Ask Lemmy

My first car was a white 2013 Honda Fit named Scott. He was previously owned by the proprietor of a defunct kickboxing gym in my area, and acted like it. That car had chops, and legs for days. Manual 5-speed, not the sport model but still had surprisingly good clearance and a shocking ability to climb up logging roads well further than most SUV’s dared or bothered to go. Loved that guy, but he sadly met his end late last year in an altercation with a Dodge Ram. A rather one-sided argument, and a total write off.

After that I fell into a situationship with Joe. Joe was/is a 2015 manual 6 speed Chevy Trax with a bad attitude, a lean to the right, misfiring cylinders, and a steering wheel that shakes at highway speeds. I don’t like Joe, and I strongly suspect Joe doesn’t like me, so I traded him in before he had a chance to fulfill his yearning to explore the ditch.

Nowadays I’m quite happily involved with Geoff - a 2019 Toyota Corolla hatchback. Again, not the sport model, but a 6-speed manual nonetheless and a truly fun ride, with significantly better acceleration that either of my previous two vehicles. We’ve agreed that how to spell his name is for him to know, and for me to speculate. Jeff is confident, self-assured, kind & forgiving, overall a balanced and well-adjusted partner - kind of hard to get used to, to be honest.

The first vehicle I owned had no name. My friends kept asking what was named and I kept explaining "it's a car. It gets me from point 🅰️ to point 🅱️." I selected the car for it's high fuel efficiency (record-breaking at the time) and general low total cost of ownership (TCO).

Not wanting to repeat the same conversation again, my second vehicle was named "Prius" and had they/them pronouns. Prius was a simple minded car, and liked car related things. Unfortunately, Prius met an untimely early end it got totaled by another driver (roommate was driving it, but the accident was 100% other driver's fault).

For my third vehicle - another Prius, I immediately noticed her subtle feminity and her adventurous spirit. I'm gay, so it's an immediate gal pal vibes .I named her, "Yetta" - and I knew we were destined to do crazy things together (and indeed we have!) She deserved a middle name fitting my plans for us. Taking a sort of mad hatter vibe, she got the middle name "Nutter".

And that is the story I now tell my friends about how I got Yetta Nutter Prius.

I had a Chevy Caliber named Ex.

I don't but I have a dear friend who named his cars with things like "Captain stingray" for a Blue chevrolet he had, "Annoyed mother" for his mom's van, "Stinky Pete" for his dad's Cadillac (he was a heavy smoker) He named my first car "lil' bit" since it was an old vw bug.

Now he drives an electric Mustang called "The beast". Oh! He also owns a boat now named "Pretty Betty"

I don’t, but others do. Mine is 35 years old and has 1.3 millions kms. It’s a beautiful silver coupé - with 101 defects and constantly on the verge of collapse, but already been taking me places for over 10 years now. Sometimes even for 1K Kms/day. I’m the 8th owner. Somebody called it “Gattone” (Italian for “big cat”). I wanted to “recycle” those 2 Tons of iron that already ferried tons of people probably, and keep it on the road for ever. Friends love it, average girls here don’t :/ they just call it “il rottame” (“the wreck”)

I have a brown Kangoo (a gift, 0 options), it's the Kangoo-mobile, Scoobidoobidouuu!

The kids think it's the ugluest crap but man can you fill it up with stuff!

LeBronze

Only one of my cars has earned a name, otherwise its just "that shitbox"or "the daily"

My blue VW Golf project car I'm always tweaking, modifying and breaking because I'm not a mechanic, thus it often forgets how to car, and it has black and yellow accents. So it's been christened "Dory"

I just use the name they were given at the factory to avoid confusing them.

"car"

which inevitably becomes "piece of shit"

I have had these ones: All Volvo, all station wagons.

• "De kat in de zak" (pig in a poke) - A red Volvo 240 named so because it was a pig in a poke (Name was given afterwards)
• "Het lek in de nek" (The leak in the neck) - A silver Volvo 240 that had a sunroof which could open and it leaked. Everytine I had to brake after a rainstorm, I risked a generous gulp of cold water in my neck. (Name was given in the last few months we had her)
• "De Noordkaper" (the North Caper) - A Grey Volvo 240 that had, before we bought it, taken part in a rally to the North Cape. (This one had her name from the start)
• "Je Reed Heel netjes" (You drove very neatly) - A red Volvo 940, named after the license plate. Its name originally was in present tense but on a fateful new year's eve it fell victim to arson and burned to a crisp. It was a good car and I hated to see her go.
• "De Barones" A fabulous luxurious old dark blue Volvo 960 with a purring six cylinder and flaky paint. It drove like a bat out of hell and I really loved that car. Unfortunately she started to sag in the back and the repairs got way too expensive to keep her.
• "Het Bakbeest" (The Beast) - my most recent car, a Volvo XC90 that is way too modern for my taste. It is big, heavy and chockfull of computers. It is a solid tank but I prefer the older Volvo types.

Yes, currently Robert RedFord and Suby Roo.

James. No particular reason.

