In the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds”, actor Nicholas Cage had a name for every car that he stole. The main character on his list of ‘sweet ladies’ was Eleanor – a modified 1967 Shelby GT 500 Mustang. When Memphis runs his hands across Eleanor’s lines to get reacquainted, it’s a tender moment between man and machine. As Donny, played by actor Chi McBride puts it, “They had a rough history. She almost got him killed a couple times”.

Other famous cars you may know include “Melba Toast”, Matthew McConaughey’s ’70 Chevelle SS in “Dazed and Confused”; there was “Christine”, the ’58 Plymouth Fury you didn’t want to offend; the “General Lee” Charger made its way into our living rooms; and you can’t forget “Bumblebee”, the Camaro from “Transformers”? But it’s not just the movies where someone decides to name their car.

We’ve all known someone who named their vehicle at some point in our lives. There was a study in England last year, commissioned by NCP, a British parking lot operation, that claims nearly 50% of all drivers in the United Kingdom have given their vehicles a name. They asked 3,000 drivers who are between 17 and 45 years old if they have given a name to their vehicle, and also asked about those names that were given.

The study found that many people liked to use the name of a celebrity, while others liked to use the names of people they worked with. About 20% of the drivers in the study thought the idea to be just plain silly.

I never gave any of my various vehicles a name, but when I was younger we did have an old van that was falling apart on us and I aptly named it: Jean Claude Damn Van. So what have you named your vehicle?