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Scotland names its snow plows and their titles for 2021 are still amazing

The Scots didn't disappoint this year.

Sean Szymkowski
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Sean Szymkowski
2 min read
Scottish snow plow names 2021

Never change, Scottish snow plows.

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"Lord Coldemort, reporting for duty." Imagine hearing that over a dispatch radio. Guess what? It's a real name, for a real snow plow in Scotland, because the Scots clearly know how to have more fun with things -- this is from the country that gave us Boaty McBoatface, after all.

You may recall last December, social media began picking up on the fact Scotland names its whole snow plow fleet and a map of the current active plows began pushing into viral status. On first glance, some of the names may not make sense to people in the US, but note the country calls these vehicles "gritters" -- that makes "Gritney Spears" make much more sense. This week, social media again took note when revamped names started appearing on the national map of snow plows. The pun game is still very strong.

My personal favorites? "Buzz Iceclear," and "Sweet Child O' Brine." Very good stuff, Scotland.

Who else do we have here? Ah, yes, "Megameltasaurus" was out for deployment, as was "Creedence Clear-Road Revival." Let's not forget about "License to Chill" or "On Her Majesty's Slippery Surface." The James Bond references are strong with the Scots. "Spreddie Van Halen" is another name worthy of our round of applause.

I do wonder where "Fred" went. Oh, Fred. Back in December I asked how the little dude earned such a name among these amazing over-the-top titles. Imagine being on that Scottish gritter crew, when your pals get to plow through the dreaded snow in machines named "Yes Sir Ice Can Boogie" and "Grittest Hits." At least Fred has a couple other toned-down (possibly Simpsons-related) names to run with, like "Mr. Plow" and "Snowball."

The BBC reports the practice of naming the plows goes back to 2006 when the Scottish Transport Ministry encouraged wee school children to come up with funny monikers for them. It launched its online tracker in 2016.

We salute you, Scotland, for the continued laughs.

Winter tire education from Tire Rack

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