LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly half of motorists regularly talk to their cars, giving words of encouragement ahead of a long trip and lavishing praise for a job well done at journey's end, according to research on Monday.
A survey of 2,000 owners also found 40 percent thought their car had a personality and was capable of being upset whilst 19 percent worried about how their car was feeling.

The poll, conducted by organisers of July's British International Motor Show found women rather than men tended to have a close relationship with their car. Giving a pet name to their car but not their human partners was admitted to by 20 percent of women

The survey that revealed fully 47 percent of drivers talked to their cars also looked at how people felt about their cars across the country.

Drivers in the southwest worry most about their car's feelings, with 36 percent admitting concern compared with just 15 percent in the Midlands.

Drivers in the northeast were most likely to attribute a character to their vehicles with 68 percent saying their car had a personality, compared with 28 percent in Wales.

More people chat happily to their cars in the southwest than anywhere else in the country, with 54 percent enjoying a good chat, compared with the more taciturn Scots where 26 percent indulged.

Half of all cars on East Anglian roads rejoiced in a pet name compared with just 31 percent of cars in the southeast.

I almost exclusively refer to my cars as Betty and Cruella. My sisters' and parents' cars all have names, and I usually refer to them by name as well. I've come up with some of their names, like Frumpy Fred for the '62 Ford Falcon my Dad bought after the second gas spike in 1979. And after driving my sister's then one-year-old '85 Honda Accord, I told her, "that car's a real honey," and Honey was so named.

I've also been known to pat my car on the dashboard or steering wheel and say "good car" when they've performed well, like passing another car on a two-lane road or when Cruella stopped and swerved on a dime to avoid a head-on collision a couple of weeks ago. I also often greet my cars with a "Hello, dahling!" in a voice like Natasha Fatale (from Rocky & Bullwinkle) or Lucille Ball imitating Tallulah Bankhead. OK, so I'm a bit nuts. So sue me.

Funny story about cars having feelings. When I was in high school, I was driving the '64 Impala that I had grown up with. I loved Nellie, but she sucked gas like a B-52. Plus, I wanted a car that was mine, not my parents.

My sister had bought a '72 Toyota Celica, and I thought it was a really cool car. It was good on gas, fun to drive, and unlike most 70s Japanese cars, it looked pretty sharp. So I was on the lookout for a similar 72-75 Celica. Don't flame me for buying Japanese. Back in the early 80s, the only domestic cars in the $1,500 price range that weren't guzzlers were Vegas and Pintos. Would you buy one of them?

I found a red '74 Celica in the summer of '82 on the used car lot at the local Toyota dealer. It was in really nice shape, but the price was a little high. Still, I was interested. Got back in Nellie to leave, and she wouldn't turn over. I got her jump started (by someone from the adjacent Ford dealership no less; how embarassing!) It looked like it was just an issue of corrosion around the battery cables, but the timing of it was suspect. Normally, Nellie was as reliable as the sun.

A couple of weeks later, I'm on my way to work, and I swing by the Toyota dealership to see if the Celica is still there. It was, and I looked at it rather longingly as I drove past. A couple of miles later, as I'm accelerating onto the freeway, Nellie starts to cough and stalls. I coast to the shoulder, and she won't start. Walk down the frontage road to a pay phone and call my parents, and they tow Nellie home. The fuel pump had died. Now I was convinced—Nellie was jealous!

That Celica eventually sold, but a few months later, I went to look at another '74 Celica. This time, I test drove the car and loved it. The price was right, and I wanted to buy it.

Got in Nellie to head to work. I fully expected something to go wrong, but I told her "It's OK; I still love you. I just need a car that's mine." She started right up and didn't give me a bit of trouble. I figured that she must have approved of this car. I bought it and ended up driving it for the next six years.

Sadly, my Dad wouldn't sell Nellie to me; he didn't want to work on it anymore. He sold it for $500 in April, 1984 and I'm sure she's long since gone to that great junkyard in the sky. When I bought Betty seven years ago for $3,000, I called my Dad and said "you owe me $2,500!" He thought that was pretty funny.

But then he did something really sweet. He sent me $500 so I could get new tires and take care of some pressing issues with Betty. And he sent me his old shop manual for the car. He had kept it all those years. I guess he really believed me when I said I'd have another '64 Impala someday.

I've always wondered about people who do this. :cookoo:

I freely admit it, though. :yup:

I've always wondered about people who do this. :cookoo:You and me both brother! It must be all those hallucinogens the Brits put in their water....... :eek: :bonkers: :rose:

Our car is called Betsy, after dad's first car, a '76 Cortina, but has also been referred to as Veccy (it's a Vectra) and is talked to the most when it has no petrol in it, and is running on fumes (once weekly it seems), where it is begged not to die, although it does keep cutting out and the dashboard is lit up like a Christmas Tree. Dad was over with her tonight, she was (finally) powerwashed on Sunday, and is looking rather smart.

This was her pre wash on Saturday, taken at an awkward angle.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/mccombie_5/Stuff/cars007editplates.jpg

Shall vacuum her this weekend if I get a chance, maybe jet wash it again, and take some nice pictures of her, she's worth very little financially, but as a tool to shift the family around she's priceless. We'd be effectively screwed without this car.

The Trooper is just that, it hasnt been given a name, Dad occasionally refers to it as "the best" but I tell him to shut up!

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/mccombie_5/Stuff/editcars006plate.jpg

My Fleetwood's name is Rachel. It fits her nice.I think she likes it. I always talk to her and sometimes yell if she makes a noise i dont like. I call her baby and say im sorry if i say something mean,or if i dont wash her or change her fluids on time. Call me crazy, i probably am. - Tim

So i'm not the only one who tells thier car "good job" after a good drive...

99% of the time I don't "talk to my car(s)" ~ BUT, they ALL have names !

The '93 Sixty Special is " AUBIE "
The '03 Town Car is "TOWNIEE"
and our son's Jeep is " JEEPERS "

I don't believe I have ever had a name for any of my cars...
But my car talks to me! :D



(CTS' have a female voice by the way...)

I don't believe I have ever had name for any of my cars...
But my car talks to me! :D



(CTS' have a female voice by the way...)

Our old car did that!!

The voice of the navigation was called Sexy Sandra! Scary seeing my dad flirt with it:

"Take the next available left"

"Anything for you, babe"

Our old car did that!!

The voice of the navigation was called Sexy Sandra! Scary seeing my dad flirt with it:

"Take the next available left"

"Anything for you, babe"


haha thats great

haha thats great

Less amusing when he would be taking oen of my pals home though!!

Everyone at school new my dad talked to his sat nav!

I am definitely guilty of giving my cars personalities. I dont usually name them, but my friends BMW 325 is Sheila. I DO pat them on the dashboard when they behave in a situation where I expect problems, like when I drove my 99 Grand Cherokee halfway across the country in a snowstorm.

Now that my Seville knows Im trying to get rid of it... it has been on its best behavior.... My Service Stability Sys warning has magically disappeared.

Josephine is what I call the Cad, I sometimes will pat its dashboard or rub it's seats (soooo soft!)


"I'm drivin' a '48 Cadillac with thunderbird wings
I'm tellin' ya' baby it's a runnin' thing
I could reach a groove a'baby .. get a gear
I think I could take it a'right outta here

Ride on Josephine, ride on
Ride on Josephine, ride on
Ride on Josephine, child ya' got a runnin' machine
Baby baby ride on Josephine, baby ride on"


-George Thorogood "Ride On Josephine"