we came by Ford/we came in a Ford

[Arctica1982]

It's from an English book.

"Last month we came back to England to visit our families and of course we came in the Mini (the name of the car)".

Can we use by the Mini?
Why did the author use "in the Mini"?
When are we supposed to use "in" and when "by" when speaking about cars?

 

[Matthew Wai]

'Came in a car'.
'Came by car'.

Not a teacher.

 

[Tdol]

In the Mini refers to a specific car that the listener knows about. By car is used for the means of transport, distinguishing it from taking a bus or train, but here the speaker is not doing that - he or she might have more than one car and is telling the listener which one was used.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Why did you use "Ford" in your title?

 

[Arctica1982]

Why did you use "Ford" in your title?

To emphasize the meaning of my question.

Can I say?
1)Today I came to work by Ford.
2)Today I came to work in a Ford.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The second one works.

 

[Raymott]

If it's a fancy, expensive car, you could say "I came to work by Rolls Royce this morning". But you wouldn't say "I came to work by Ford". The idea is that a Rolls Royce isn't just any car, whereas a Ford is just a car.