Car nicknames

[Camino LS6]

Some of them like "Burban" and "Vette" are fine by me, but others like "Elky" and "Maro" really annoy me.

Hey, I know it isn't rational, but they rub me the wrong way.

List yours up and down.

[Drew Dowdell]

I've always referred to Eldorados as El-Dogs. The CR-V is "The Critter".

The CLK is the Click

My mother's Bonneville was the Bonnie - affectionately named for a cat she had as a kid.

[SAmadei]

I don't usually nickname cars, but my sister has... and my friends have. For example, for me, the '81 Bonneville was simply "The Bonneville". Then I bought a second Bonneville... Both black... so one is now the "Old Bonneville" or "Bonneville Coupe" and the '99 is "The Bonneville". Sometimes I'll just call them "Bonne".

Now with 3 Grand Prixes in the family, thats gotten confusing. Same with Firebirds... which I call the "Blue Bird" (1969), "Red Bird" (1991) or "Snow Bird" (1992). My sister calls the '69 Firebird "Relentless", as its had a history of being hard to stop... its her car, so that's its official name, I suppose. Her '98 white Sunfire Convertible is "Snowflake".

The '89 GMC Van will alway's be "Dad's Van" in my eyes. The '88 Safari wagon was the "Speed Wagon". My Yellow/Black '68 Catalina Convertible... "Banana Boat".

Camino needs a good name for the new 'Vette. I think its kind of a "Gator Vette"... but that's my opinion.

[Camino LS6]

I wasn't thinking of names we give to specific cars so much as nicknames in general use.

But hey, that's cool too.

I've had plenty of cars with names.

Spacetruck

Meridian

The Vile Bile

Swamp Thing

Mothertruck

As for the Vette, I've called it Rip Van Vette a few times - but I'm not sure that'll stick.

[CanadianBacon94]

The Av, The Burb, The Silvie(rado),

[vonVeezelsnider]

I've always referred to Eldorados as El-Dogs.

I always associate "Eldo" with the Eldroado.

[A Horse With No Name]

We have an older lady in our Miata club who has three GM trucks, two Miata's and a 34 Ford Street rod....

The 34 Ford is Coupie....and I forget the rest of the names she's given her cars.

but she claims each car also has a gender, and she has to drive them to know if they are a he or a she.....

Interesting, IMHO...

[Intrepidation]

In LH circles they get refereed to as "Treps" which I don't care for, "Ms", and "Cordes"

People tend to call Mercedes "Mercs" but that always makes me think of Mercuries.

Grand Marquis are "GMs", although I just call it the Mercury.

The Shadow has had the "Batmobile" nickname for a while, though it hasn't been called that in some time.

I've lovingly dubbed both Colorados at work "$h!piles".

[z28luvr01]

I've lovingly dubbed both Colorados at work "$h!piles".

Shut your mouth

The three Monte Carlos that my family had growing up were always called "the Monte"

[Hudson]

I don't have a problem with what anyone calls their personal car...nicknames are a personal thing. I have a problem calling anyone (or anything, for that matter) by a nickname aside from "Tom" for "Thomas", etc.

I do, however, have a problem when writers (or...shudder....TV talking heads) use nicknames for vehicles. Like calling the President by his last name ("Obama" or "Bush" or "Clinton" instead of "President..."), it seems to be a little less respectful. I've lowered my snob-sensors to the point where I won't complain too loud, but "Mercedes" when referring to Mercedes-Benz (since Mercedes was a stand-alone brand prior to 1926) or "Rolls" instead of Rolls-Royce kinda bothers me. Like the Tom/Thomas example, even I'll use "Chevy" and "Olds" was the original name for the company that built Oldsmobiles.

Am I getting a little picky when I don't like "Bug" or "Beetle" being used for the Volkswagen Type 1?

[Robert Hall]

About the only nicknames I've used to refer to my own cars were referring to my '87 Mustang as 'redstang' when talking within family, to distinguish it from 'graystang' (when I had the '86 LX) or 'whitestang' (the '69). My brother has similar nicknames for his Mustangs (black pony (82 GT), pacecar pony (79 IPC), white pony (85 GT))...

My sister's Mercs have the nicknames 'Big Dog' (the '84 500SEL, as the Big Dogs (CEOs) in the big 80s drove 'em) and 'red ride' (her nickname for her 300CE).

For my Jeep, I refer to it as the 'JGC' occasionally...

As far as brand or model nicknames in general, I often use 'Mopies' to refer to Mopars/Chrysler products, Mercs for Mercedes..

Edited November 22, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[knightfan26917]

The three Monte Carlos that my family had growing up were always called "the Monte"

Yeah, shortening the Monte Carlo name to "Monte" has never really worked for me ... even though it is common place among MC owners. It is almost always, "I worked on my Monte today" ... or ... "I got my Monte back from the paint shop today" ... or ... "I drove my Monte to work today."

