is a dent magnet. Still my little Lucky Heart, though.
My ol’ Bonnie is definitely the NICE sister, then!!! I’ve only had her since May - I’m certainly HOPING that she doesn’t turn into Cruella!!! (I’m not used to referring to cars by gender, but if you’re going to have a name like Bonnie, you’ve got to be a She, unless you’re Bonnie Prince Charlie.)
My husband insists that I named her after Bonnie Parker, because I read a lot about Bonnie & Clyde, but I told him that I certainly hoped that the vehicle would be in a lot better shape than Bonnie by the time she’s 23!!! (Not a bullet hole in her!)
