British-Cars.org

Welcome to the DMR Site for British Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite General - He, She, or It?

Can somebody please tell me when spridgets first gained gender status?

I can remember when a sprite/Midget was referred to as a womans car (although not the frog as a I recall).

They were considered to be the "soft" option for a sports car, and not "real" sports cars for Men.

Even the B was considered a bit namby pamby. But I don't remember anyone ever referring to the Spridget, as a she, or her. Or he or him either, for that matter, until I started reading it here.

So when did this start? Is it a result of the early impression that the spridget was a Womans/Girls car, that has resulted in them being called, she or her?

Mine btw, is just a thing, or an it, or a car. Even though I admit to being (after 34 years of ownership), shall we say, sentimental to a degree, I find it kind of, er, fingers down the throat, when I see or hear of cars referred to as her/she, and he or him, more so.

So what's the psychology or rationalle, behind this genderising of cars?

Please don't cite ships as a precedent, ---- but I guess somebody will.
Lawrence Slater

well I was going to say that most cars are refered to in the feminine gender because ships are... but you said not to say that.

Not having been around for the original marketing of these cars (my mg is 7 years older than I am), i can say that my car's percieved gender isn't a result of marketing as much as habit. Like many things, cars are attributed gender and personality through association. Mine is feminine to me (sorry for saying this ladies!) because in order to keep it (her) happy, I have to buy it (her) things and spend time with it (her). Otherwise, she (it) pouts.
Chris Edwards

Interesting thought there Lawrence, from my young perspective (my car being 11 years older than me!) the Midget is now quite a manly car (as with nearly all classics) as fixing rusty old stuff is a manly pursuit and now you have even softer, girlier options like the MX-5 or mini convertable (if you can call it a sports car!).

Talking about gender confused Midgets... the political correctness of it all is making my brain sizzle!

Cheers,
Malcolm
M Le Chevalier

I'm not bothered either way.

With my other 2-seater, relations/friends are always saying, "I see you've borrowed your wife's car", and "How's the hair-dressing business?", and so on. It doesn't bother me one bit.

I didn't buy my first MG Midget in 1973 so I could join a club, because friends had them... I just liked the look, sound and image. And when my friends sold theirs (acqured later), it didn't bother me either.

My advice (you knew this was coming!) is to stick a Kseries into it, and then it becomes a beast!

(Having said all that, it's self-evident that some cars are feminine, eg. Spitfire, Sunbeam Alpine, ...)

A
Anthony Cutler

Mine is more of a force of nature....it is the black hole midget

But id say its more female then male because only a woman can drive me to insane homicidal rage at times, and yet I still keep coming back for more abuse.... Just like a midget. So its definatly a woman

Prop
Prop

I don't attribute any gender to my cars, but the Midget has become Frank since my wife thinks it is a Frankenstein of a car built from parts from so many other cars. I suppose it's more male than female since I've refered to it as a Son *** more than once when working on it.
B Young

My sprite is still in pieces at the moment, but when I was driving it remember that it was never quiet, always touchy about the way it was treated and that something used to go wrong once a month that actually had nothing to do with me but still I got the blame. Clearly she is female.

However she had the ability to turn heads, looks fantastic, was understanding about times when I just could'nt give her the attention she deserved, forgave me all my driving faults and was always there for me when I really needed her. She made me laugh out loud and always put a smile on my face as I walked up to her in a crowded car park. Clearly she is female.
M Adams

Anthony. even the Sunbeam Tiger?
http://www.sunbeamtiger.co.uk/

I love the comments so far, I'm in stitches. lol
Lawrence Slater

It's all jut a bit of fun though isn't it! My F is referred to as "He" - somewhat superseded recently by "possessed, evil heap of junk". The Midget is also "He" - although I initially thought it was a "She"

Could be worse...I could have conversations with them...wouldn't catch me talking to a car...ever...

Ally

I talk to my car quite often when racing - usually to apologise for doing something nasty to it (her) like missing a gear or running a kerb too hard...
David Smith

My frogeye is an it. Has been since I've owned it. When my sister owned it it was a he named Ollie after some actor named Oliver Reed.

As far as being a girlie car, I recently took someone who has owned and ridden motorcycles (BSA, Triumph, Matchless, Harley) for over forty years for a ride and he knows that it isn't a girlie car. Scared the snot out of him. Made my day when he said that at a couple of points he thought that we were going to lose it. :-)
Martin Washington

I think it's something to do with boats

or ships
N Atkins

When racing or driving on a slippery road it becomes quite clear that cars are "he"... because they can't multi-task!

Try turning and braking at the same time, or turning and accelerating. Particularly when on the limit caused by speed/snow/ice or all 3 together!

Max max-at-midgetmax-dot-com

My other car is a BMW Mini.....haircut anyone!!

Ian
I Ball

Prop has my vote. And that is from someone who doesn't drive a spridget. Sure as hell applies to a B though!

