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1 in 4 UK Adults Had a Nick Name for Their First Car

Byadmin

Aug 10, 2022

Do you remember your first car? Of course you do. First cars, much like our first loves, hold a special place in our hearts, and new research from Heritage Car Insurance has found that 1 in 4 (25%) Brits were so fond of their first car that they gave it a nickname.

Christening our cars isn’t just a strange habit we’ve picked up for no reason. Naming our personal belongings, like our cars, changes the way we interact and encode them in our brains; this is called ‘to anthropomorphize’.  Psychology shows that we deliberately name our ‘stuff’ because it makes up a core part of our personal history – and what’s more historical and formative to us than one of our first experiences of true automotive freedom?

Heritage Car Insurance has gathered some of the most popular, plus the quirkiest car names from across the UK. From the Egyptian Queen’s namesake, ‘Cleopatra’, to ‘Angel’ (as in please be an angel and start!)

THE TOP 10 QUIRKIEST FIRST CAR NICKNAMES

  1. The Reverend Ernest Lumley
  2. Katniss Neverclean
  3. ‘Purdy’ because it was an avenger (Joanna Lumley)
  4. Miss Moneypit
  5. Greased Lard
  6. Cleopatra
  7. ‘Angel’ (as in please be an angel and start!)
  8. ‘Shite’ (because the number plate was S531HTE)
  9. Police Dog (because the number plate had both K9 & PC in it)
  10. Hooray Henry

THE 10 MOST COMMON CAR NICKNAMES

  1. Betsy
  2. Ruby
  3. Betty
  4. Daisy
  5. Bessie
  6. Baby
  7. Rosie
  8. Penny
  9. Bob
  10. Sally

Amber Coakes, Head of Marketing and Communication at Heritage Car Insurance comments: “Our first cars are such a core part of our young identities that it’s no surprise so many people choose to give them a name. A first car broadens our horizons in ways we’ve never experienced before, so of course we get attached.”

“As time goes by, many of us will find that our first cars are now considered classics. With cars from the ‘90s entering the ‘modern classic’ scene, it might not be too long before we begin to see cars from the noughties making their way into the classic car field, with people rebuying their first cars to relive that  feeling once again.”

 

By admin