"Pet Name" for your car?

[Eneto-55]

I have never made up a name for any of the cars I've had.  Lots of guys do, and I don't know why I never did it.  (Oh, I've sometimes referred to my 46 as 'The Old Girl', but no real name. Didn't do it for my first car, a 62 Chrysler Newport, either.)  However, for some reason, while driving home from a service call this evening I thought of a name for the 46 P15 - 'Cearense'.  (It's the name for people from the Brazilian state of Ceara.  It's fitting for a particular reason, but maybe there is someone here who can guess at the connection.  (You almost have to be from there, or at least from Brazil.)

 

Another question, if you DO make up pet names for your cars, do you also have a pet name for your wife?  Strange question, I know, but I also always just call my wife by her name, none of that "Sweety", or "Princess" stuff, and she has also always just called me by name.  I don't know why, either. We knew a Brazilian couple who called each other "Meu Bem", which translates literally as "My Good".

 

(If no one can guess, I'll explain why I thought of Cerense as a name for the Plymouth. One hint: It still has an L-Head Six in it.)

[Sniper]

I call mine Sally, after a girl I knew in HS and still keep in contact with.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Well my first car was a handed down 54 Plymouth Savoy four door that my Father gave up on. And when he gave up on something it was done. Still I got two years out of it and as long as I didn’t leave town I didn’t have so far to walk home. I called it the DSP.  The first word was Dilapidated, the last word was Pile. You may fill in the middle at your leisure.  Since then I just call them by their make name, i.e. the Plymouth, or the year of manufacture if the makes are the same.  

[cheesy]

I just call the DeSoto, The Old Broad. Usually after I've floored it and it downshifts, I say something like, "The Old Broad can still hoist her skirt and move when she wants."

 

I'm more likely to give my motorcycles nicknames, though. My 1979 Honda CX500 is called the Maggot cuz it's kind of ugly and my Russian Ural is called Arpok, which is a version of RPOC, which is an acronym for 'Russian Piece Of Crap'. My French mo-peds are called Phrench Pharts.

 

As far as my other half goes, her name is Cynthia. Because of stitches in my tongue at a young age, I have a problem of not being able to pronounce it correctly, so it's either 'Hey You' or 'Fred'. She calls me 'Bud'.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Seems the most does not get a nickname but a few of the foreign ones do get named.  I am not anywhere like my counterparts on the British forum where is seems almost mandatory you have the pedigree sorted out and a name for the car.  The pedigree takes precedence over its ability to run correctly or be cosmetically correct.   I refer to the Morris van as Sir Galahad (but twisted in spelling as Gal-I-had, you do the math)  then there is my first Porsche I built in 1984 which is named Madeline.  The Plymouth Surburban does get referred to as The 'Burb.  The 41 D19 business coupe is the "Big Butt Coupe"  My 52 Plymouth club coupe is Slobberbucket II as my father had Slobberbucket as the name for his Plymouth back when a child.  All the others usually get referred to as the make or year where but the AA I just call Ohio Red as I bought the body out of Ohio.  The 62 Dodges were named in like manner, Jeffersonville Dodge, Indy Dodge, Buford Dodge etc as this is where I bought them.  

[DonaldSmith]

"Big Brown Car"

So named by my grandson Jakob, about 20 years ago.  He just graduated from college, for a career in the film industry. 

Granddaughter Samantha ("Sammy") has graduated and is completing her student teaching. 

 

 

[Los_Control]

I usually have a name for my vehicles ..... The wife caravan was passed down to us when Mother passed away .... Father named it the *******.

We changed it to Lady Belle and have taken better care of it then he did .... except I keep blowing up the engine in it  🙄

 

My daily driver truck is chebby ..... Since it is a step side it looks like it has a big butt ..... So chebby is a mix between chubby & Chevrolet.

 

My Dodge is the Hound dog hauler ..... some day I would like to letter the doors with a pic of 2 dogs and Hound dog ranch Like a business sign. For short I just call it Hound dog.

