Vehicles that Planners Drive and Their Nicknames

[Big Easy King]

I drive a Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck, which I respectfully and lovingly refer to as the Big Dawg. Hey Planner, what type of vehicle do you drive and what's its nickname if it has one?

What's up?

 

[nerudite]

I haven't nicknamed any of my cars for a long, long time. I am currently driving a 93 Nissan Pickup (the girly automatic edition with the V6 engine and power everything ). It has no name...

The only car that ever had a name was my first one, which was this reddish/burgundy colored 79 Mustang V8 (awesome car for a 16 year old... gotta love that hatchback!)... It's name was originally "Betsy", as it was my mother's car before I got it and she named all her cars Betsy. It later became Christine the Strawberry Girl (due to it's color)... named after a Siouxsie & the Banshees song that I liked at the time.

 

[kms]

1999 Suburban. It holds lots of friends and family, and I can keep it for 10 years as my kids grow into adults. I've never named a car.

 

[BKM]

Bright Blue (girly color) Subaru WRX wagon. No names, but it is ugly enough that I do look at it with some affection.

 

[giff57]

I gave the wife the 03 taurus when I bought my S10 for $300. I really need to post some pictures of this thing and let the "throbbing brain" give it a nickname.

 

[Chet]

We did this once

But heck its been a while:

1996 Land Rover Discovery that will turn 150,000 miles this week. I had a 2003 Jeep Wrangler on factory order but the dealer screwed it up and I refused to take delivery. The experience bittered me enough to wait a bit before trying again (with a different dealer. Nickname: Old Bag.


1998 Subaru Outback Sport, about ready to turn 100,000. No name, but often called the "dyke-mobile" for its appeal to the demographic.


1970 Ford F-250. Just turned 64,000 miles. Mint condition. Nickname : The mullet magnet for all the hoots n hollers I get on the highway and at stoplights.

 

[mendelman]

I drive a 98 Mercury Tracer 4 door with an automatic. It was my wife's car during college and is paid off with only 63, 500 miles.

Since it is our only car and there are no payments, we intend to drive it until it dies. Unless we can get a really good deal on a new Taurus wagon through my father in law (he's an engineer for Ford).

My dream (of practically) though would be if Ford got its act together and turned the Crown Victoria /Mercury Grand Marquis into a wagon. That would hearld the return of the full size station wagon.

No need to further expand on that because it has been covered in another thread.here

Edit: Oh, the only car i named was Roy, my 92 Subaru Loyale wagon with the 4wd and 5 speed

 

[Cardinal]

We talked about cars, but not their names. My first car was the 1972 Torino, which I called The Shark because of the big oval grille. The next car was a new 1989 Sunbird, which got named The Guppy. Since then I have not named any of my cars. Now I drive a dark green 30th Anniversary Subaru Legacy SUS Sedan, and will likely trade it in on a new Legacy wagon sometime in the next few months. Chet, maybe we went to the same dealer. The first time they couln't find a salesperson to help me while my car was being serviced. The second time they never bothered to follow up with me. I would have bought the car if they had called. Instead, I bought new furniture.

 

[SkeLeton]

Latest and newest... the 2004 (sold like 2004) Ford EcoSport (a smaller (and cheaper) version of the Explorer*, that's exclusive for Latin America AFAIK)
Yeah, SUV, but actually it's a car in SUV clothes (it's not 4WD or AWD)

I guess it has like 100 miles on it... It's brand new, and due to a lovely factory defect on the transmision I'd nickname it Rattlesnake... (It makes an anoying rattleing sound, that will hopefully be solved once they install a brand new transmission by the end of September)

I hope US made Fords are better than the Brazilian Fords (no other option here, sadly)

EDIT: * I mixed up, and actually should say Escape.. not Explorer

 

[Cardinal]

I hope US made Fords are better than the Brazilian Fords (no other option here, sadly)

Sadly, no.

 

[Zoning Goddess]

I only ever named one personal car, a Chrysler Cordoba (rich Corinthian leather!) that my dad bought for me in college: named Ferdinand.

At work we have two team vehicles with names: the Explorer (the Exploder; yeah, it's appropriate) and the Ford Aerostar (the Sissy-van).

