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!
It all depends on the car. Anyone who says cars don't have a soul, hasn't owned the right car. Some cars most definitely have a soul. Some just don't. I find a need to name or designate an identity to the cars I've had a real bond or connection with. There have definitely been a number of them with obvious personalities - some good, some unfavorable. Others like my little Honda I have now, are just heartless modes of transportaion. I've had many other Honda which had an inner soul and got names, but not this one. However, ALL of my BMW's required names. Maybe the age of the car DOES have something to do with it. All of these newer plastic cars just don't give me any kind of vibe!
I feel like old cars should be named. They've earned their names. That is, old cars that have been through a lot. I don't feel like my '94 Subaru has been through a lot, as it has it's original body still, for example (though it has plenty of dents and dings, and I've had it long enough so perhaps it deserves one by now...). But when we had our Buick LeSabre Olympic Gold Edition that we inherited from a dead friend, and during our usage ended up being deemed officially totaled, we slapped on a new front (a hip new two toned car--gold and maroon!) and then it also got a rear end and trunk covered in dozens of stickers from the dentist and the vet, then that car had earned a name for all its been through: Ole' Bessie. Yeah, those seats were really comfy.
But I guess maybe the mentality that I have with naming older cars perhaps comes from the fact that it's an outdated notion? I don't know how many people name material things now adays, especially since cars I thought were usually considered females and then with the whole feminist movement and not wanting to be marginalized or materialized or I'm not exactly sure how to say it. And if I were to go along the stereotype/historic route, I might as well go along the lines of thinking that since it was males who were the ones in charge of the vehicles, driving, caring, and controlling them, then they'd want to name them female names, since they wouldn't want to be considered gay in a time of rampant homophobia so they would declare their masculinity by naming their largest male possession: their car/truck. Also, the car is the object of the male gaze, just like the woman, so getting all Mulvey on this thang, then...I won't go there because I think this whole spiel is probably annoying enough.
I think failure to name one's car is a symptom of some sort of serious emotional problem. Not naming your car is like hating fun. Why would anyone not name something they spend so much time and money on?
I had a 4cyl. 1987 Ford Taurus MT-5 that I named Ferdinand because Ferdinand really only wanted to sit around and smell the roses, but I made him compete in a few bull fights (autocross events) while I had him.
My current vehicle is a rambunkshus 4WD Nissan with enough attitude to get itself into a lot of trouble. It's over-confident spirit and small stature has earned it the name Scrappy-Doo.
My wife has a white 1992 Buick that is always dirty regardless of the fact that it never even leaves the parking lot of our apartment complex. He's named Pig-Pen from the Charlie Brown cartoon. As you may recall Pig-Pen wasn't playing in the dirt or anything. All of that dirt found him when he was minding his own business. That white Buick is the same way.
When I was younger we had an 1984 blue Ford F-150 pick-up truck that was as faithful as any hound dog, and was aptly named Ol' Blue.
If you don't name your vehicles you probably also kick puppies and hate roller-coasters. Enjoy your miserable life.
Short answer - yes!
Slightly longer answer - as follows:
A decade ago, my work day started at 11 a.m. Therefore, family members asked me to drive my then 11-year-old niece Marisa to cello practice. I believe driving a yellow '74 Superbeetle convert capable of carrying a massive cello was a contributing factor, but then ...
"You should name your car," Marisa said one day. "How about 'Herbie?'"
" - Herbie was a '63 sedan with a six-volt system and a canvas sunroof. I have a 12-volt '74 Superbeetle convert," I replied.
"Oh," Marisa said.
A few days later, driving to cello practice, I had an idea.
" - Marisa, I have a name for the Superbeetle."
Well wise for her age, Marisa could see that the new name would likely be extremely corny, something Bullwinkle-like.
" - How about 'Ol Yellow'?"
"Isn't that the story where the boy has to shoot his beloved dog at the end?" Marisa replied, having recently read the classic.
" - Yes, that's what I do if cylinder No. 3 (the one that gets the least amount of cooling air) overheats and throws a rod," I said.
Marisa just sighed.
Bullwinkle J. Moose would have been proud.
The owner's manual of my husband's little yellow MINI says that the owner should name the car. After all, when you're talking about your road trip, one of the most important characters has to have a name, right? So we have Sunspot, or Spot for short.
My first car ended up with a name over time. I was taking high school Spanish at the time and my inherited '89 Accord had many quirks and needed a LOT of positive reinforcement, so I told it "buen coche" quite often. The name Coche stuck. I was really attached to that car - it outlasted several boyfriends and a best friend. When I broke the news that I was getting a new car, its radiator cracked in half within a few days. My husband (fiance, at that time) told me I broke its heart.
My second car, a '97 Honda CR-V, never got a name. It didn't have much personality, so nothing seemed to fit. We just called it "the green car." I took just as good care of it as my first car and drove it to 200,000 miles with nothing but routine maintenance.
