A bizarre new study published by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has revealed some of the weird and wonderful names people have given to their cars before transferring the registration papers.

The research from the DVLA found that one in six motorists had named their car, with unusual choices such as Disco Dave, Lady Patricia, the Beast and ZZ Top amongst those registered on the organisation’s online database.

Surprisingly there were some names which were more popular than others, with Betsy, Pablo, Max, Ruby and Doris amongst the monikers which showed up more than once.

Motorists aged 35 to 54 were most likely to give their car a name, with 27 per cent admitting that they had given their motor a nickname.

The data was collected as the DVLA raises awareness of their online service for registering a sale of your car.

“Whatever you name your car, when it’s time to say goodbye, our online services will always be the fastest, easiest and most convenient way to tell us you’ve sold or transferred a vehicle,” said Julie Lennard, DVLA Chief Executive.

“We’re delighted that 98% of customers were satisfied with the service and would use this again.

“We’d encourage anyone who is planning on selling their car to let us know online as quickly as possible to ensure the vehicle’s record is updated promptly.”

TV and film had a big influence on the data, with the Bat Mobile, Betty Boop, Eeyore, Homer and Kermit all amongst the names registered after sale. There is no data as to whether the new owners of each vehicle continued calling it by its registered name.

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