Filed under: SUVs, Etc., Land Rover
Brit town protests "Stornoway Grey" Land Rovers
Would you feel offended if an automaker named a car color after your town? Would it make any difference if the color was gray? Land Rover decided to call one of its newer silvery gray colors "Stornoway Grey." It's a pretty nice color, and gray/silver is one of the most popular colors available, so it is a bit of a surprise that officials from the town of Stornoway rang up Land Rover saying it should change the name post haste. Representing Stornoway, Western Isles councillor, Angus Nicolson, feels the name might harm the town's image because tourists might make the association between "gray" and "dull" or "boring." He thinks "Silvery Stornoway" has a nicer ring to it.
In response, Land Rover has said that Stornoway Grey is one of its best-selling colors and that using the name is keeping Stornoway on the map, so to speak. The automaker thinks using the name actually keeps people aware of the town. Go figure. Next up, the people of Rimini insist that they are not communists, Buckingham that they're a happy lot, Tonga that they are not envious, and Java that they drink beverages other than coffee. Click here to figure out what all this means.
[Source: BBC]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bryan 2:11PM (3/12/2007)
This is a joke right. If people are that ignorant, it is better off to not have them in your town.
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Tater 2:16PM (3/12/2007)
"Silvery Stornoway"? That would only serve to rile the good folks of Zermatt, who are more than likely still reveling in their recent award of the title from the once sterling people of Zambezi!
Strange, the preoccupations of a once proud people.
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Chet 2:38PM (3/12/2007)
By complaining, they get their town a lot more press than by being happy about it. Shrewd townies.
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Howard Kerr 5:39PM (3/12/2007)
I realize the British Isles is full of towns with strange (to American ears, anyway) names. But even though L R are using a real town's name...it sounds like one of those "fakey" names car companies come up with.
Stornoway?
StorM away?
Sterno way?
Stein o way?
You get the idea?
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Rootog 6:05AM (3/13/2007)
'Stornoway rang up Rover'? Why, Rover is a different company to Land Rover!! Rover is a company that madde cars and was sold to the chinese being renamed as Roewe. Land Rover are a company owned by Ford making SUVs!!!
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MacroEQ 10:12AM (3/13/2007)
If you live on an island long enough you clearly become deranged...
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Paul 10:36AM (3/13/2007)
I live on the Island of Stornoway and I am an incomer from England. This doesn't surprise me in the slightest as they are a load of imbred weirdo's
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Kevin Gibson 12:26PM (3/13/2007)
I think the good councillor in Stornoway is way off base. I was there last March and I absolutely loved the place!! Oh, and by the way, it was gray!
In fact i have ordered an LR2 in Stornoway Gray and one of the factors in the color decision was the name!
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John Kirriemuir 2:47PM (3/13/2007)
This is providing some local entertainment, and is Angus up to some debate-stimulation. Never a dull moment here anyway in the Outer Hebrides, especially when it comes to local politics.
Blogged about this issue, with some local pics. Scroll down to the entry about Tolsta:
http://www.silversprite.com/
Not much grey, but not much to make a big fuss about either way.
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Gesundheit 9:21AM (3/21/2007)
#8, Paul from Melbost, you are grammatically inept and a complete a*se, regardless of your nationality. If you can't stand the heat in Lewis (or the cold, or the people, or the greyness for that matter), then piss off somewhere else. I think we can just about squeeze by without you.
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anya Campbell 8:44AM (3/22/2007)
I live in Stornoway and i just bought the freelander in the colour stornoway grey i think its a great idea and that more people will wonder where the place is! I dont think it is fair for people to say that we are all the same i wouldnt have bought the car if i thought that! You cant think that every person thinks that it is actually a small number who think this! And for a matter of fact Paul we are not imbred thanks very much!
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amorrison 7:38PM (3/22/2007)
Having lived in Stornoway all my life I can confirm that for large portions of the year it is indeed grey! For the benefit of our incomer friend Paul I would just like to point out that Stornoway is not an island but the main town on the Isle of Lewis. He appears to be geographically ignorant as well as grammatically incorrect. This "inbred weirdo" would also like to point out to Paul that there are ferries and planes leaving the island every day and he is more than welcome to use them to get back to his beloved English council estate.
Stornoway Grey is a beautiful colour and if I could afford a brand new Land Rover I would buy one!
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Gesundheit 10:35AM (3/23/2007)
#8, Paul from Melbost, you are grammatically inept and a complete a*se, regardless of your nationality. If you can't stand the heat in Lewis (or the cold, or the people, or the greyness for that matter), then piss off somewhere else. I think we can just squeeze by without you.
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Rootog 10:17AM (4/03/2007)
'Stornoway rang up Rover'? Why, Rover is a different company to Land Rover!! Rover is a company that madde cars and was sold to the chinese being renamed as Roewe. Land Rover are a company owned by Ford making SUVs!!!
Reply