First off, let me say that I have never given a car a nickname, nor have I assigned one a gender. There is interesting research out this week on exactly who is nicknaming their cars and it might not be who you think.
Growing up, we had plenty of characters in the neighborhood with nicknames.
Names that were derived from some physical characteristic or maybe a derivation of their real name.
A guy we knew as “Brillo” was dubbed that, because of his kinky hair...