 

[JNA]

94 Saturn SL2 blue w/ 5 speed manual
only extra is A/C

 

[jordanb]

I call it "The L", but I didn't come up with that nick name, nor do I actually drive it. I'm terribly rich so I have a driver.

 

[Dan]

1998 Volkswagen Passat. Red, V6, leather and loaded. Only option it doesn't have is electronic climate control.

It has no name. It just goes very fast on the Interstate.

 

[Rem]

I am driving a Commodore Berlina Station wagon. I don't think there is a North American equivalent. It is only about two weeks old (previously a Pajero turbo diesel but its not suited to the amount of city driving I'm currently doing).

 

[Dan]

I hope US made Fords are better than the Brazilian Fords (no other option here, sadly)

The EcoSport looks very similar to the US/Canada Ford Escape and European Ford Maverick, a small four wheel drive SUV which is built on a variant of the Mondeo chassis.

US/Canadian built Fords are sturdy and reliable, but excepting the Mustand and GT, most models aren't that interesting. The US/Canada market doesn't get the Mondeo, Fusion or the awesome Australian-built Falcon, Fairlane or T-Series. IMHO, there are far more intresting cars available in Europe, Australia and South Africa than in the US.

OTOH, the Lincoln LS is a sweeeeeet luxury car built on the Mondeo platform.

 

[JNL]

I drive a 1992 Honda Civic sedan that has done 217,000kms. Boring but reliable. I call it "my car".

 

[el Guapo]

1985 Volvo 244 named the brick. This name is derived from its aerodynamic properties.

 

[Jessie-J]

I'm not a planner, but I read about them.

I drive a 95 Honda Accord Lx. My first car was an 83 Toyota Corolla Station Wagon. Silver. Her name was Mira. She had lots of stickers.

 

[otterpop]

I have a 1986 Subaru 4WD station wagon, which I call Ruth. I named the car after a woman I was infatuated with. The girl has come and gone, but the trusty wagon is still with me. A car and a woman have one thing in common -- sometimes on a very cold morning, when you really need her, neither will turn over for you.

 

[Wulf9]

Daily ride to work is a four year old Brompton folding bike (no nickname but sort of unusual looking).

Secondary vehicle is a 2001 VW Eurovan. (Also no nickname).

 

[Rem]

I'm not a planner, but I read about them.

Welcome back Jessie-J. Where you been hiding?

 

[Rem]

the awesome Australian-built Falcon, Fairlane or T-Series.

It worries me that you know so much about Australia - Americans are meant to think Australia is a mispelling for Austria or a place of desert edge ghost towns with kangaroos jumping down the main street.

If it's Australian Fords you drool for, try this link. I tried to borrow a picture from them but that doesn't seem to work. Check out the XR8 in the virtual showroom, passenger vehicles.

Found one:

 

[tsc]

1985 Volvo 244 named the brick. This name is derived from its aerodynamic properties.

.... volvo's are also called bricks because the engine block is red.

We call our commuter car .. a grey 1991 Volvo 740 "the cube"...


the Toyota 4RunnerLTD... gets called the truck.. (despite being the most luxurious of the cars)..because it tows the boat...

The Suzuki JLX Sport... actually was recently nicknames the "farm vehicle" because it seems to mainly get used pulling the little trailer to get fire wood, mulch.. etc....

 

[biscuit]

My current Accord doesn't have a name but with 162,000 miles it deserves one.

Had a pimped out '91 Range Rover that I often called the Sh*t Wagon because there was always something wrong with it. It looked good and was fun to go mudding with, but what a piece of mechanical crap.

When I was 15 my Dad got me big hoopty 1978 Pontiac Grand Prix to bang up until my driving skills improved. It had big red seats and the paint came off whenever I tried to wash it. My friends called it the Grand Prick.

 

[Gedunker]

Rides

My first car was a '72 Beetle, 4 speed. It had a hole in the floorboard (what's up with VW and holes in the floor?). On a date, I drove through a puddle and this water gushed up from the vicinity of the handbrake, smacked the ceiling and fell all over us. We christened her "MOBY" that very moment.

Now I have a '98 Isuzu Rodeo (built rat chere in Indiany) that my 6-year old calls "Suzie".