My new car, a 2007 Honda CR-V, has a name, Blue Moon. I've only had Moon six months, but I'm really attached to it, for some reason. Maybe because I've done so much driving - it already has 25,000 miles. I greet it with "Good morning, Moon" and I apologize to it if I hit a pothole!
I've never assigned gender to my cars, but my husband says Spot is a he.
The only car that I owned that achieved naming status was my 1975 vw Beatle. His name was Paul. Of course I could have named him John, George or Ringo but since he was blue and Paul McCartney was dressed in blue on the Sgt Pepper's album cover it seemed fitting. Paul passed away last year after being hit in a head on collision with a Passat, I don't know if the Passat had a name or not, I doubt it, it seemed fairly souless to me but I might be biased.
Oh the naming of the cars!
When I was a kid, we had names for just about every vehicle we owned...Well, I take that back...We didn't really name the cars, just the pick-up trucks.
My dad had this white Chevy pick up as a work truck...My younger brother named it Whitey.
Then Dad got another Whitey...
Then we had this dirt brown (with one light metallic green front quarter panel) named Benji...My brother named that too.
Another couple of Whitey's...Then came the 93 Dodge Dakota...Dad named it Smokey. Pretty two tone gray with red pinstripe...Sweet little V* pick up that would just HAUL ***!
There was another work truck that my parents bought from my dad's company, 1998 Chevy Silverado that they named Rocky...
And a 1991 Mitsubishi Mighty Max named Bud...
I loved Bud! Little 5 speeder, that thing would get up and go for such a little tiny truck, and drank oil like it was goin' outta style, but it was so much fun to drive!
I don't think my dad's work truck now is named...Another white Chevy work truck.
My first car...1979 Chevy Malibu Classic-sport coupe! THAT was a SWEET car!
I had a love/hate relationship with that thing, and aptly so after 7 starters and a MAJOR brake job!
It was my grandmother's car that we had taken from her when she got too old to be out driving around. It sat in our driveway for a few years until I was old enough to drive, but my and my brother's favorite thing was to go start Grandma's car.
You could sit with it idling and just watch the gas needle dip lower and lower.
I got it when I turned 16, and my cousin named it the Enchilada Car (I never have figured out why)...
It was banana cream yellow, with a taupe-ish/tan-ish interior. It was also known as The Yellow Submarine due to the fact that I was totally in love with The Beatles in high school, and because the hood on that thing was so big it looked like a submarine.
Then I got a 92 Cavalier for graduation in 99...I myself didn't name that car, but my best friend at the time called it the Rolling Massage Chair because it vibrated so much sometimes.
After the Cavalier, I had a 91 Grand Am that gave me nothing but problems the first six months I drove it. It had an oil leak, then the guy we bought it from said he'd fixed it, but on a spur of the moment weekend trip from Dallas to Albuquerque it started shuddering REALLY REALLY bad...I didn't even make it out of town...Head was cracked.
So, my parents next door neighbor and my dad put a new engine in it...Then the oil pump went out and blew the engine again. Luck of luck eh, so technically, it had three engines in it.
That stupid car got me just about everywhere though...And eventually I named it Mabel. I was puttering down the highway one afternoon when I was home for a weekend (I used to drive trucks) and I felt like it was really trying to go faster, it just couldn't. I was thinking, "STUPID GRAND AM!" Came up with Mabel from thinking of Grand Am switched around spells Grand Ma.
Got a slightly used 2006 Altima in October 2006, and I haven't named it yet...I'm waiting for something to hit me.
I drove trucks for four and a half years, and only really named my orange trucks with the first company I drove for. I called the first one Sally Schneider Truck and the second one was Temperamental Journey.
I didn't name any of the trucks I had with the second trucking company...just didn't have the want to name them...
I have a '71 F100 named Betsy (from the folk song Sweet Betsy From Pike) and a '92 Jetta named Midge. They're both feminine but I had a girlfriend once that would only call my Ford "Elmer Fudd." Fortunately my wife is willing to accept Betsy for who she is. So many vehicles (and sometimes their people) are devoid of personality and not worth naming any more than naming each of the forks in your kitchen. However, our dear vehicles are part of the family and express their feelings about life just as much as any of us!
I've had several cars with great names. A Subaru named Suzie, a Yugo named Victor (Victor Yugo) and a now have a 61 Corvair van named Stanley and a 61 Willy's named Lazarus (raised from the dead). The best name I've heard however was from an old roommate who had a 67 Valiant that we were going to name Prince (Prince Valiant) but it ended up being named The Valiant formerly known as Prince.
the first car i named was a mazda---her name was mazey---2nd named car a 1984 chevy celebrity --BMW (beats mama walking)--lastly a lavender neon called lily..getting ready to get another car--need to find a good name for a green suv......
10/28/2007 5:40:18 PM