Always sounded like they're talking about a dog to me...lol.

*shrugs*

I've never been fond of "Elky" for El Camino or "Eldo" for Eldorado. "Riv" for "Riviera" isn't too bad....

Cort | 37.m.IL.pigValve.pacemaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic |* 06/2011.RT=us66+NW USA*

MCs.CC + CHD.models.HO.legos.RadioShows + RoadTrips.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Somebody snitched on me" ... Barry Gordon ... 'Nuttin' For Christmas'

[daves87rs]

Currently, tthe Balt and the Crapaliers...

[trinacriabob]

To me, Riv, Park, Stang, and Toro are just abbreviations.

"Deuce and a quarter" is what I call one fine automotive nickname!

Some of you may not know what it stands for nor its etymology.

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, trinacriabob said:

To me, Riv, Park, Stang, and Toro are just abbreviations.

"Deuce and a quarter" is what I call one fine automotive nickname!

Some of you may not know what it stands for nor its etymology.

Electra 225...it was 225 inches long some particular year, I think? 

[trinacriabob]

I think that sounds about right, given that my current car is about 198 inches long.  However, what I learned in a basic college sociology course, IIRC, is that primarily one demographic group used that term.  And, when I've heard it said, it has been said with gusto!

[Robert Hall]

Googlin' turned up this thread on the aaca forums..

http://forums.aaca.org/topic/37516-origin-of-the-expression-deuce-and-a-quarter/

[trinacriabob]

I think Buick made a concerted effort to rid themselves of that name and the associated slang.  By the mid-70s, Electras had turned into mostly Limiteds, with the top of the line having the branding "Park Avenue" appended to it.

Here's a "Park" of 1976 vintage:

Buick Electra Park Avenue (interior)

Amazing, on various levels.

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of Buick and their image, though they have tried and succeeded with some models to rid themselves of the old man's car image, but true to stereotype, about an hour ago, I saw a new black LaCrosse pulling into a bowling alley and a guy at least 70 got out....

[balthazar]

42 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Googlin' turned up this thread on the aaca forums..

http://forums.aaca.org/topic/37516-origin-of-the-expression-deuce-and-a-quarter/

Man, is that thread full of wild garbage.

1959 saw the intro of the Electra AND the Electra 225. Electra was 220.6" long, Electra 225 was 225.4 inches long.
The 'Electra 225' name stuck even tho the overall length would vary both longer & shorter over the years ('61: 219.2", '73: 229.8")

That's it. Everything since has been derived from the extra long Electra 225 name.

[Robert Hall]

41 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Man, is that thread full of wild garbage.

1959 saw the intro of the Electra AND the Electra 225. Electra was 220.6" long, Electra 225 was 225.4 inches long.
The 'Electra 225' name stuck even tho the overall length would vary both longer & shorter over the years ('61: 219.2", '73: 229.8") 

Interesting...so on those '59s, was it two wheelbases or  'short' and long deck variations?  (Like the '61-64 Cadillac Park Avenues). 

Edited February 7, 2018 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[trinacriabob]

I remember that the venerable bicentennial Olds Cutlass Supreme, of which over 500,000 were sold, came on a 112" wheelbase if a coupe and a 116" wheelbase if a sedan or wagon.  When Pontiac last ran both a Grand Prix sedan and coupe (in 2002, I believe), the wheelbases and lengths were unchanged for the 2 configurations.

That said, Electras could be either an exercise in Buick as a boulevardier or in Buick as bling.

Edited February 8, 2018 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Interesting...so on those '59s, was it two wheelbases or  'short' and long deck variations?  (Like the '61-64 Cadillac Park Avenues). 

There were 2 wheelbases in total: LeSabre & Invicta : 123", Electra / Electra 225 : 126.3" WB.
But unlike the Cadillac example, the Electra was of 'standard' body length, and the 225 was lo-onger.

- - - - - -
Cadillac's experiment with shorter version sedans was not successful.
• In '58, the Series 62 sedan was 216.8" (13K sold), and the Sedan de Ville was 225" (24K sold).
• Thankfully, this idea was (temporarily) dropped for '59-60.
• In '61, the Series 63 Town Sedan was 215", the Sedan DeVille was 222". Supposedly the Town Sedan was for "rich San Fransisco dowagers with small parking stalls in their luxury apartment houses". Town Sedan sales; 3,756.
• In '62, the short deck was moved to the Series 62 and renamed Park Avenue. Same dimensional differences. Sales: 2,600 vs. 34K Series 62 sedans.
• One more go in '63; Series 63 Park Avenue, 215" vs. 223". 1,575 sold.

[Scout]

H2= Bummer. 

 

I've never cared for the Bimmer.