History How does a car get it's name?

Many great rods from the back in the day, or even today have a name, some are iconic ie Shiskabob, Predicta, Kookie T, UncertainT, or more modern contemporaries like Aurabella, the newest Slonker award winner, or any of the various chip foose builds like the Impression. The question is how does a car earn its name?

Sometimes it's based on location, or something specific to the car itself, or it's had an owner of renoun and is subsequently known as their vehicle. Is there an equation for figuring out the perfect name for a car?

Does the name come to you like a bolt of lightning or do you hear it in a song?

 

I have used songs. One car was named after the paint color. Sapphire blue So named it sapphire.
Sometimes friends name them.
You'll know when it's right.
Some cars play off the make or model.

 

What he said.
Just a gut feeling, that brings the mood of the ride into reality.
It may also be dubbed by enthusiastic friends.
There is no formula to it, just a feeling of the appropriate experience whether looking at,
riding in. or having to repair and/or modify the blessed thing.

 

Toyota created "Prius" by combining prissy and pious.

 

Mine must be called You God damn &&^$% %$# p!ce of **%$ sh!t

 

had a friend's wife name my chopped & black primered '54 Chevy "Evil" because of how it looked to her. . I called it " LaBomba" because the Cherry Bomb glass packs had guts blown out

 

Named the 1950 Buick George, after Dad. Only car I have named.

Ben

 

I have it's twin........

 

I name my cars like I name dogs. Basically random situations and a car/dog usually without a name for a good bit lol. I have one car named Godzilla because of what my buddy said when I offered to chain bumper to bumper with him after he'd bragged about how superior his Hiroshima hoopty was compared to my Olds. His reply? "God no. That Godzilla car would rip mine in half!". Lol. Another one is named "the cannibal" because of how it loved to eat parts of other cars. My 53 bel air is named cleetus because I saved it from a cow pasture and that was the most farmer sounding name I could think of lol. Still haven't come up with a name for my 54. Hoping once I start laying paint something will hit me

 

It's on the fender.

 

We call ours "Wash" because it was supposed to be painted Washington Blue. Well, somehow it ended up suede black, which is perfect, so I sometimes call her "The Spirit of '47" because the "theme" of it was that it was supposed to look like something built in 1947. Obviously not a "strict" period look, but "the spirit of...."

 

Car names,sure.
"Way Back Story"
Late 50s early 60s,car names were a thing for sure. My art name was"The Bat",even did air brush Wildcar "T" shirts,
I made a fair amount of $ painting names on cars,Some pinstriping as well.
Our neighborhood group of car nut teens,started a deal were we all came up with car names that were a little funny n shocking;
Robs faded n rusty 55 Ford,I painted Gangrene , Nicks unrelyible 54 Pontiac,got Rigormortis,my 28A for firsts few years was Black Plague< has always been Black w littte yellow trim, an Steves ,red w white roof, 31A sedan was Scarlet Fever.
My custom "J" though got a song name at the time,that seemed a bit funny too "Walk Don't Run".
I painted a lot of names on Miami cars,some good ones,some funny,most in there own way> Cool plus.
Much like BOATs

 

A previous OT project earned its name when we were in the process of sectioning the body, the second pic is as we found it!! One unlucky move and it could have been a trip to the ER hahaha!!

On the right car I think names do work, there are some reeeeaaaal cheesy ones out there though.

Plus they gotta be painted!! Nothing worse than a nostalgic styled drag car or gasser with decals instead of painted letters!!!

J

 

Most of my vehicles don't have a name, but some do. '65 Coronet had paperwork with it, a woman named Gladys owned it. In it's untouched original form, it looked like a Gladys, so that is its name. OT Plymouth for the same reason, Shirley is its name. OT truck was in a shed for years and had thousands of mud dauber nest everywhere, so Dauber it is!

 

Every vehicle I have owned is named "For Sale"

 

Yours and mine must be related

 

My T-Bucket was called The Peter Beater. I'm Peter and it beat the crap outta me.

 

My sedan is known as the B. The past owners called it that because it was a Model B, but it has a V8 now. My wife feels like B is short for B,,,,. Sometimes the car is temperamental.

My brother’s pickup is called Otis because it has a brass Otis Elevator tag on the radiator she’ll.

We call my brother’s coupe Ol’ Yeller because it has old yellow paint.

 

I've only given my beaters a pet moniker over the years. Rust belt guys generally have a "beater with a heater" for the rough months & salt season. The Shaker, The L.A. Dart, Old Blue, The Iacrolla, were a few...

 

Most car names I hear come up the same as nicknames, someone says it and it sticks.

someone called my friend’s ‘52 Chevy business coupe gasses “Moose Knuckle” and that stuck

 

I try not to name cars other than things like “the Ford”, “the Merc”, “the truck”, etc. But, my 56 came with a name since it was a one family car until I got it. It was, and is “Ruth” after the original owner. Oh, and I guess I named my 50 Buick “Bob” which was short for “Big Ol’ Buick”…

 

I named my Henry J while listening to a song while I had just got the new engine running just right. "Bad Moon"

My 41 pickup has something attached to it so it's a name that can come across one of two ways, literally because of the weird shit that happens around it and figuratively because it's a bad mamajama. "Evil41"

 

I really can't remember why I named Clarence 50 years ago. It probably was influenced by whatever I was smoking that day.

 

Raquel From Hell...

 

Strangely, none of the many cars I have owned over the last 70 years had a name. My late girlfriend, on the other hand, called every car she ever owned "Nelly".

 

We called this car "Blackie", It might have something to do with the color. HRP

 

Friends name cars.....
Some notables....
The Stealth Carlo
Soul Glow
.....my personal favorite
Shitty Shitty Bang Bang