Does a car deserve a name? And if so, should it be male, or female? And, come to think of it... do people who name their cars actually take better care of them?
Those were the profound questions we contemplated this week on Car Talk -- all thanks to Robert in Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, who found out, much to his dismay, that his new used truck was named "Mark"!
We argued that cars, as soulless mechanical devices, hardly merited names. And, as Ray pointed out, he'd seen many a car with a name arrive at the garage looking like, well, an unmitigated trash heap!
But, we're eager to hear from you. What do you think? Are we wrong? You can hear the call right here and share your comments, below. Thanks!
Well it depends on how attached you are to your baby. Our baby takes us everywhere and in all kinds of weather. We spend hours in her since we do deliveries; yes she is a her. She got a name almost as soon as we got her (SK, abbreviated) and though at times; she has alot of junk in her; she is still our SK and anyone hurting her has to go through us first!!!
Listening to today's show, I was fondly reminded of my beloved 1974 red Super Beetle VW which I affectionately named - Beauregard.
Living in Cambridge, MA at the time, I recalled many a time that I would be driving up the Rt. 2 hill, and if I only managed to reach 60 mph just at the start of the hill, I would encouraged Beauregard with the exhortation: Come on Beauregard, giddiyap, giddiyap, giddiayp!!! It usually worked,except the time the %*@%# VW dealer forgot to change the condenser during a full tuneup - ahyah!
I've had 2 Saturns and one Taurus. My Saturns' names were Sam and Jelly and My Taurus' name is Delores. My boy toy's car is a Subaru and her name is Coby.
I love the idea of naming the clunk of junk that you are stuck in traffic with!
I think naming your vehicles just makes them more attached to you. All my cars have had names ...mostly because my first car an old mettalic poop brown Ford Tarus. She got her name because she had trouble going up hills and my friends and I would rock ourselves back and forth to try to help it up the hill while yelling ..:"common Bessy". so Bessy it was. My next vehicle was my baby though I had a lifted Jeep Cherokee sport in Mint condition that I called Janeen after the jeep in the cartoon. After that i had a purple neon that never really got a name ...well because it was a neon ..not much personality in those. And now i have a beat up ford ranger appropriatly named "Sport" because it has been a good sport through the years as i rammed it in numerous snow banks and trees sliding around on the ice in Maine in a two wheel drive POS truck. It hasnt killed me yet but Im due for a new car. All this and Im only 25. I go through vehicles like sneakers.
I have only had one vehicle that had a name. I drove a red ford econoline van when my children were in school. They named it Redford and called it a male. Redford took us many miles!
I to was reminded of the one and only time i named one of my junkers. I was a young pup and didn't have a lot of money to fix up my 1950 Ford pick up, which needed a couple of broken valve guides replaced. And I'm sure you are aware that if a exhaust guide in a v-8 Ford flat head is cracked, you are going to get that heat into the cooling system, so I added a electric fan to the front of the radiator to suck the heat out (that was cheaper then tearing into the engine), and named my truck Lucifer cause it ran so hot you just had to figure it was from HELL!
My current car's name is Princesa. Gotta call them something when you're talking to it. We keep our cars a long time generally and take good care of them. They also take good care of us.
Only some cars require names. We had a 1965 Ford F100 flatbed, painted white and mostly Bondo, that we called Moby Dick. Our daughter drives a 1984 Volve 240 wagon with a deer-skull wired to the grill, and its name is Skeletor. None of our other cars seemed to need a name, though.
I think that cars are such an intricate part of our daily lives that we develop attachments to them. I know I spend so much of my life in the car, that a lot of time, the name comes from an experience we have together. Growing up, my mom and I's car was named Leslie (96 Nissan Maxima). Mom still has Leslie and we have a lot of memories with her. The car I have right now is called Shrek (99 ML320 Mercedes) and that is because when the sun casts a shadow in front of the car when you drive, it looks like Shrek's head. Square with little rear-view mirror ears. But its not a rule to name a car, but I don't think its a bad idea.
I'm a female (obviously) and have named two of my cars: the first, a Neon, Ignignokt (after the ATHF character) and the second, an Altima, Naobi. I loved my second car dearly, but she was killed in an accident (not my fault!) only a month after her purchase. Since then, I haven't named my Subaru wagon (though I'm convinced it's male).
I think naming cars is a way to build comradery with an inanimate object- in hopes of building a mutually beneficial relationship. In my case, it's only served to bring heartache :-(
But if it makes you feel safer, or take more responsibility- why not?
Peace, and don't drive like either of my brothers.
I agree that cars and trucks are simple, soulless, utilitarian machines that deserve no name. I have owned three trucks and have not named any of them.
However, my 1946 Farmall A tractor is named Henrietta, which is a completely different situation, she actually does have a soul.
Of course you should name your car. My first was a 1958 Ford Custom 300 named Freddie, bought in 1964 for $300. My 1954 MGTF is named Morris after the Morris Garage of England, I had some company cars that never got named but signiificant cars in my life did. My 1987 Maxda 626, my first new car 6 years after starting my business and getting divorced was named Rosie after the beautiful color everyone loved, my Mazda Millenia another beautiful car was Milton, my Subaru Outback was Sammy and my 528 BMW my first luxury car is Bennie (the Beemer). I've had some vehicles that were just transportation but milestone cars in my life meant a special attachment and therefore deserved a name.
I got my wife a 2002 Mustang for her 44th birthday last year. Sandy, my wife named her bright white baby, "Eleanor".
The name Eleanor of course comes from Nicholas Cage’s movie, “Gone In 60 Seconds”, where the car that was always “elusive” was a Mustang (I think a ’67) that he called “Eleanor”. My wife had wanted a Mustang for many years. She (my wife, not Eleanor) passed away this summer :(, so I have adopted Eleanor and drive her with pride!
Yea, I have names for cars of mine, but there not Male or Female, they are little thinks about the car that i pick out to call them. I have a Audi A4 and call it Quattro, i also have a 87 VW GTI that is baby blue with sparkles (i paid $200) i call Bubbles. My friend has an 81 Hoodride Jetta Diesal that we call Rusty. The names turn into inside Jokes.
I had a 89 Dodge Dakota that I called "The Gutless Wonder". It got that moniker for many reasons, one being that it only did about 50 going uphill on the freeway. Yes there are hills on the freeway in the Northwest. :) Another reason is that I got stuck trying to turn around on a logging road and had to have my dad pull me out with his beater farm truck.
I think if you want to name your vehicle, by all means do it. My friend named his car Betsy, another friend named hers George. I don't think gender matters.
SHOULD YOU? Who cares? Will you? probably. If you're a girl. I've never "named" one, but I've called a few a few things.
My current vehicle, a '92 Ford Tempo\Pinto, and most commonly referred to as the Rattmobile. My last one, a baby pick-up (GMC S-15) was the Mudd Dukk.
But I've never "named" one, or even referred to one as Shirly, or Mary, or even ED the bad parker. Bitch, mostly. Or M*****-****E*, that usely works... Just to get its attention.
I let my 2 year old name the minivan, Rocket, after the "little einsteins" rocket ship, it's now easier to get her to go places in "Rocket". My wife named her subaru, Ruby, after the color of paint, and most of my family has named a car or two. Not every car should have a name, if the vehicle deserves a name it will suit the personality of the car.
09/01/2007 10:48:17 AM
