h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Over the years I have read two comments about giving cars names and I would like to hear H2G2 researchers opinions and thoughts on them:

1. Women give cars names more often than men do. Women like to have relationships with things and it's hard to have a 'relationship' with a metal box with a wheel at each corner.

2. People are more likely to give a car a name if it just has a number. So a Peugeot 207 is more likely to be given a name than a Renault Megane, for example. This is probably why the Renault 5 ads (What's yours called?) of the early 80s were so successful.

Based on personal experience, Richard didn't give his cars names until he met me. Even then not all his cars have had names. The only ones that did were a Lada Niva (called Tigger because it was bouncy), a Ford Ka (Monty, for reasons that would take to long to explain) and a Skoda Fabia (Parker, for reasons associated with Thunderbirds). As for my cars (I've had three, with a fourth possibly in the offing), one is always referred to by name (Felicity, a Morris Minor), one didn't have a name (the car, a Nissan Micra, had no personality) and the third (a Kia Pride) has a name but it's seldom used.

As you can see, the idea a woman is more likely to name a car is sort of true - Richard only gave his cars names if a name seemed appropriate for that car. Also, the idea that a car is less likely to be given a name if the model is 'named' doesn't hold true. What are the thoughts and experiences of others out there?

I've had names for all my cars and they've been inspired/based on the letters on the registration plate.

So, A --- GFA was Agatha, D --- HHA was Delilah, H --- MOB was Moby and WX -- JUU is Jube (from Goo Goo De Jube in the Beatles 'I am the Walrus').

Helps me to remember the registration number too!


Jane

I've never given a car a name, but some friends bought a used car with a name on a plaque on the dash, so we all called it by that name, "Beulah" or something, its been a while.

Here in Houston we have a LOT of boats, almost every one of which has a name on the stern. Its fun to walk around the big marinas and look at the names people come up with. My favorite on a sailboat is "Never Again VI"

I'm still in the process of mourning the loss of my first car, a Nissan Micra called Bluebell. (I don't care what anyone else said, that little motor had personality to spare!) It was side-swiped, while parked, by some loser in a white van, and we found out last week that it's been written off. I named her, (her. bizarre. I wrote that without even thinking about it. Blokes, eh?) there was no input from my wife, who thought I was being pathetic. But hey. Boats have names, and they don't get half the use and abuse that a car will endure.

Anyway, we're buying a new car with the write off money. In black. Wanna guess what he's called?

My car, a white Crown Victoria, is named Vanessa. She's named after a girl from work who had some kind of perfume that I swear smelled just like new car smell. When I got in the car for the first time, I thought, 'This car smells exactly like Vanessa.' So there you have it. My car was named via olfactry association.

Is this turning into a thread for Micra owners?

I'm on my second Micra - and although I like them, I'll agree about a certain lack of personality. The newest shape seems to have a bit more 'attitude' though. I use mine for local tootling about and getting to work so all I require from it is reliability and high MPG.

I also name them from the registration letters - the first one was a bit of a mouthful 'Non-specific urethritis' NSU - and the current one is UAN, much easier to say.

My Morris Minor is called Felicity. I wanted an old-fashioned name for an old car and Felicity fit the bill. At first I rejected the name *because* it matched the number plate (FLC), but the name felt so right that I just had to go with it. Then I found out that Felicity means 'happiness' and the name became even more appropriate. I love that car!

The car my friends bought used (from several messages back) was named "Myrtis" (not sure about the spelling). I think it was a Valiant, from decades back, considered one of the poorer "concepts" from Detroit. For all the laughing we had at her expense, she got the whole group to South Texas and back to Houston. It was quite the epic odyssey, labelled a "rolling food orgy" by the main driver ... that's as close as I ever got to being a "DeadHead".

I have a great 'relationship' with my car, it wants to drive as fast as possible at all times (within the speed limit of course ) and I want to drive it as fast as possible at all times, so we're great friends.

However... I've never given it a name! am I wierd?

I have friends who name their cars but somehow my Mondeo just doesn't seem to want a name.

I'm thinking it's a male thing. 2 blokes can go to a pub together for 3 or 4 hours and not say a word to each other and each come away thinking they've had a great time and feeling like their friendship has grown. Likewise a man can drive his car for years and feel very attached to it without ever needing to talk to it.

Maybe that's why women name their cars more often than men do, because they like to talk to them!

My first car (well actually the car that preceded my first car by virtue of the fact that it was never ACTUALLY mine) was a Montego, which was predictably called Monty (but the car had bucket loads of personality and so got talked to a lot, was unreliable and so got talked to a lot... etc). The next one was an Audi estate that was huge and had a bonnet that you could have ut a housing estate on. He was named Henry as Henry from Thomas the Tank Engine fame was the Big Engine - which is what Henry (the car) seemed to be too. Since then I don't think I've actually named a car - I've not really been terribly attached to them since parting with Henry...

My Triumph GT6 is called "Gloria".

My 1983 Buick LeSabre was Bertha - full name was Bertha the big brown Buick. The 1979 Ford LTD was Gertrude for no particular reason. My 1994 Chevy Corsica was Nikki. My 2001 VW Beetle is Juno. I had two cars that I didn't name because they weren't technically mine - a 1979 Honda hatchback and a 1974 Subaru.