Most liked posts in thread: How did you decide on a name for your MINI

Someone once said that my Coupe looked like something Darth Vader would drive. I explained to them that I was much more like Rick Moranis in Space Balls than Darth Vader.....thus the name Dark Helmet stuck (plus the roof on a Coupe looks like a backwards ball hat or helmet).

 

I gave the name Fran to my recently purchased MINi. Fran is the name of a particularly challenging benchmark CrossFit workout with which I have a love/hate relationship. I embrace both Frans for their challenge and reward. All my previous cars have been boring but reliable Japanese economy cars. I love driving Fran and freely accept that there will be differences from my past driving and maintenance experiences.

 

I believe there's another thread where we discussed naming before, but I needed to post here, as I'm taking the liberty of renaming my R53.

In prep for the fifth anniversary of my Father's passing (just the day after Father's Day in '09), Montag is now going to be known as Jocko. The name comes from a nickname Dad called me as a kid. Not sure why he started calling me that, but it was kinda funny then... He was born and raised in Long Beach, CA and my R53 was delivered to its 1st owner in Long Beach. I went to one of my first racing events, the Inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix, with Dad and had a blast in his home town! Every time I would take him for a ride in my MINI, he always had a big smile on his face and a firm grip on the door handle. I knew he, at 88, was having the time of his life. Well, at least I was.... As that same feeling comes over me regularly, it seems a fitting tribute.

So, the resistant book burning firefighter, Montag, from Fahrenheit 451, is now a defunct character. I still love the movie, but love and miss my Dad so much more...

 

Nigel Blue

My MINI is named "Nigel Blue".

Why so?

It started with my alter ego, a source of a lot of humor at our place, a typically-British stereotype named "Nigel Fairthorpe". This character was sort of "assigned" to me in some sense: growing up in the US during the "muscle car" era, I bucked the trend and drove small cars, Fiats & VWs. I spent quality time in, and could extol the virtues and foibles of, most of the British cars of the era as well: MGBs, MGB GTs, Midgets, Triumph Spitfires, TR3s,TR4s, TR6s, GT6s, Morris Minors, Austin Americas, MG 1100s, Austin Healey 100-4s & 3000s. And whose dad owned a Hillman? Mine did.

So I became known as the resident "foreign car" expert, Nigel Fairthorpe, likely to be prone to dashing about in a tweed jacket, wool flat cap, and leather driving gloves, smoking a full-bent briar of Dunhill Standard and clicking off expert heel/toe downshifts as I made good time through the countryside. Yeah, I was that guy.

Fast forward [many] years.

So when purchasing a made-in-Oxford MINI, it had to be "Nigel". During the decision-making phase, I built 10-15 different MINIs, so at any one time I'd have "Nigel Black" (black with chrome/silver), "Nigel Fast" (a JCW), "Sinister Nigel" (all black), etc. Once I spotted an Ice Blue MINI at the dealer, I was hooked, and that led to "Nigel Blue",

 

GIR is his name. I thought they resembled each other, big eyes, antenna, and color. The GP's spirited attitude definitely reminds me of the little guy.

 

Dont be a party pooper! There is no better way to get into everything MINI than going to the biggest event the USA has to offer! Over 900 people already registered!

 

It's like a week at summer camp for adults. Plus MINIs and other interesting things.

 

Glad to see another MINI with Isabel for a name! Mine is spelled different though, it's Isobel.
Why... Well thats a tough one! Hell if I know, but it was in a song my almost first ex wife would always play. For some reason it just seemed to fit.

And look, my car ended up being a broke down, rusted over (fake rust), dirty, nasty, bunch of little stars across the screen, just like that relationship! How fitting indeed!

 

D.B.Cooper is a PNW legend and everything about him is a mystery. For some reason this is the only car I have ever had that demanded it was a "he" and the only car I ever had that upon signing paperwork drew blood from my boyfriend.... Got him home and took a pic and first name that came to mind was D.B. I admit I had considered Earl (famous race care driver) and Sheldon as well as Barry but none of those stuck...

 

My dad had no mechanical inclination. I once saw him cross thread a lightbulb. I started maintaining the family car when I was 14.

Dave

 

My MINI is called "The Mistress" because my wife says sometimes I spend more time with the MINI than her.

So technically my wife named the MINI not me. I am not really into naming cars but it stuck. :devil:

 

we were watching the x men movie 1 night and I fell in love with the character Rogue. she runs off without thinking causing disaster... that's me!!!

 

A coworker kept calling my Hyper Blue '06 R53 a blueberry. For some reason it bothered me at first. I don't know why. Once I accepted it, I started called my MINI "Vi", short for Violet as in the character Violet Beauregarde from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

My 2013 MCS is called Isabel, Issy for short, for no other reason than when I looked at it the day it was unloaded from the truck, that's the name that immediately popped in my head. So, she sorta told me what her name was when we were first introduced.

 

Rogue is my fav too but being I had a horse named Rogue and my computers name is Rogue I better not name D.B. Rogue lol

 

I didn't name the Mini. He told me his name the third time I drove him. 8 out of 10 voices in my head thought that was strange.

 

This is a very cool tribute.

My Dad got me into cars, it was something we could always strike up a conversation about. Anytime I did something to GIR I'd call him and give him the break down. He passed away a year ago next week, I still find myself reaching for the phone.

 

Don't have a name for mine, but M1N1 S is my plate number.

 

I hadn't ever named a car before, but I started to refer to my MINI as "The MINI Pooper"
I even changed the letters on the back from Cooper to Pooper.

See my avatar.

Dave