30 Car Facts to Tell Your Friends

The car industry is weird and wonderful. The first automobile was invented in 1886, and since then, cars have been a constant source of awe and inspiration. Integrated as these machines have become in our lives, there’s still so much about them that most people don’t know; the list of facts goes on and on. The next time you stop by Blossom Chevrolet, your Indianapolis used car dealer, ask the most tenured salesperson how many of these 30 car facts they already know. Maybe they’ve got a few oddball car facts up their sleeves, too. After all, there never seems to be a shortage of weird, bizarre, and interesting information out there.

1. In British English, the “trunk” is referred to as the “boot,” and the “hood” is referred to as the “bonnet.”
2. In Indian English, the trunk is referred to as the dickie (otherwise spelled dickey or dingy).
3. The first speeding ticket was issued in 1896 by some thrill seeker who was absolutely flying….at 8 mph.
4. In 1900, 38% of all cars were powered by electricity.

5. The Ferrari horse logo was inspired by Count Francesco Barraca, a World War 1 fighter pilot who painted the familiar steed on his plane.
6. There was a man named Irv Gordon who, at 77 years old, achieved the honors of being the proud owner of the most-driven vehicle. His 1966 Volvo 1800s racked up more than 3 million miles as of the mid-2010s.
7. There was a man who lived in Illinois that had a turn signal surgically removed from his arm in 2015. How’d it get there, you might ask? He was in a car accident 51 years prior and was completely unaware of the embedded turn signal until his bare arm set off a metal detector many years later.
8. Speaking of car accidents, if you’re in one (knock on wood), it only takes 40 milliseconds for the airbags to inflate, which is faster than hummingbirds flap their wings (bonus hummingbird fact: the fastest hummingbird wing flap was recorded at 80 beats per second).
9. The first car accident happened in Ohio City, Ohio, in 1891. The car hit a tree root, which caused the driver to lose control and run into a hitching post. No people – or horses – were seriously injured.
10. In Alaska, there’s a law that prohibits drivers from tethering a dog to the roof of their car. It’s a solid law.
11. In Florida, you must pay the fee if you tie an elephant to a parking meter. This also applies to goats and alligators.
12. In Arkansas, it’s illegal to honk your horn after 9:00 pm at any place that serves cold drinks or sandwiches.
13. Selling cars on Sundays is illegal in Indiana unless the seller holds a special permit that allows them to do so. The same goes for other states that enforce this particular Blue Law, like Colorado, Illinois, North Dakota, and Maine, amongst others.
14. The implementation of radios in cars was a controversial one; some states wanted to ban them due to their high propensity to distract drivers. I wonder how these states feel about Android Auto?
15. Henry Ford made a car out of soybeans in 1941, sort of. It was a plastic-paneled car that was around 1,000 pounds lighter than a steel car. Soybeans were one of many ingredients used to make the plastic.
16. In the late 1990s, carjacking and other crimes were rampant in South Africa. This, paired with the legality of using lethal force if in self-defense, as wells as a very laissez-fare governmental stance on flamethrowers, resulted in the invention of the Blaster, a flamethrower installed under the doors of vehicles. With the push of a button, drivers could launch flames out of both sides of the vehicle to fend off approaching carjackers. A few hundred units of the controversial device were sold, including one to the Johannesburg Police Superintendent.
17. Cars have been around for a long time, with tons of development happening throughout the 20th century. That being the case, men hold a majority of patents for automotive technologies. A few women who overcame obstacles of their time to get their work in the field patented are as follows:

• Mary Anderson is credited with the invention of the windshield wiper.
• Margaret A. Wilcox created a car heating system that utilized heat created by the engine.
• Margaret Wu holds over 100 United States patents and transformed synthetic lubricants to make them cleaner and more effective.

18. Ladies yet again made automotive history in 2011 when 20 members of the Glendale Cheering Team fit into one Smart Car, earning them a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
19. Cars are the most recycled consumer product in the United States. In fact, automotive recycling is the 16th largest industry in the United States, likely due in part to the fact that 80% of the materials cars are made of are recyclable.
20. The word “car” is derived from the Latin word “carrus,” which translates to “wagon” in English.
21. In Japan, new drivers are required to place a sticker – called a shoshinsha mark – on their car for at least one year after getting their license to signal their experience level to other drivers. Elderly drivers (aged 75 years old and up) are required to have a fukushi mark on their vehicles.
22. Several European countries, like Finland and Switzerland, use an income-based method to determine the fine for offenders of speeding. The more you make, the costlier your ticket.

23. Holding your key fob up to your head increases its range because the skull acts as an amplifier to the signal. Neat!
24. The world’s best-selling car is the Toyota Corolla.
25. The Ford F-Series are the most-stolen vehicles in the world as of 2020.
26. Pixar’s Cars is partially based on a script titled The Little Yellow Car. It’s an ugly duckling sort of story about a yellow electric car trying to make its way in a gas-guzzling world.
27. There’s a 6-wheeled supercar called the Covini C6W. It’s got two sets of wheels towards the front and another set towards the back. It was produced from 2004 until 2016.
28. The appropriately-named Flatmobile is the shortest car in the world, with a ground clearance of just 2 inches and a total height of 19 inches.
29. At 230 pounds, the Peel P50 is the smallest car in the world. It’s got less of almost everything, for example, it has three wheels and one headlight. At its release, it promised to fit one driver and one shopping bag.
30. Modern vehicles have a tiny arrow located near the gas gauge that designates which side of the vehicle the gas cap is on. That’s a fact and a tip bundled into one (you’re welcome).

Everybody knows that we have cars to thank for getting us from Point A to Point B in a timely manner. Cars are more than just a simple mode of transportation, though. They’re an endless source of interesting, head-scratching, sometimes baffling information that is indicative of the rich history and roots that made them.