The stars of the newly-released Cars 2aren't the only autombiles with personality. Five motorists describe their special relationships with their four-wheeled friends.
Gemma Hodge
LivesTramore, Co Waterford
Drives2001 Opel Corsa
“It doesn’t have a distinct personality. I think you impose your own personality on a car after a while. For a long time I felt that it was still my friend’s car because she sold it to me. I felt that her personality was part of it for a while. It was in a good state and really clean. Now it’s in a mess . . .
“It may not be taking on my personality, but it’s certainly taking on my possessions. I just kind of fill it with stuff and drive it around – it’s like a mobile wardrobe.
“I’ve never called it any names, but I did resent it for a good while. I bought it when I was learning how to drive, and I left it sitting in the driveway for a long time. And it started to grow cobwebs; it was quite neglected. It became a symbol of everything I wasn’t achieving. I did achieve it in the end, but it took a while.
“I feel very fond of it now, and it feels very much my car, and it’s very reliable as well. Lately I’ve gone from being the person who used to get a lot of lifts to the one who gives a lot of lifts. I spend a lot of time with my niece. She’ll say, ‘Let’s go in your car,’ so we’ll sit in it and listen to music and draw and put seats up and down, so it’s an extension of my flat as much as my personality. It’s well used.
“Who would play it in a movie? A good actor that you don’t actually remember the name of; they kind of blend in. You can’t remember them but they’re essential to the movie. Best supporting actor, maybe?”
Maureen Bird
LivesOranmore, Co Galway
Drives2005 BMW 3-Series
“A personality? Human characteristics? I’ve never really thought about it, to be honest. It’s more than transport, though: it’s my little space where I’m lovely and cosy and comfy and warm. It’s like another room to me, where I can get away with nothing to mither me, and it’s just me and the car.
“I’ve never named this one, but all my other cars have had names. I’m not sure why this one never got named. Most of my other ones were called Betsy or Suzy. But I’ve never put a name on this one, funnily enough.
“Of all my cars, I think I loved my old Fiat Punto the best. I think I did more mileage in that because I took it back and forth to England. It was zippy, it was high up and, yes, she was called Betsy. Betsy and I went everywhere together.
"If a film star were to play my car it would have to be Owen Wilson, the guy from Marley & Me.Possibly because he seems a bit crazy, which is maybe like me."
Kieran Walsh
LivesSalthill, Galway
Drives2000 Volvo C70 coupé
“It’s not so much that it has a personality, more that it fits in with my own personality. If the car has a certain inclination, or if you get a certain vibe off it, then I think that it is possible to connect with it in a way that you normally wouldn’t be able to do with something that’s supposed to be an inanimate object.
“When it’s running better I feel much better about it than other days. I think our relationship has evolved, if you can call it that. When I first bought the car I didn’t trust it. It probably has nothing to do with the car, or whether it has a personality, and more to do with what it represents for you.
“This one kind of has a static personality: it doesn’t seem to be interacting or having mood swings that much. It’s a bit apathetic, I don’t think it really cares what I think about it or whether I drive it or not.
My previous car, an MGB, definitely had mood swings. So some days it was great, and maybe the next day the indicators didn’t work or it seemed to have a hangover from
whatever oil I poured into it. You really got a sense that, if you can ever say that a car has a personality, then that one had. The logical thing, of course, is that it’s down to the mechanical vagaries.
“I have named my cars, yes. The MGB was Bob – it had the characteristics of a cantankerous individual, so I called it Bob. Then it became a tradition, so I decided to name the Volvo too, and it’s called Sven.
“Who would play them in a movie? The MGB would have to be Walter Matthau. I think the Volvo would have to be Dolph Lundgren as he is today, because the turbo’s not working, so it’s once muscular but now kind of ageing, slightly arthritic. Besides, when people drive Volvos, it’s often about being slightly left of centre, and Dolph apparently has two master’s degrees and is on his way to having a PhD.”
Eilis Mulroy
LivesOranmore, Co Galway
Drives2000 Opel Zafira
“If it has a personality then it’s a bit put-upon, because it never, ever gets washed. Inside or out. And it gets filled with what I suppose you’d call the flotsam and jetsam of domestic life.
“It is dependable, though, and I did just buy it a new set of hubcaps, so maybe it’s getting a more comfortable life than I thought.
“It has never let me down, not even in the very worst weather, and always starts first go, so I really can’t say anything bad about it.
“I’ve never named it, or called it any names, but I’ve certainly shouted at some of my other, previous cars. Never had to with this one, though.
"I guess if you had to sum it up with one word, it'd be 'downtrodden'. I don't think there's any film star who matches up to it, but if it were a character from a film, then it'd be Boxer, the horse from the book Animal Farm; strong, loyal and hard-working."
Dee Conway
LivesMoycullen, Co Galway
Drives2007 Honda FR-V
“I wouldn’t say it’s part of the family, but we couldn’t go anywhere without it. I don’t think of it as having a personality or human character traits. It’s totally reliable and has lots of space, and I wouldn’t ever swap it for anything, but I wouldn’t see it as being human.
“I think my older car I was more attached to. It was a Golf, and I really loved that car. But now that I have this new one, I just think that the Golf was old and crocky. I really didn’t want to change the Golf. But as soon as I got the Honda I just started to realise the faults with it.
“Named the Golf? No, and I wouldn’t name the Honda either. But it is very functional, and I do love it.
“A film star to play the Honda? Hmmm. Someone not very exciting, anyway. Someone who wouldn’t stand out too much. Not a bad actor, but someone who kind of fades into the background. Liam Neeson, maybe. He’s not fame-hungry, but he’s very talented.”