It has always applied to boats though, and to someone with a gggrandfather named Commodore Walter Wemyss Leslie, that has a significance.
Roger T


Nigel, I thought you might quote something from one of your many books or manuals on sexing Midgets.
Note btw that's sexING, not sexIN. I know all about that.

Martin Washington,usa.
As I said I dont recall anyone referring to Frogs as girlie and you prove the point. :)

So what it seems to come down to then, is that if you talk to your car, as some here do, you must attribute it with a personality, and I suppose then you decide if it is male or female.

Anybody have a mixed up spridget, about which you can't decide either way? lol.



Lawrence Slater

Lawrence,
I have very few books and manuals but theones I do have contain a lot of information - especially one

I thought you might like a ship reference

personally I don't talk to my car other than to swear at it, everyone knows to keep away if I'm forced to work on my car - my wife tells everyone that when I work on the car I only know four swear words but I use them a lot
N Atkins

The only vehicles that warrant a name are ugly looking ones, i.e old bedfords, or a landy maybe. And then the name would be Agnes.

I must admit I have tried giving cars names but it all just sounds so so wrong. I don't get it at all. It's one thing a lady giving her car by a name, but a bloke? Come on!

Only time I talk to it is when I want it to try harder at sticking to the road, and even then it still doesn't have a name, more like 'come on you bl00dy thing'!

You could say that the midget is an extension of your own body, like one of those big machines in The Matrix 3, you wouldn't give your arm a name would you? But you can certainly talk/shout/cajole it into doing what you want. I have purposely omitted the obvious extension to a certain part of the body. Anyway, as a midget is so small compared to other cars, it obviously means we don't need so much in the extension department anyway.
Tarquin

Only four swear words Nigel? I invent plenty when I curse. Still I'm sure four gets the job done :).

Not being nautical, I'm afraid the subtle difference between a boat and a ship eludes me.

The Historic Ships Committee have designated a vessel below 40 tons and 40 ft in length as a boat. However, submarines and fishing vessels are always known as boats whatever their size.

Even sailors are confused lol. So ships are a poor precedent it seems to me, if those in the know can't decide if its a boat or a ship, how can they tell if its a he or a she?

Maybe a boat is a he and a ship is a she, unless he is a submarine?

How does a whale have sex with a submarine then?
It bites off the end, and sucks out all the seamen. boom boom.

So what about mixed up spridgets then?


Lawrence Slater

LOL. Agnes wont be pleased will she :)
Lawrence Slater

Saith Bill:

>>> I don't attribute any gender to my cars, but the Midget has become Frank since my wife thinks it is a Frankenstein of a car built from parts from so many other cars. <<<

Right, I've seen that "abby-normal" engine you stuck in it. ;-)

I'll be the first to admit that I'm the sentimental sort (or maybe just mental), but my Midget is an it. However, if I had to choose a gender for it, it would be male. In my limited experience, females don't seem to enjoy motoring for the sake of motoring, wind in the hair, grease under the fingernails, etc. I know they're out there (cue Rach and Deb), but the type seems to be scarce around here. So the Midget and me are something like a couple of good mates out for some fun. And no, I haven't named it.

Now I also have a MINI, as does Ian. And I have named it... "Moocher the MINI" (think Cab Calloway)... but I seldom actually refer to it by that name. And being a Cooper S, in BRG with sport stripes, I definitely think of it as masculine.

-:G:-
Gryf Ketcherside

LOL Gryf - since you asked - and I'm doing the lady thing of not getting dirty today as it's NOT my midget! - I have no fingernails due to the huge amount of stress that my MGs give me, so, the only oil and grease to be found doesn't need a scrubbing brush to remove it :P!

I don't much care for the hours and hours of detangling my hair after driving, and am considering regrowing it for that reason, but, I don't think that there are many females who wouldn't enjoy the whole hood down driving experience.

As for the car, well, it's surprising the number of MALES who tell me that I can't change Primerose - indeed, she used to be called Primrose before certain men on this forum renamed her ;)

The only comment I can possibly make is that they sure do like one to get down and dirty - so - they've got to be a male!

As for the ship/boat thing - I was once told that the difference is - you can put a boat on a ship, but you can't put a ship on a boat - simples as the ruddy meerkat says ...... and that's a male too ...
RS MacLennan Baird

Plenty of women, like one to get down and dirty too, and in a spridget, that's no mean feat.
Lawrence Slater

Any Spridget should be a He-He car, if you drive it properly, and especially if you are or just have been on a twisty road. But I've known girls like that.
Unfortunately, many other cars are always She-It cars, no matter how you try.
Actually, I find that some cars have personality, but gender is rarely part of it, even if they get names that tend one way or the other. The ones that have no personality are appliances, without gender.
The She-It cars have personality too sometimes, but usually one I want to get away from.

FRM
FR Millmore

This thread was discussed between 28/07/2011 and 31/07/2011

MG Midget and Sprite General index

This thread is from the archives. Join this live forum now