 

[Plannerbabs]

Current car (2003 diesel golf) hasn't had a roadtrip yet, so it hasn't earned a name yet, altho mr. plannerbabs calls it "stinky" sometimes. My first car was a bright teal green '92 jetta with mag wheels. its name was Scooter, partly because it looked like a Muppet and partly because that thing flew. middle car, a Subie (what is it with planners and subarus-seems like every other car on this post is a subie) is just called the Subablue, because it is.

 

[donk]

my current car has no nickname. 94 jetta with 310 000 km.

My favourite vehicle is "the bomb", the farm truck at my parent's, It is a mid 1960's jeep commando. It must have been before AMC bought willys as it has ford and GM parts on it. The reason we call it "the bomb", it sounds like it is going to explode and you bomb around the property on it.

My stepfather had an early 80's RX7 that was referred to as the silver sl%t.

 

[Planderella]

The Great (Ford) Escape

 

[Repo Man]

I drive a 1999 Honda Accord EX. I have no name for it, but I should call it the "dent and scratch magnet" as it has been dinged, scratched and dented at least 5 times. I have moved away from the drunken college kid area of town, so hopefully that will end now.

For about my first 6 years of driving I had a 1979 brown Toyota Celica that my friends and I used to call "The Brown Turd"

I had a 1991 Ford Escort that was often called "That #%^&#$@ $#^&* piece of $@^%$%*!" because it broke down about once a month.

 

[SGB]

We have two Subarus, but I regularly drive the older one that is rapidly looming toward irreperable beater status.

1995 Subaru Legacy wagon AWD, red, standard, w/ 139K miles on it. Dents, scratches and cracks in the body galore. Suspension went AWOL long ago. It is currently burning oil at an embarassing rate. ("Daddy, what's that in the back of the car? That's a case of oil for the car, son.")

No nickname yet. I'd welcome suggestions for a name. "The Red Car" just doesn't seem to do it justice anymore.

I'll drive it 'till it dies. Place your bets now on if it makes it through another winter of 100 miles daily on back state and county roads.

 

[DecaturHawk]

My first car, a 1966 Rambler American with a 3-on-the-tree manual transmission, was named "Otis" after Otis Campbell, my favorite character on the Andy Griffith Show.

My current commuter, a '92 Chevy Corsica, is called "Two-Tone" because it was originally white, but is slowly becoming primer grey as the outer paint coat delaminates and flakes off (this was a problem with GM cars made in the early '90's - GM had a repainting program, but I found out about it one month after the deadline).

Soon, it is going to shake apart, and I hope to replace it with a beautiful and reliable late-model Volvo.

 

[H]

I have a very conservative (retiree) looking Buick Sedan and my sister in law calls it the “Granny Getter”.

I call her (the car) the “Grey Goose” or the "Oldsmobuick".

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

I have only named one car in my life and that was the one I had in high school It was a 78 Ford LTD wagon. Similar to the one pictured, only a few years newer and we did not have the fake wood panels. The color was the same, however. It was called the dragon wagon because it was green, the grocery getter because it held a lot of groceries, or the lead sled because is was heavy. That is why is had a 400ci V8 and it had been known to hold 12 people.

 

[indigo]

Really, really rusty and dinged up 1991 Civic 4-door. I bought it new, and now with only 135,000 miles my Honda mechanic is questioning the wisdom of putting any more money in, even for basic stuff like tires. I was hoping for collector plates one day and nearly cried when the mechanic said "no way". Runs great, looks like crap.

never had a name, but neither did my Yugo or the Le Car before it . . .

 

[michaelskis]

Although it does not have a name (yet???) I love my car. It is a Black 2000 Impala LS, with all the options, leather, heated seats, the police motor, power everything, sun roof, and most importantly, the overhead computer that tells me more about my car, than I will ever need to know. The only think that it does not have, is on star. But, I do have a more than few maps in the seat pockets. I got a terriffic deal on it because it was a rebult, and it runs great, and looks amazing.

Do you have more maps than you need in your car?

 

[martini]

1991 Isuzu Trooper that is currently sitting in my drive way, undriven, awaiting a new tranny. Called the Big White Brick for its lack of aerodynamic charachteristics.

1993 Subaru Legacy wagon. 119K miles. Called Bronco Billy, or Billy. Its brown, got small rusty spots and lots of scratches. Goes damned near anywhere.

