My other big, red car - a Pontiac Firebird - was called Tiffany II. Hardly original.
Actually, there's a long and sordid history behind naming cars. One of the first was Traveler [sic], a '58 Chrylser 300D which was used by real-life Moonshine runner Jerry Rushing, whose exploits later inspired The Dukes of Hazzard and Smokey and the Bandit.
The real Traveller (Rushing misspelled his car's name) was actually General Lee's horse during the American Civil War. This beast was apparently one of the fastest horses in the world - and General Lee was buried next to his beloved mount when he was laid to rest.
Traveler was a worthy name indeed, then, for a mighty steel steed that could get up to 140mph with a trunk full of shine!
Jerry Rushing's biography inspired the 1974 movie Moonrunners and the hit TV classic The Dukes of Hazzard, both of which shared several characters and plot devices. Instead of Traveler, however, the Duke boys drove in a souped-up '69 Dodge Charger called the General Lee.
A car nearly as famous as The General was the '77 Pontiac Trans Am driven by Burt Reynolds in the awesome movie Smokey and the Bandit. Not many people know that this brutal muscle car was actually christened 'Trigger' in the second movie, after Roy Roger's trusted steed.
In the 1980 sequel, therefore, co-star Jerry Reed christens the replacement Trans Am 'Son of Trigger' although while evading Sheriff Justice's 'howd purswud' Burt Reynolds pats the dashboard and murmers the original name: "Come on, Trigger."
And the third Bandit car? Well, there's no Burt Reynolds this time around, but Jerry Reed (disguised as The Bandit) does refer to it as the "Banditmobile."
Not quite as catchy, is it?
One thing's for sure. Old cars have a lot more character than the generic boxes churned out in Japan and Korea. Giving an old muscle car or a vintage sportster a name seems to make sense. Call a Hyundai anything other than 'a car' and it seems somewhat unseamly.
