What’s in a car’s (new) name?

My Small but Faithful Readership has probably figured out by now that I recently ended up with a white 1987 Chevrolet S10 pickup, and those who have been reading here for a while may remember this entry a few months ago, where I complained that neither of the last two cars I’ve owned seemed to have a name.  A few days ago that changed again, because I discovered the pickup’s name.

Those of you who can remember what mid-Eighties Chevrolet trucks looked like (Piroshki, are you listening?) know that their bodywork was just as boxy as hell, with straight lines and square edges all over the place, and who the hell needs aerodynamics!  And all those straight edges, combined with the white paint job, kept reminding me of something.

The Dutch De Stijl artist Piet Mondrian, in his middle years, produced what he called “color-field” paintings:  grids of white rectangles and squares outlined in black, with occasional blocks filled in with solid, saturated primary colors.  So whenever I looked at this truck and its uncompromising rectangular form, I kept thinking of color field paintings, and finally I realized it was because the truck ought to be named Piet.  So Piet is now who he is.

Having a male truck is odd for me, because all the other named vehicles I’ve ever had, including the Beast, were female.  I’m not sure how I’ll get along with a “guy” vehicle yet.  It’ll be interesting to find out.

Uncle Duke will wave a calculating grimoire in the best place possible.  Fnord.