 

Any car I drive for some time gets a name.

[Eneto-55]

OK.  Here's the deal with the name I thought of for my Plymouth.  The Brazilian state of Ceara is in the northeast of the country.  People from other parts of Brazil have a slang name for people from the NorthEast, "cabeca chata".  Literally it means "flat head".  They call them that because most Nordestinos (NorthEasterners) have a head shape that is flat in the back.  Sounds kinda' stupid now that I wrote this all out.....  (Well, at least my wife though it was funny.)

[DonaldSmith]

Flat head, flathead, I get it. Even this early in the morning.  I do have sort of a flat spot on the back of my head.  Maybe I was meant to have my flathead DeSoto.

[ggdad1951]

51 B3D: "FEF" combination of initals of all the family owners (ggdad's first, father's middle, my last)

"51" project custom truck: "TODD" from an inside joke with my friend I got the engine from and original working name of PHTD (Pilot House Turbo Diesel)

51 1.5 ton: "ART" since he sits by the fire pit as yard art

51 B3D flatbed: "PARTS" because his primary role is parts

51 COE: "PUMA" shop cat took ownership as a napping spot

51 Farmall: (trails and property mower) "MAC"  from McCormick Farmall

01 GMC Sonoma: "Big Blue" since he is a small blue truck

01 Polaris 4 wheeler: "CAM" since he's camoflage finish

2019 Buick Encore: wife's vehicle "WASH" from the Serenity pilot's name in the TV show "Firefly" since he could pilot so well

 

[Eneto-55]

Maybe I don't tend to make names for cars because my Dad didn't.  There was only one car that I can remember that got a name, a 47 P15 Sedan Dad bought and fixed up to resell.  (This was in the early 60's.)  But it was us kids who gave it the name - "The Old Gray Ghost".  (It was, of course, gray.) My oldest brother was probably the one who made it up.  He said we should paint on the back "The Old Gray Ghost - Don't Follow Too Close." (Later we had a 53 DeSoto parts car that we painted on the side "Cry, Hemi, Cry".  But it had actually had a flat head in it.  I think Dad got the car mostly to sell the engine to someone else, although we did save parts from it for years, since the family car was also a 53 DeSoto.)

[JBNeal]

I had a gf once that I referred to as Wide Load...she was 5', 120# soaking wet...she knocked over a wobbly end table with her caboose one day not long after we met, she had a very small apartment that had way too much stuff in it...she would be simultaneously irate and amused whenever I would refer to her as such an obstacle to traffic and pedestrians alike...she eventually ran off with a millionaire, then reappeared after a few years to apologize over a steak lunch...good times

 

A few months later, I met a gal that had an 18yr old Toyota that was falling apart, a Matrix she bought new that her daughter named Car-E before she was in grade school.  That Toyota had flaking paint, rotting plastic, smelled like feet presumably from a leaky windshield gasket, a wobbly driver seat, and a dash digital clock that I swear on several occasions counted backwards, as if a warning that it's time was nearly up.  CEL and rough running had her asking me to give it an exam, I replaced the O2 sensors and warned her that with 190k on the odometer, that she had gotten her money's worth.  I eventually persuaded her to invest in a new Subaru CrossTrek, as used car prices were so high that a new car payment was cheaper than a used car payment.  This Subaru was almost the same size and color with very similar interior layout, but had gizmos like bluetoof connectivity and a backup camera that she had never used before.  She wanted to name the car but couldn't come up with anything that would stick.  I would gripe when I drove it that it's lane departure warning was assisted with a steering wheel that seemed to have a mind of its own, which was very annoying on some of the twisty roads near her place; it was like that car kept trying to go into the ditch randomly.  I told her several times to look up in her owner's manual to find the setting to disable that, cuz it would freak her out on the occasions when she worked late at night.  Eventually, her new TX plates showed up, starting with SPZ...she thought it was short for SPITZ, some cute doggie, but I said it was SPAZ, your car's name is SPAZ...it totally fit as the car seemed to beep and steer itself unexpectedly.  She did not want to name her car SPAZ, but one evening I was driving her to dinner and while she was telling me some story about her day's annoyance, I drifted across the white line, the car beeped at me and she annoyingly blurted out SHUTUP SPAZ and started laughing cuz she knew I did that on purpose on that straight as an arrow stretch of highway...so the name stuck  

