Why Your Car Deserves a Name

Somewhere between the first drive and the first repair bill, it happens: the car stops being it and becomes her. Science has no explanation. Every owner knows exactly what I mean.

A named car is a kept car. This isn't sentimentality - it's the most reliable maintenance system ever devised. Nobody forgets Lady Penelope's rego. Nobody lets Bruce run on bald tyres. The name creates the duty of care; the duty of care creates the fifteen-year ownership story; the story creates the classic. Every cherished survivor at every meet you've ever admired was, somewhere along the line, named.

The taxonomy of car names

• The Aristocrat: Penelope, Winston, Her Ladyship. For cars with presence and running costs to match.
• The Aussie Standard: Bruce, Shazza, The Beast. Applied with love and zero ceremony.
• The Ironic: a rusted project called Precious. A slow diesel called Lightning. Ten out of ten.
• The Inherited: Grandad's name for it, which you would never dream of changing, because the name is the inheritance.

Now make it official

The Royal Garage - our app - now treats your car like the family member she is: pet name, personality ('dramatic in the wet, hates Mondays, sounds expensive'), and a photo album, because one photo was never going to be enough. Add her, name her, photograph her bad side (she doesn't have one, obviously) - and let the app worry about her paperwork.

A car you name is a car you keep. And keeping cars is the whole point.