Here are nine of the coolest car nicknames

The BMW Z3 M Coupe is objectively a pretty ugly car. Its weird long bonnet and bloated rear end are all kinds of wrong and saw it christened the Clown Shoe. And yet, we love it. Apparently, it was a bit of a skunkworks project by BMW engineers and the board took some convincing.

No, we’re not talking about those annoying squeaky dog toys. The Screaming Chicken was the colloquial name given to the massive decal on the bonnet of the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. It was so popular that other manufacturers introduced their own versions...

With a full name like Mercedes-Benz 300E 5.6 AMG, it’s no surprise this bonkers pre-merger AMG was given a nickname. What a moniker it was though, with Hammer referring to the brutal acceleration provided by AMG’s 5.6-litre V8 that was reworked from its role in the larger 560 SEC coupe.

To create the 993 generation 991 GT2, Porsche took a Turbo and stuck on widened arches then sent it on a crash diet. They also decided to give it more boost and then stripped out the AWD for good measure. It didn’t suffer fools, hence the tag.

The AWD R32 Skyline GT-R was given its infamous nickname by Australian press as it obliterated its competition in the local touring car championship in the 80s and 90s. The name stuck, but officials banned turbocharging and AWD in the ATCC after two years of dominance.

BMW claims that it was fans of the brand that christened the 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ thanks to its ludicrously aggressive aero. The look even made it onto the final 167 homologation-special road cars, although the rear wing wasn’t road legal so came in the boot ready for buyers to attach themselves.

Do we really need to explain the origin story of the Volvo 240 Turbo’s Flying Brick nickname? Heck, just look at its slab sided goodness. The racecars genuinely flew too, with ETCC and DTM titles in 1985. And of course the 240 Turbo walked so the 1994 850 Estate could run.

Ever been to Goodwood Festival of Speed? The Fiat S76 is a fan favourite at the Duke’s driveway hillclimb, mostly because it uses a mahoosive 28.4-litre four cylinder engine that spits flames. Yeah, Beast of Turin works. Originally built as a land speed record car in 1910.

One glance at the long nosed, long tailed 935/78 in Martini livery and it’s fairly obvious why it was compared to Herman Melville’s fictional white sperm whale. Built to win at Le Mans with up to 850bhp at the rear wheels, reliability issues meant it finished eighth.