Filed under: Sports/GTs, China, Etc.
MG now known as Modern Gentleman
It sounds to us like the kind of men's magazine you see at the supermarket. You know the one, the impossibly buffed-up guy on the cover touting a workout that only takes 2 minutes and will make you as solid as an oak tree. Whatever. Modern Gentleman? It sounds too genteel for its own good, nearly obscene. There's pretty much nothing left of the old MG, save the logo and the two letters. Originally denoting Morris Garages, MG's new owner, Nanjing Automobile Group, has elected to change the name to Modern Gentleman. Nanjing wants the brand to represent grace and style to Chinese buyers. Okay, but couldn't they have picked a brand without heritage? MG is less about grace and style than it is about wind in your hair, bugs in your teeth, Prince Of Darkness electrics, incessant leaking and driveway spots marking your little British drophead's territory. At least that's what it means to those of us who ever lusted after a rorty little British roadster. Don't worry so much about the name, just bring us back the MGB GT V8, please.[Source: Motorauthority]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
xxlost_causexx 6:15PM (1/10/2007)
I think it speaks volumes that MG Rover got sold to the chinese in the first place. Obviously they didn't care about the heritage of the nameplate.
When can I see the Modern Gentleman xB?
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Michael Karesh 7:26PM (1/10/2007)
This is a joke, right?
Unforunately, nothing on snopes.com about it...
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JayP 7:38PM (1/10/2007)
May be that Nanjing doesn't have the rights to the Morris name any longer. When BMW bought MGR and dissected it, the names went all over the place. (Such as Mini is different from MINI.)
Should have called it MG, just MG. No one but the hard-core knew what it stood for anyway.
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John P. 7:54PM (1/10/2007)
Sounds about right, China wanting to be "Modern" and be seen as "Gentlemen".
Now excuse me, I'm craving Chinese for dinner.
That has got to be one of the most lame things I ever heard, but if it's Chinese owned I guess they have a right to call it anything they want. I wonder if when you open the fuel filler you see a No MSG sign?
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Stirling Campbell 8:01PM (1/10/2007)
Yeah, this is a real shame....
well, that's capitalism for ye... hang on...
well, that's commu-capital-nism for you!
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RickP in AZ 9:08PM (1/10/2007)
My first car was a '77 MGB, and this makes me sick to my stomach. I need to go and lay down.
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all_that 10:16PM (1/10/2007)
Sounds a little like Engrish to me. Make good cars, and I won't give a rat's ass what you claim MG stands for. Oh, and keep Modern Gentlemen far away for advertising and PR materials...
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Stirling Campbell 10:42PM (1/10/2007)
it should be M.E.G. from that song....
yes... THAT song.
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oldthudman 12:48AM (1/11/2007)
Quote"just bring us back the MGB GT V8, please." unquote.......................YES,YES,YES!!!
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Jeff Banks 1:39AM (1/11/2007)
Yeesh...why did they even buy the name in the first place.
MG rep: So we heard you were interested in aquiring our company...
Nangjanchangj: No, just the two letters. We want to call it "Modern Gentleman"
MG rep: Like a dude?
Nangjanchangj: Yeah.
MG rep: ...
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Peter 5:24AM (1/11/2007)
1. This isn't new, but has been around for months
2. It's (or used to be...) not MG but M.G. (or the M.G. Car Company in full)
3. @#7 - No, that was Morris Garages with a "S", but...
4. M.G. founder Cecil Kimber himself said that while he used "M.G." as a tribute to his former employer, it wasn't supposed to be an acronym for "Morris Garages" but a name in itself. M.G. and Morris Garages were two seperate companies.
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Howard Kerr 8:41AM (1/11/2007)
Back when I was MUCH younger, I owned two Triumph rodsters: a nearly new '72 Spitfire (which I sold, to buy my real dream car) and a '60 TR 3. MGs were/are okay...I just preferred the "other brand" of popular British sports car.
While I agree that most didn't know what the letters MG stood for, this has to be THE lamest name for a car copmpany I've ever heard. Modern Gentleman sounds like a GQ type of magazine from the '50s...perhaps a sort of PlayBoy, but without the "bunnies". In other words, a QUAINT name for a product that, as the British would say is " past it ".
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amp 9:47AM (1/11/2007)
Very sad.
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Andy 2:59PM (1/11/2007)
"Modern Gentleman" is the Chinese brandname of MG translated back in English.
The Chinese population needs a Chinese brandname to refer to just as an English speaking person couldn't refer to a Chinese brand written in Chinese.
Chinese can't refer "MG" as "MG" because they don't use alphabet in the language. They have to uses Chinese words that sounds like "Em-Gee", instead of using meaningless Chinese words that sounds like "Em-Gee", the guys from Nanjing chose an arrangement of Chinese words that means "Famous Gentleman". This name is referred as "Modern Gentleman" in English because it can be shorten to MG (and not FG).
There are only so many combination of meaningful Chinese words that sounds something like "Em-Gee".
I hope this will clear things up, and possibly be included in the article.
The reason for this "Modern Gentleman" name is behind languages, not because Nanjing is ignorant of MG's heritage.
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jack 7:24PM (1/11/2007)
Ridiculous!!!
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Edmond Dantes 1:51PM (1/12/2007)
Why not just call it Mao's Garage.
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