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Name My (Sweet) Ride for a Chance to Win a HP Veer phone
One of my colleagues once nicknamed his father's 2000 Miata "The Penis Extension". In hindsight, "Extension" could have been changed to "Reduction," but I give him credit for trying. And the guy had a point, anyone with an emotional engagement with their vehicle needs to name it -- it's a way of connecting and making the journey personal, or, if you're lucky a way to win a phone (details below.)
As Americans, we tend to grow attached to our cars, which isn't surprising considering its easy to put a couple hundred thousand miles behind the wheel of one auto. Emotional bonds are bound to be made, identities defined, and nicknames assigned.
Which is all to say I need to name my ride.
The problem? I have no experience in naming cars. Not the Volkswagen Fox, not the Ford Contour, not the 1969 Dodge Swinger (Heyo!) not the many rentals I've used to escape the surly bonds of Manhattan, where I live.
So I've enlisted the help of colleagues to provide a little inspiration for this exercise.
Gadling's fearless leader Grant Martin once had a 1989 Honda Hatchback he affectionately named Jeco Speeder. So very...Grant.
A colleague to remain unnamed calls her Mazda 3 Crackerjack for reasons only known to her. AOL Travel Assistant Editor Rebecca Dolan named her 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid Knight Rider. When asked why she called it Knight Rider she replied, "I don't know."
Knight Rider (Minus David Hasselhoff)
Rebecca's father called their 1970 "brown" (that's all she can remember about the name) pickup The Sled.
The Bee is what Senior Editor Chris Anderson not-so-affectionately nicknamed his first car, a yellow 1977 Toyota Celica that sounded like a bee with a hyperextended wing.
Finally, an editor-not-to-be-named-ever was once the proud owner of a 1994 Ford Taurus which he named Boris. Yes, Boris the Ford Taurus.
Boris?
There's too much awesome contained in the name for Boris the Ford Taurus. I need some of that awesome applied to naming my Ford.
Inspired yet?
When you've got a suggestion, drop it in the comments here or message me on Twitter. The best name will live in glory, at least for the summer, and to help you come up with good submissions we're giving the winner ONE FREE HP VEER PHONE (valued at $99.99) . Just go easy on the phallic references.
[flickr image via Kim Scarborough]
This giveaway is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, comment below and name the Traveling the American Road car. You must comment before 11:59pm on Tuesday, June 21st and may enter only once. 1 winner will be chosen at random to receive one HP Veer phone valued at $99.99. Click here for the official rules.
So I've enlisted the help of colleagues to provide a little inspiration for this exercise.
Gadling's fearless leader Grant Martin once had a 1989 Honda Hatchback he affectionately named Jeco Speeder. So very...Grant.
A colleague to remain unnamed calls her Mazda 3 Crackerjack for reasons only known to her. AOL Travel Assistant Editor Rebecca Dolan named her 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid Knight Rider. When asked why she called it Knight Rider she replied, "I don't know."
Knight Rider (Minus David Hasselhoff)
Rebecca's father called their 1970 "brown" (that's all she can remember about the name) pickup The Sled.
The Bee is what Senior Editor Chris Anderson not-so-affectionately nicknamed his first car, a yellow 1977 Toyota Celica that sounded like a bee with a hyperextended wing.
Finally, an editor-not-to-be-named-ever was once the proud owner of a 1994 Ford Taurus which he named Boris. Yes, Boris the Ford Taurus.
Boris?
There's too much awesome contained in the name for Boris the Ford Taurus. I need some of that awesome applied to naming my Ford.
Inspired yet?
When you've got a suggestion, drop it in the comments here or message me on Twitter. The best name will live in glory, at least for the summer, and to help you come up with good submissions we're giving the winner ONE FREE HP VEER PHONE (valued at $99.99) . Just go easy on the phallic references.
[flickr image via Kim Scarborough]
This giveaway is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, comment below and name the Traveling the American Road car. You must comment before 11:59pm on Tuesday, June 21st and may enter only once. 1 winner will be chosen at random to receive one HP Veer phone valued at $99.99. Click here for the official rules.