My other cars never had names, but I love this one to pieces and it goes like the clappers.

My ebike is Gusteau (Gusto), or Gus.

In our house we have Cedric the Civic, Minnie the Mini, and Pedro the Polo.

frog car!!

it's the green one in the back

"piece of shit"

I always name them, but I have no naming scheme per se, other than vibes. First car I ever owned was a light blue 83 Cutlass - that was "Bob". Had an early 90s Dodge Shadow with a v6 and that was "Pepe." Most recent is a 2010 VW Final Edition convertible w/ blue & white two tone paint and she's "Elsa." The names just always seem to be there already when I get them.

I name them based on their personalities.

59 beetle - Zippy 79 Bronco - bog 07 wrangler - Lt Dan

I name my bicycles.

Steely Fran is my touring and every day ride (she's a Salsa Vaya, a steel-frame gravel bike)

Moon Unit is my fat-tire bike for snow, dirt, and rockhopping fun.

I don't own a car, but my bicycle is named Aneth. It's French for "dill", pronounced the same as the name "Annette".

I like dill and "Aneth la bicyclette" rhymes.

My wife named her first SUV - a dinky Equinox - “pebbles”, purely because it was a light stone grey.

Her next SUV - a more beefy 4Runner that can actually hold the Gunner dog crate comfortably - is “snowflake”, purely because it was a pristine snow white.

I think I’m seeing a pattern here with my wife.

I have a Mercury. It's name is Freddy. Freddy the Mercury.

Edit: hey! That's the wrong "its," me! Get your shit together!

I'm gonna go against the grain and say no, I don't name my cars other than what they are - my "Subaru" and my "Mazda". If I got another car from the same manufacturer, then I'd switch it to the model like my " Forester" and my "323"

However, I do have a friend whose family has a designated learner car that they call "Socks" simply because the number plate ends in SOX

Meet: Blooregard "Bloo" Q. Kazoo (from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends).

I even have Bloo stickers.

Only ever named one of them...

Petey.

I have a relatively new car thats already had an engine swap. Nicknamed "the wreck" or "Raset" in Swedish. No, it wasn't my driving, the shop fucked up, long story.

My other car, an old Renault box van, hasn't got a name. It looks like it does, but inspiration hasn't struck yet and it might not ever.

To name a car, the car needs to deserve it, have personality. Not any old car gets named.

A couple years ago I had a neighbor named Patrick, and although we didn't have assigned parking at my apartment, we all tended to gravitate to the same spot regardless if others were available, and I parked next to Patrick's car nearly every everyday.

Wife starts calling our car "SpongeBob" cuz it's always next to Patrick.

To this day, as we're doing things like leaving a store forgetful of where we parked, she'll say something like "where's SpongeBob?"

10/10

I dont usually name my cars, but my first car kind of naturally developed one over time:

Het Groene Gevaar

Meaning "The Green Danger", so called because it was green and had no airbags.

I loved that car

I've named all but one of my cars.

Spunky - 1986 Mazda RX-7 (Untitled) - 1997 VW Jetta The Dirty Hooker - 2001 Ford Escort ZX2 Heidi - 1998 BMW M3 Yuki - 2004 Subaru Impreza Outback

I have Heidi and Yuki currently. 🤷‍♂️

Volvo (V60CC) -> Swedish -> Viking

So it is called "Ragnar"

Any name that seems to fit the character of the car. In hindsight, based on personifying the car's flaws.

One was a Saturn SL2 that had a leaky exhaust, sometimes hesitated to start, and the automatic transmission shifted aggressively. Oscar, because it seemed grouchy all the time.

Another was a manual transmission Volkswagen Passat 2.0 with a tiny turbo and some neat safety features that still worked, including automatically holding the brakes for a hill start to prevent rolling backward. Not particularly fast, but once it got going it just kept accelerating up through the gears, as if rising to a challenge. I named it Walter, it just seemed to fit.

My current car is a 2014 Ford Focus with the "bad" transmission. It needs to either go or stop, asking it to accelerate too slowly burns up the clutches in a hurry, thus the terrible reputation for the dual clutch automatic. The harder I accelerate, the better the gas milage, up until it starts spinning the tires.

Idk what to call this one.

I called by previous car Trolvo. My current one is Lolvo.

You will never guess the brand...

Only one of my cars was named, and not by me.

My friend called my Peugeot 406 the "Chariot of Dreams"

RIP, Chariot of Dreams (2012-2014) 🫡

My cars are usually named after old women, because I subconsciously relate older women with comfort and kindness. Gertie, and Mathilde.

The Prius (he/him)

Our newest car we got of Friday the 13th. Named it Jason. Have a mask facing backwards on one of the back seat headrests.

TIL: people name their cars. Honest question, unless you have several identical cars, why?

My current car is an old heap called "Adventure Car" which earned it's moniker after I did a bunch of off-roading with it, expecting to kill it and then get something newer ... it not only didn't break but is still going strong 5 years later.

Many of my previous cars haven't had names, but all my motorbikes have.