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� and I�m wondering if there is a process used for
christening your ride. I have seen vans and busses called Horst, Matilda,
Blue, Emma and other names and I�m curious.

My van got her name of "Butternut" because of her color. The van was at my parents' house, getting a new/rebuilt engine, and as it sat there, my mom observed  that it was the color of a butternut squash. Since there have been 7 VW vans, and more than 30 cars total, everybody needs a name to help keep straight which is which. With the adventures my family has had involving vehicles, we NEED that kind of support.

  Most of the time, things seem to get named because they have some kind of percieved personality. It just makes mechanical contrivances and their cussedness easier to deal with, I guess. This gets to be especially true for older stuff.

Evan Mac Donald

(present)
1984 Wolfburg (Wolfie)
1985 GL 7 Pass. (Butternut)
1991 Carat Weekender (the Fridge)
1972 Chevy P/U (Sarah Beth II)
1993 Bonneville (the Ghost)
1994 Subaru Legacy wagon (the hearse)
(past)
1976 type 2 (Marigold)
1970 type 2 (the blue bomb)
1968 Chevy P/U (Sarah Beth)
1977 Honda wagon (the Italian special)
1978 Honda wagon (the FIRST)
1978 Honda wagon (the SECOND)
1977 Honda Civic (the roller skate)
1976 type 1 (the bug)