1997 Subaru Impreza Outback. 138K miles and a new motor. Freshly paid off and beggin to go to 300K before we scrap it! Called Lizzy 'cause it's green like a lizard.

 

[biscuit]

Do you have more maps than you need in your car?

You better believe it. I've got a map from every state (plus D.C.) that I've driven through in the past 4 years crammed into my door pockets. I think there's something about roadmaps and planning geeks... they just fit.

 

[Otis]

First car was a 1960-something (1961?) Falcon, which had a nickname that is not PC and will not be revealed.

Next was a 1963 Pontiac Catalina hardtop, aqua and white, with a 400+ci. V-8. No name that I can recall.

Next a 1969 mustang, gold, with 302 V-8. No name.

Next a 1978 Toyota Celica GT. No name.

Now a 1987 Toyota long-bed, extra-cab pickup, red, 230,000 miles, turning radius about the size of a Wal-Mart. No name.

 

[OhioPlanner]

2000 VW Jetta TDI It doesn't have a name. But every time I lock it I say the car is saying hi because of the beep it makes.

 

[Plannerbabs]

2000 VW Jetta TDI It doesn't have a name. But every time I lock it I say the car is saying hi because of the beep it makes.

Yay, another diesel! I gloat every time I cruise past a gas station. Right now, have gone about 300 miles and still have 1/2 a tank.

 

[Maroon]

Red 93 Nissan Sentra 4dr
162,000 miles
Christened "The Red Lady" on a road trip from Chicago to Charleston, SC.

 

[mendelman]

Red 93 Nissan Sentra 4dr
162,000 miles
Christened "The Red Lady" on a road trip from Chicago to Charleston, SC.

Off-topic:
So, it's still chugging along, eh? Very nice.

For those not in the know, Maroon, myself and two other of our fellow MUP classmates spent some goog times commuting to our internships with the City of Detroit during school.

 

[moose]

2000 VW Jetta TDI It doesn't have a name. But every time I lock it I say the car is saying hi because of the beep it makes.

Husband has a 2001 Jetta (no name), but I always preferred the modest "beep" that the Jetta made over the loud double beep that my last car made (1995 Honda del Sol -- stolen).

I drive a little orange one-seater electric buggy around the demo site at work -- I call her "Shelia".

Other cars with names:

1989 Honda Accord -- "The Red Barron"

1982 Honda Accord Hatchback -- "The Heart of Gold" (from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy). Car was renamed by my sister to "The TurtleMobile")

 

[Bullwinkle]

My regular ride: 1983 GMC Suburban, a 3/4 ton 4x4 beast with horrible paint. I call it the Mostly Red Suburban, or MR. Suburban on more formal occassions.

At least once or twice a week: the bus. We are doing a trial public transit project now, so I try to ride it when I can.

My wife's summer car: 1989 Volkswagon Cabriolet, with pink pinstripes. She calls it her Barbie Car.

My wife's winter car: 1994 Explorer, the 'Exploder'.

 

[Mark]

1965 Galaxy 500 no name, dual exhaust w/ glass packs, convertible. Totally rusted out. I saved it from the junk yard.

1972 Caprice Classic, The Ghetto Cruiser, too much primer.

1974 Cutlass Salon, no name, too nice.

1971 Beatle, Jimmy Jazz (Clash song), rust holes everywhere, auto stick.

1974 Super Beatle, Jimmy Jazz II. Personally refurbished.

1977 BMW 320i, Herbie, after Herbert Shapiro, original owner???

1979 BMW 318i, Stan or the Sewing Machine. My brother's middle name, who was the previous owner. The 1.8 liter engine with performance exhaust, sounded like a sewing machine @ high rpms.

1986 BMW 325, Nan, after my mom, who bought it new and passed away.

1992 Taurus wagon, Morris the Taurus.

1998 Windstar, Creep Mobile or Uglystar.

2000 Volvo V70 XSC, Homer (hockey nickname), after Tomas Holmstrom a Swedish Detroit Red Wing, who was in the dealership picking up a new car at the same time we were picking up our car. But, Pussy Car has taken over, because of the wimpy horn and my attempts to keep the wife and kids from eating in it and scratching or denting it.

My brain hurts.