What’s behind your Cali’s name?

[Elly Swanson]

Hi Guys, some don’t do it, some don’t get it, but it seems a lot of us give our Cali a name.

If you do:

• What’s the name of yours?
• What’s the story behind it?

 

[Auberg-ine]

"Auberge" = French for "Inn". A little one is then an Auberg-ine. Or, as Wiki says: " a small establishment where travelers can seek lodging, food and drinks; typically located in the country or along a highway"
Mine happens to be in Aubergine (= eggplant) color, and 'moving'.

 

[calikev]

Woody after the colour and i love toy story

 

[Fast Freddie]

Harvey - as in RV, recreational vehicle. Simple as that!

 

[Kmann]

Our first was called "Schneewitschen". Snow White (in German) after the Grimm/Disney fairytale. It was the former owner who gave the name and put a small sticker on. As many know it was she has passed away (Maybe the evil Queen or the witch got to her at the end).

The new one has still no name … we thought about Outlander (We love the books and series). But we actually never settled on it. So for now it just "Callien" (Short werison of "The California" in Danish).

PS: Our friends call it "Vinsvinet" (The Vine Pig), wish is a word game on "Vildsvinet" (Wild Hog) … I have no idea why they came up with that - honestly …

 

[Elly Swanson]

"Auberge" = French for "Inn". A little one is then an Auberg-ine. Or, as Wiki says: " a small establishment where travelers can seek lodging, food and drinks; typically located in the country or along a highway"
Mine happens to be in Aubergine (= eggplant) color, and 'moving'.
View attachment 40753View attachment 40756 View attachment 40757

Love it. If we’d have had the choice of a purple colour she may have had a twin or a bright yellow as a complement. But alas, no luck with the extra colour choices so we went for the white (was the colour of our last van too).

Just to let you know if your ears are burning we’re looking over and discussing all your pics and advice on organisation in Aubergine. They’re really inspirational and informative, thanks.

 

[MattBW]

We've always named our vans

My T25 was called Cookie because it was a particular shade of blue that matched a biscuit loving muppet, when I got it.
V's T25 is called Priscilla (Im guessing after Priscilla Queen of the Desert).
Never really settled on a good name for my beach, but as the number plate ends KZR I opted to call it Chief (as in Kaiser Chiefs). It's tenuous but until I think of something better lol.

 

[Heiney]

Our first Cali was bought so that we could go on holiday and travel in comfort with the dogs, so was named Heiney (short for Heinreich Das Hundwagen).
Our Ocean is called Super Heiney ('Supos' for short), as he's our 'upgraded' Cali (as with Mario and Super Mario!).

 

[Elly Swanson]

We've always named our vans

My T25 was called Cookie because it was a particular shade of blue that matched a biscuit loving muppet, when I got it.
V's T25 is called Priscilla (Im guessing after Priscilla Queen of the Desert).
Never really settled on a good name for my beach, but as the number plate ends KZR I opted designed to call it Chief (as in Kaiser Chiefs). It's tenuous but until I think of something better lol.

Tenuous is good. Wait till I post mine, if Charlie agrees. It has a whole convoluted back story! He’s not waffley like me, more to the point.

You could choose “Rickie” as he’s the head of the Kaiser chief tribe and full of energy and fun. But it’s what it means to you that counts.

 

[Elly Swanson]

Our first Cali was bought so that we could go on holiday and travel in comfort with the dogs, so was named Heiney (short for Heinreich Das Hundwagen).
Our Ocean is called Super Heiney ('Supos' for short), as he's our 'upgraded' Cali (as with Mario and Super Mario!).

Love your convoluted thinking. A fellow waffle-meister!

 

[Velma's Dad]

We call her Velma because that's what her name is.

VD

 

[JohnF]

Boo - as in Tickety-Boo.

 

[18hunts]

I wanted 'Mama Cass' as in California Dreaming.
Wife blurted out 'Paddy'.
Don't ask, she doesn't know why either.
It's been 'Paddy' for the last 4 years and is a much loved member of the family.

 

[john mar]

Basil, because we live in Basildon..

 

[Whistler]

Scotty - Because I'm Scottish, love engineering and hope to avoid saying "The engines cannae handle it"

 

[Elly Swanson]

Hi Guys, some don’t do it, some don’t get it, but it seems a lot of us give our Cali a name.

