[AlfaVeloce]

Yes Alister, it is that way, just the same, in at least Texas and Alabama.

 

[Pat Braden]

Nicknames for Your Cars

That's good!!

Cheryl - your comment reminded me that when cars get sold within the club they're often referred to by their previous owners name. So Rob sells his car to Frank, the car is referred to as "Rob's car". Frank then sells it to George and it becomes "Frank's car" and so on. Is it the same in the US I wonder or just a local thing.

Alister

Alister,

The way we did it the names didn't change, but simply added to the string.
Some of them got complicated when they were sold or traded back and forth among friends. So in your example it would be the xxx car that was previously owned by Rob, Frank, George, etc. except that we used last names.

 

[TorW]

I had a Talbot-Simca 1510 a long long time ago. I called it "Panic". I also drove a Nissan Micra 1.0 for a short while for somewhat complicated reasons, and it got the name "Tyttebæret" (the lingonberry). The name sounds more stupid in Norwegian if you must know.

The Nissan Primera 1.6 estate after that was "Sixty", 'cause it was often its max speed in km/h when loaded down with whatever the family thought necessary for the trip. It was a lot.

I also had a tricked out Peugeot 206 which was named "Le Flechette Bleu" (The Blue Dart), but the name was so awkward I never used it. Don't drink and name cars. The handful of Opels never got names since German cars can't have any. Same goes for the MB Vito in the driveway.

The 147 2.0 was "Zaphod" because of its Twinspark and flamboyant personality, and the 164 TS was "Ford" just to confuse people. The Montreal is "La Tempesta" (The Storm) for reasons that are a story in itself. It's sometimes referred to as "La Tempesta Rosso" in writing. The 166 was named "La Divina" by the driver (which isn't me) because its very presence tends to make Audis sputter and stop (or so I'm told)

The 156 SW we had was "Trillian". It was female ...

The Fiat Punto 55 (the glorified moped) is officially "Piccolo Lampo" (Little Lightning), but it should probably be called "Teenager" instead since it's all show and no go with constant rattling

 

[SpiderWebb]

A couple of months back I was explaining to my girlfriends 15 year old daughter that many people name their Alfa's with female names.

Before I could finish that sentance she blurted out, "Susie! That's her name.".

And so it is.

I also have a 1968 Ford Fairlane that was in the movie 'Eat My Dust' starring Ron Howard. It was done up like a Stock Car with the number 11 painted on the doors and trunk. So it is known as the '11 car', or Old Number 11. When she is being bad, she's called the lead sled or cruise missile.

 

[AlfaVeloce]

Tor
I like the Hitchhikers references. Especially naming the 164 Ford. Funny stuff.

My 740iL has a name only because it is so un-German in its Germanness. It's a good candidate for a Top Gear challenge of some kind.

 

[planetmojo]

The 147 2.0 was "Zaphod" because of its Twinspark and flamboyant personality,

The 156 SW we had was "Trillian". It was female ...

I see the names 'Zaphod' and 'Trillian' in there.

Were those characters from The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy??... which also included 'Ford Prefect'. In a reverse situation, as I remember, within moments of Ford arriving on planet Earth he encountered an Earthling who asked his name. Not being quite that prepared, he stalled for a moment before answering. The closest thing to him was a car parked next to them on the curb. So out of desperation, he repeated the words on the back of that car.

If memory serves... the Ford Prefect automobile was not one of Britain's finest hours. So, imagine going thru life known as something like: 'Yugo Hatchback'!

The moral of the story may be... if you need to invent a name for yourself, on the spot, you should be standing next to a Bentley Arnage, or Cadillac DeVille.

 

[TorW]

Were those characters from The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy??

Yes indeed! Zaphod Beeblebrox, Tricia "Trillian" MacMillan and Ford Prefect are all characters in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books. Zaphod "is so cool you can store a side of meat in him for three weeks", which suited the 147 pretty well at the time

By the way, here's a picture showing partly how La Tempesta got its name. Not many Montreals see blizzards - even on a trailer ...

A similar picture of the same scene was also reproduced in Bruce Taylor's Montreal picture book.

 

[planetmojo]

Great! I've read the entire SIX-part trilogy. Funniest reading I've ever come across. The full-length movie, and the BBC series, could not hold a candle to the books. I think the Monty Python-style humor of Douglas Adams (former MP comedy writer) needs to be viewed in words, instead of a visual. As the narration is often funnier than the dialogue... "They don't fly, so much as plummet" is hard to translate into a visual.

Gorgeous red Montreal, regardless of the stormy setting... BTW! If that were to accidentally roll off the trailer and land in my yard, I'd have to think long and hard about whether I should give you a phone call :- )

 

[oz3litre]

Douglas Adams was unique and there will never be anyone like him again. He came up with stuff like the above quote that left you thinking "How the hell did he think of that?". Eoin Colfer's new Hitchhikers book is a good try but he overdoes the Adams asides and you get tired of them, or at least I did. I only got half way through it. Douglas never got boring and had you anticipating the next brilliant quip from beginning to end. It was a very sad loss to the world when he died. The gods made a mistake there.

 

[Yendig]

My GTV6 is Allegra, pronounced 'ah LEG rah'. It's an female Italian name meaning happy or jaunty.

I've taken a risk here because, even though I've owned her since May 2007, I've never driven her owing to the fact she's been in extensive refurb.

I'll find out (hopefully!) in Spring whether she deserves a different name....

 

[alfasax]

What else would you call it?

The "Italian Stallion"
Mustang 5.0 and an Italian body/chassis. "Hey, Adrian!"

 

[planetmojo]

"Yo, Adrian!", indeed!

If any of us pull up next to you at a stop light now... no chance anyone will challenge you to see who gets to the next light first. Your Shelby color scheme will now be the tip-off that a Mustang V8 lives under your hood. After you, Sir!

 

[DrJPDC]

Looking for a name for my Stelvio Quadrifoglio that is better than Stelvio (a good name already as it's the name of a windy mountainous pass in the Italian Alps). I had a Giulia Quadrifoglio I simply called, "Giulia," but pronounced in a way that would make my Italian mother proud. Lol

 

[76Satisfaction]

Interesting to restore this thread to life!
I have fallen out of the habit of naming our cars, but have had a fun history of it..

Most of my early cars were nicknamed by the friends or people I hang out with..
My high school '66 Dodge Dart convertible was called "The Banana"... I think you can guess what color it was.
In college I drove a red Alfetta Berlina - my Fraternity Brothers called it the Alfa "Tomato".. as a pun on Alfa Romeo.
Late in college I bought a rough '67 Satellite convertible, it got called 'The Beast'..
Then there was "Junior" my little Honda Civic coupe commuter car named by my Buick Delta 88 driving boss at the time..,

Of our current cars - we recycled "Junior" for our '67 Satellite convertible..
"Bertha" is our '65 Satellite hardtop, named after her first owner.
After that there is "Marco" the Maserati Bora, definitely a sharply dressed Italian male.
"Penny", short for Penelope, derived from Parthenope, a sultry hot Italian GTV6 who just wants you to take her along and rob a bank.
"Winston" is the Aston .. an English butler who takes care of your mistakes without reproach, no matter how deeply in trouble you are.
The Fulvia is "Babette", because we bought it from a French Canadian..
.. "Claudia" is the bucket list 1300 JrZ, which is named after an unforgettably lovely Italian who liked me enough to let me drive hers for a month we dated in Napoli, May 1985.

Cheers,
- Art