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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 49)
Linda Mellor Jun 14th 2011 4:37PM
How about "Henry" as in Henry Ford? Or, if you prefer the feminine, Henrietta? I have a Buick named Howard after my late father who was a Buick mechanic for many years.
Don M Jun 14th 2011 4:39PM
I like the name Harrison since it is definitely one of the classic Fords
The Horse Jun 14th 2011 11:25PM
Or...Glenn Ford
Arthur Moore Jun 14th 2011 4:41PM
I have a 2005 Toyota Tundra that I named 'My Dog Blu'. It is known by friends and colleagues by that name and is recognized around my area. I have ordered personlalized license for it that will read 'MYDGBLU'.
Charlie Jun 14th 2011 4:40PM
I once had a 1976 green Plymouth Valient (looked allot like a Dodge Dart). One of my first jobs when I was 17 was working for a chicken and pizza joint (mostly chicken) The owner admired Frank Purdue to no end. My job was delivery person. To keep the pizza and chicken warm, he made me put in the back seat, this metal box (heated with sterno) with a section for the pizza and one for the chicken. My friend commented that thing was like a fire pit. Thus the nickname for my car became simply, "The Pit"
sqirrelgrrl Jun 14th 2011 4:38PM
My first car (a Civic) was named Rhonda the Honda. What do you think of Ward the Ford?
Sharon Jun 14th 2011 4:39PM
My Jeep Liberty is called "Nellybelle" - even though it's not a Wrangler, I still loved the Roy Rogers Show!
David Jun 14th 2011 4:40PM
If it a Taurus name it "The Silver Bull - et."
Becky Jun 14th 2011 4:42PM
i think you should call it ...SLIVER
duckinnut Jun 14th 2011 4:40PM
Ive got a 04 Chevy Silverado 2500HD that I call the dozer. It will pull anything except past a gas station! I'm lucky if I get 13 mpg total.
wade doolittle Jun 14th 2011 4:49PM
you could call it " Lewis & Clark"
Jamie Jun 14th 2011 4:48PM
My very first car was a silver Chevy Cavalier and named her Gidgett and my white Chevy Aveo was affectionately called The Hamster!!!
Tanya Jun 14th 2011 4:43PM
I have a 2000 VW Jetta & have had so many problems with it & all of it's components falling apart. It's name is "Junky Jetta". It lives up to it's name!
B.L. Hoien Jun 14th 2011 4:44PM
My Dad named all of his work cars Gravel Gertie. He operated a gravel pit and all of the roads were gravel in rural Iowa.
Lane Johnson Jun 15th 2011 11:34AM
Got a 1996 Black Mercury Gran Marquis. Big car. Lot of little cars on the roads these days and they give a wide berth to "The Black Widow"
jbl Jun 14th 2011 4:45PM
My first car was a 1987 VW Cabriolet. It was red with a white convertible top. It was lovingly called my "bitch basket". I LOVED that car!
lilyh Jun 14th 2011 6:35PM
I am not clever with car names, but my husband is (or so he thinks, hehe). He named his Chevy C-10 classic "the bitch" because "she" was always mean to people on the road who annoyed her. He named his new Dodge Challenger "Magnus", because apparently that is an awesome name. I used to drive a Ford Probe (which we just called "the probe" or "the anal probe"). It was a lot of fun to yell "I'm gonna probe you!" at the people who cut me off and intentionally slowed down (that happened an alarmingly high number of times in the area where I first learned to drive). I did call our royal blue Dodge Neon the "blue meanie" when it broke down and needed multiple parts replaced.
Sharon Mc Donogh Jun 14th 2011 4:49PM
When my son was growing up, I owned a 1975 silver Ford Pinto. He named my car "The Aluminum Falcon" after Han Solo's Star Wars spaceship. Of course it was one of the exploding models.
Joe Cool Jun 14th 2011 4:48PM
My 2010 Caddy CTS V, Crotch rocket, for more then one reason
Deb Jun 14th 2011 5:28PM
I have a Dora the Explora (Ford Exployer)
And I use to have an "Ethel" Chrysler 5th Avenue cause all she would drink was high octane gas