If you do:

• What’s the name of yours?
• What’s the story behind it?

We’ve always used the number plate for all our vehicles over many years. All were boys except one (Flossy the Smartcar - she was very girlie). Anyway, we’ve been emailed with the reg for our new Cali that we’ll pick up Saturday next (24th).

We looked at the reg number for ages and the only thing that came to mind was Daffy. We’ve lived in the East Midlands for the last 25 years and people call each other “duck” or “duckie”. Was this the Cali stars aligning? Well, we looked at each other, “Nah”, just not right for us!

I’m always making up daft rhymes and poems, especially since we’ve had grandkids. We just can’t have:

There was a young Cali called Daffy.
In white, he looked pretty sassy.
But although that’s the plate,
It isn’t that great,
The name Daffy just sounds pretty Naff-y!
​

So, definitely not Daffy, me ducks.

 

[Elly Swanson]

Reggie - after Reggie Perrin - who after a mid-life crisis ran off in an ice cream van to the coast, stripped off on the beach and faked his suicide.
Seemed appropriate somehow - not only as I have reached a similar age, but our Reggie is a two-tone and looks a bit like an ice cream van.

Great back story. Just the nude, beach, fake suicide scenario to get through then, Bobajob.

 

[Elly Swanson]

Got it! His name’s gonna be Tom Robinson. Tom for short, or “Our Tom” (scouse/northern thing, so if there’s another Tom Robinson we can differentiate ours from yours)!

Here’s why:

My lucky/favourite (and current door) number is 24. The number in our UK reg plate is 68. So we have 2-4-6-8. We’ve never had a Cali before and as we’re In the over 60’s bracket we thought now or never. So, these Tom Robinson lyrics fit particularly well:

2-4-6-8, never too late
Me and my radio truckin' on thru the night
3-5-7-9, double white line
Motorway sun coming up with the morning light

Well there ain't no route you could choose to lose the two of us
Ain't nobody know when you're acting right or wrong
No-one knows if a roadway's leading nowhere
Gonna keep on driving home on the road I'm on...
​

And as all you guys know, “home” is wherever you park/pitch your Cali!

Although to many it just seems like commercial pop, it has an underlying social comment and I just love a protest or rebel song. So, every time I turn the engine on me & Tom Robinson will be singing our hearts out.

Here’s a YouTube vid of it:

Other reason: Charlie, my hubby, liked it. Short and to the point (the name, not the back story obviously). Just like him .

 

[briwy]

Tailgate

 

[gvick]

Our 1970 Low light bay T2 was called Phoebe - it was Vw cream and named after Phoebe from friends - the van had the name when we bought it and we continued with it as did the couple who bought from us.
When we get a new Cali it will be called Polly - mostly in memory of my gran who was called Polly and a little bit after Polly in Peaky Blinders - as we are originally from Birmingham- living in Essex, and when my wife gets animated she does sound like Polly,

 

[Zebedee]

I always named my cars so when we saw the reg for the cali was zbe we thought of zebedee who from the Magic Roundabout is a kind of sixties free thinking type so it suited a cali. Unfortunately when I got him his reg was more zebra than zebedee but by then his name had stuck. And my daughter hates zebra stripes or animal fabrics. His full name is therefore Zebedee Zebra! And the dog is Buttons or Buttons James if he is naughty.

 

[PaulMilton]

Since we were married we have called all my cars ‘Dave’ of some sort or another:

15 year old defender 110 - Dave
A newer defender 110 - King Dave
A discovery 3 - Dave III (Dave the third)
A discovery 4 - Dave IV (Dave the fourth)
And finally our Cali.......Camp Dave.

 

[Asprin]

Colin

Letters from California

 

[HAPPY_T6_CALI]

We call ourselves "Happy_T6_Cali". Our message is in this video trailer:

Also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happyt6cali/

 

[Steven Birbeck]

Hi Guys, some don’t do it, some don’t get it, but it seems a lot of us give our Cali a name.

If you do:

• What’s the name of yours?
• What’s the story behind it?

Hi ours was christened Little Blue when we picked it up it was the first song(Beautifull South) that played on the radio and it seemed appropiate