Whats in a name?

[Bluebottle]

It's not unusual for people to give names to cars they own, or to other peoples cars even!
What names do yours have and, more interestingly, why?
The Hurricane is sometimes known as Jake, from the first three registration plate letters.
The Granada was called Samson by Aly's parents- just because it's big.
The Dutton is called Fraggle, but is often referred to by many other names....
We had a 1965 Landrover called The Antichrist, that name came from the film 'The Gods Must Be Crazy' which featured a temperamental Series One Landrover. .
Any more out there?

[Ray Bell]

Ah yes, that classic vehicle which lacked brakes! Etc!

I bought a Datsun 180B wagon once that was known as Teefa by the previous owner, that being "Tee for tart"... suited it with the huge dent it had in the side. Speaking of asides, the contracted price was $200, but when I arrived they had taken off the towbar, which was one thing I wanted.

Upon my voicing my complaint, the owner dropped the price to $180... telling Dave Mawer this story, he quickly cottoned on and said, "$180? That's a dollar a B!"

[bella]

well, my best mate at primary school's mum had an austin allegro that they called 'aggro' for obvious reasons.

we have a car called beano because of the numberplate (b828eno), and my mum's suzuki is called the pocket rocket.

my car has gone through a wide variety of names. it's official name is skylark ('all aboard the skylark' - where's that from?), it has also been called The Shed, bob, delilah, bloody useless, and is currently called the batmobile.

because of its ailing health, it may soon be renamed the antichrist that's great, that one...

[Ray Bell]

Buick made a Skylark... or maybe your were skylarking in it?

The Shed? Really? Where did that one come from... I guess the same place as mine frequently being known as the mobile tip...

[Bluebottle]

I Think 'All aboard The Skylark' comes from 'Noah & Nellie'- a cartoon from the makers of 'Roobarb & Custard', but I'm going slightly off topic....

[Carrie]

My first car was a bright yellow Nova which usually went by the name of Barnaby, although it was also known as daffodil or yellow blob at various places where I worked.
My current car is known as Robert because the registration ends RHG which happens to be the initials of the 19th century owner of the Mill where I work, hence the car has taken on his first name and I've been told that if I ever leave then the car registration has to stay because it's the mill's personalised plates
When my mum and dad were first married, they had a Morris 1000 and at the time my dad was a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists. It's over 35 years since they owned that Morris, it had the registration 273 LEN and even today my parents still get Christmas Cards addressed to Dorothy and Len because so many people on the IAM called my dad by the name of the car

[SL]

My ex girlfreind used to call cars after their registration.

Hence my Escort YUF542 became 'Yuf'
Her Viva LPN??? was 'Lupin'
A problem with my Fiat HPH127 no real name available
Her Talbot ONR?? was 'Honour' (after Honour Blackburn, actress)
A friend had DFL??? which became Daffodil

It was sad, but after a while we all refered to the cars by thier names.

Simon

[Ray Bell]

Hope the Fiat was a 127, they were fun, in fact, you could call HPH 'Happy Hour' if you tried...

For years I couldn't look at a neighbour's car without thinking 'British School of Motoring'... his plate was BSM.

Once I bought a car, and the seller told me that she was sad to see 'Barnabas' leaving the family. I asked about the name, she explained that their other car was Paul, and that Paul and Barnabas were travelling companions. You get that out of the Book of Acts...

[SL]

The 127 was fun, it was the Polio version with s/roof and mag wheels. It was called Hippo for a while, but it did'nt suit a 127. Fun while it lasted, company car, a lot faster than standard 127's

Simon

[bella]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
[BThe Shed? Really? Where did that one come from... I guess the same place as mine frequently being known as the mobile tip... [/B]

the shed came from it's rather boxy nature and the fact i don't hoover it much. it's full of hairbands, lipgloss, hairbrushes, band aids for feet and daft shoes...

bluebottle, you're a genius! hurrah! the origins of that phrase finally come to light..

[Truckosaurus]

My current vehicle is referred to as either the ThunderShed, due to its size, state of cleanliness (no point washing it too regularly as I live up a bit of a dirt track and park under a tree in which birds spend the night with obvious results...), and ability to go like stink when given a bit of welly.

Its other name is the Amoco Cadiz in honour of its handling prowess.

[Chris Y]

Originally posted by Guy Humpage
Its other name is the Amoco Cadiz in honour of its handling prowess.

Does it leak oil too? (Sorry, poor taste, if you have a memory )

Our cars are named (and well known):

Mr. Frosty: White Vaux Cavalier..
Muddle: Rover Maestro Van - reg plate ends with MDL
Hexie: Maestro - obscure reference to the fact that the Maestro is shaped roughly like a hexagon
Voggie the racing Mini: Rover Mini Cooper, reg ends in VOG
Wubum: Lame attempt at making something from a reg plate ending in WBM - racing Maestro.

Previously we also had "Swampy the Cavalier", so named because of his decor, which was deep green exterior mixed with brown interior. Mmm

[TimD]

Hmm... let's see...

Starbug - Vauxhall Corsa, simply named because the styling reminded a friend of mine of the shuttle craft in "Red Dwarf".

Isolde - Mercedes 200, because she seemed to need something Germanic, Wagnerian to suit her.

Icky Morris - what else do you call a Morris 1800 "Landcrab" painted mustard colour, but with unsanded fibreglass matting splatted onto the wings and doors brush-painted in metallic gold...

Clockwork Orange - a Blaze coloured Hillman Avenger with a bit of an "endy" engine. Never was a car more appropriately christened.

Beatrice - a Toyota Corolla Liftback named for no other reason than that one of the Duchess of York's daughters was born the day I bought the car.

Ark Royal - a Ford Zodiac Mk4. Well, have you ever seen the acres of bonnet on one of those?

And then of course there was the Metro. Named after the camel in Terry Pratchett's "Pyramids", and I shan't attempt to get the precise monicker past the auto-censor. But it suited that car, oh, how it suited that car.

[Ray Bell]

"Ark Royal" is certainly appropriate...

Friend and late lamented racer Peter Hopwood started his Club competition in a Healey with ERG on the plates, so it was naturally called 'Erg'. The companion Healey, in the ever-friendly Hopwood household, was naturally known as 'Erg's friend.'

[Maisie]

Chris forgot to add his old beige Sierra, nicknamed The Flying Pastie.

My parents' Rover 400 has been named Bonnie, after the number plate BON, leading to the Maestro's inevitable christening of Clyde

[DAVID PATERSON]

My first car was a Toyota Corolla, which my sister named Lola Corolla. Her husband had a red Commodore with black tinted windows, he named it Christine after seeing the John Carpenter film of Steven King's book.