[greg g]

We call our 46 Kate.  When she is on the starter, she sounds like Katherine Hepburn's laugh.  If you are acquainted with her characters in several late 30's early 40s movies.

Edited May 20 by greg g

[Eneto-55]

Just a general name for all Plymouths, one I seldom hear anymore - Mayflower.

[Los_Control]

5 hours ago, greg g said:

We call our 46 Kate.  When she is on the starter, she sounds like Katherine Hepburn's laugh.  If you are aquinted with her characters in several late 30's early 40s movies.

Bringing up baby was a good one, Katherine Hepburn with Cary Grant.

https://rumble.com/v46302b-bringing-up-baby.html

 

Check out pilothouse classic films channel for more of your classic movie itches.

Or pilothouse classic westerns https://rumble.com/c/c-5536437 If you prefer the more rough & tumble John Wayne adventures in a movie.

 

What a co-inky dink Los_Control owns both those pilothouse movie channels .... is it possible he would do a shameless plug here?  🤣🤣🤣

Just something I do in spare time. I enjoy all the old classics when the movies still were entertaining ..... Late 50's they were really getting weird. 1960 is my cut off date.

Same time I do have some later movies posted there .... But they are good entertaining movies to watch .... Like John Wayne, I have a ton of his older stuff when he was a kid, but 3 or 4 of his newer then 1960 films. .... Same with Randolph Scott, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant ..... But 90% is all pre mid 50's.

 

[Dodgeed]

Just the car name & year, such as "the '51 Dodge" or "the '64 Vette".   Nothing like "Christine" or "Eleanor". 

[busycoupe]

I'm in the Masons and Hiram is a nick name for a fellow brother, so I sometimes call my coupe Hiram. 

[John-T-53]

My former '73 big yellow New Yorker was called "Nanner" because it was a banana boat....

[DonaldSmith]

Big Brown car, 2024 update - all growed up:

 

 

[jclars]

Grey ******* - GT for short! 

 

The PO was Dave Wren, renowned Mopar sponsored drag racer from the 70's and later.  This was one of his drivers up for grabs at his estate sale.  His son knew I was interested and when I came back to see what he wanted for it, he said "you mean, the Grey *******"?   if you are trying to sell a car, would you promote it by calling it "the grey *******"?  I guess having to sell off his Dads hoard of mostly derelict Mopars, he was probably getting quite tired of being a car salesman.   

 

But maybe that was what his Dad had called it and it was more out of affection.  I like that version better.  The name stuck.  (Or maybe re-stuck.)

[Dan Hiebert]

We've tossed around naming our old cars, but it never sticks.  The D24 is "the Dodge", regardless of what else is in the stable, even other Dodges.  Our daughter calls her '63 Falcon "The Green Ghost", now it's obviously green, but when we first got it for her it was some funky blue-green color, only green when you squinted one eye just so.  So the "ghost" was the green.

[DonaldSmith]

We had a beater of a Taurus for our daughter to drive.  It was grey with a red interior.  Grey on the outside and red on the inside.  She called it the Armadillo. 

[RNR1957NYer]

My Dad went out for a haircut in our gorgeous ‘66 Coronet 500 one Saturday and came home with a new ‘69 Polara hardtop.  Mom and I were not fans of the move and the ‘69 was forever known as the Andrea Doria.   More happily, my kids called my ‘09 Challenger R/T “Snazzy”; its 2022 replacement is “Snazzy ll”.  My daughter named the PT Cruiser (Dad’s last car) “Patty” when she took over driving it.