Nicknames we give to cars/bits of cars

[MorganP104]

Inspired by a conversation I had with my son earlier, I thought I'd start a thread about the identifying nicknames we give to cars, or certain styling traits of cars.

In case I'm not making much sense, I'll start (you'll get the idea).

Dog bone grille = Mk1 Ford Escort
Peanut headlights = Various '90s/'00s Mercs
Splitty = Early VW Campervan
Big bumper = Mk2 VW Golf GTi

And of course, if someone said to you "ugly Scorpio", you'd know they were talking about the '94-'98 model, not the Mk3 Granada Scorpio. We all use these colloquialisms, and I am sure there are many, many more that I don't know about, so I'm looking forward to learning something!

Over to you, PH.

[anonymous-user]

Bug-eye Impreza
Egg yolk 996 911

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 14th February 18:14

[anonymous-user]

Kierkegaard said:

Bug-eye Impreza

Beat me to that one!!

The 635 e24, better known as the shark.

[lexusboy]

Big eye
Hawk eye
Blob eye

All Imprezas

[eltax91]

Bug for beetle

Landy for anything from the series/ defender stable

[cjs racing.]

Kidney grills

BMW

[aka_kerrly]

Are we including shortened versions of car names that seem to be widely acceptable as well for example

- Teggy = integra
- Lude = Prelude
- Liner = Skyline
- Rado = Vw Corrado

OR just nicknames like:

- Blob/bug/hawk Eye = different generations of Impreza
- Scooby = Impreza
- 5 POINT OOOO = Mustang Foxbody 5.0L
- Clown shoe and or Breadvan = BMW Z3 Coupe
- Bready - mk2 VW Polo estate
- JEEP = any willys or Ford truck

Parts wise
- Ducktail = typically a Porsche upswept spoiler but equally acceptable on other upswept rear spoilers
- Duckbill = a MK1 Golf front spoiler
- Angel Eyes = BMW E39 headlights (facelift)

[MorganP104]

I didn't think about rules for the thread, per se... So all of the above.

[Zerotonine]

Droop snoot - Mk1 Cavalier, Chevette, Manta , Firenza etc front ends. Google photo for reference.

Edited by Zerotonine on Tuesday 14th February 19:02

[Johnny 89]

A dog leg box

A 'Trevor'

[MorganP104]

Jellymould = Ford Sierra hatchback

[MorganP104]

Johnny 89 said:

A 'Trevor'

As in TVR, yes?

[Levin]

I suspect some of the answers in this thread could be regional or limited to enthusiasts of very specific models. Globally, the AE86 Corolla gets '86' and 'Hachiroku' a lot of the time. Here in Ireland you can see them referred to as 'Twincams' or even just as 'coupes', and people will understand either. A sentence like "Look at that coupe" has a very clear definition here, somehow.

Come to think of it, I've seen DOHC engines referred to as 'Twinkies' online before. I've never heard it in real life, though.

Are the different Skyline names nicknames or formal designations? Hakosuka, Kenmeri, etc. There are a couple of examples of Japanese words being used as nicknames; "Kouki" and "Zenki" seem to define the S14/S14a Silvia, and probably apply to other models too.

Oh, and there's a particular type of VW Beetle engine cover known as a "Pope's Nose".

[Jimmy Recard]

I've never heard any of those, Levin

So you may be right about the regional thing!

[aka_kerrly]

Levin said:

I I've seen DOHC engines referred to as 'Twinkies' online before. I've never heard it in real life

Agree, i've seen TWINKS before used for twin cams but I'd NEVER use that myself.

in the VW community the mk2 Golf 1.8 16v is often designated the "valver"

[Johnny 89]

MorganP104 said:

As in TVR, yes?

Indeed

[MorganP104]

I've thought of another one...

Twinnie = Alfa Romeo TwinSpark engine

[Johnny 89]

Don't forget Moggy for a Minor

[Levin]

aka_kerrly said:

Agree, i've seen TWINKS before used for twin cams but I'd NEVER use that myself.

I'd suggest you don't even Google it if you're looking for discussion of twin cam engines.

Jimmy Recard said:

I've never heard any of those, Levin

So you may be right about the regional thing!

'86' and 'Hachiroku' are basically the same thing from what I remember, as the Japanese term basically comes down to the words 'eight' and 'six'. Of course, if you're not into Toyota Corollas you'd never need to know this. You'd also not need to know that the two-door coupes are referred to as 'booter' models.

[Bdevo3]

Yeah it must be an Irish thing, coupe, twin cam, twin tub, twinky and the classic "15 rolls of mig wire" all refer to ae86 corolla. Suzy is a sierra, docker is a dohc vtec, a kettle is a four cylinder petrol bmw, stroen is self-explanatory. Starbo is a starlet gt turbo, as for parts gearbag is a gear box, donkey is an engine, brakes are anchors, heater is an oven, seats are bum huggers, exhaust is a pea shooter, daily run around car is a shunter, track car/ drift car is a slut,