What is your best car trivia fact?
Posted by j350z16@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 239 comments
Funny or interesting production stories, weird owners lists, marketing gaffs etc. What is the best nugget of car trivia you know?
thethirdbob2@reddit
In the 60’s an inexpensive Ford came in 14 different colors. None of the colors were extra cost or restricted by trim level.
GrammarPolice92@reddit
Another fun one for you, it’s ‘60s, not 60’s.
SmellyPubes69@reddit
Is it considered possessive? The Car belonged to the 60's?
GrammarPolice92@reddit
In this usage, yes, which I am certain was not their intent.
abattlescar@reddit
To be fair, different colors back then didn't have the complexity of modern paint that we see being charged extra for. It's all single-stage, and probably lead-based.
thethirdbob2@reddit
Yeah, and they were just painting sheet metal. There weren’t a bunch of different types of plastics.
It’s still a bummer to pay so much and have so choice. Largely you are just stuck with 4 door SUV’s with one engine, an automatic in a dull color with greyge interior. Often with some fun stuff only at the very top trim.
DishRelative5853@reddit
I think it's really charming that Rolls Royce vehicles have a special storage spot for an umbrella.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
I don't think it's exclusively rolls Royce anymore, the Skoda Kamiq has an integrated brolly as well but it's still a cool as hell feature
DishRelative5853@reddit
But there's just something really precious and aristocratic about it with Rolls.
CurnanBarbarian@reddit
Fog lights function better as fog lights when they are yellow.
Yellow light doesn't reflect off of fog light blue light does, allowing you to see further.
FOG LIGHTS SHPULD BE YELLOW, I WILL DOE ON THIS HILL
2whatextent@reddit
Way back when there were only two cars in the state of Ohio, they got in an accident.
2222014@reddit
Funny thing is, Ohioians are still the worst drivers ever to this day
Car_loapher@reddit
Houston drivers enter the chat
PreviousWar6568@reddit
Bro has not been to insert any city here
OkSheepherder8827@reddit
San antonio
error629@reddit
HoustonRepresent
TheUnbearableMan@reddit
On I-5 it’s a Washington plate, always. We all despise them.
n0t_4_thr0w4w4y@reddit
Washington drivers are hella timid, but not usually dangerous. Denver is the fucking Wild West
inapropriateDrunkard@reddit
Oregon pieces of shit blocking the left lane.
Sivalon@reddit
Maryland
UsernameChallenged@reddit
Ahh, the great city of Maryland.
techmakin@reddit
Maybe he meant Merryland?
Terrible-Ad5869@reddit
Ohio is also the first state that got the first electric traffic light.
2whatextent@reddit
I'm guessing because of that accident.
TrevRev11@reddit
I mean statistically this makes sense. Back then there was much sparser population and the wealthy would be in a similar area. Two wealthy people are likely to buy new things and frequent the same area. Without modern infrastructure it’s very likely they’d be using the same crappy roads and not have adequate space for the cars. Leading to an accident.
2whatextent@reddit
Yep. AND... nobody knew how to drive.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
I have some sympathy mind you, for instance have you seen how cock-arsed the controls on a model T are 😂
daddydonuts1@reddit
When Mitsubishi first made their version of the Ford Mustang, they tried to name it “Stallion” but apparently that bit got lost in translation with the American marketing company and the Mitsubishi “Starrion” was born!!
E90BarberaRed6spdN52@reddit
So in the 70's Chevy was shocked that their new car that did so well in the US flopped in Mexico. Well maybe it was because Nova in Spanish means No go or doesn't move ! LOL
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chevrolet-nova-name-spanish/
_Haze_There@reddit
Wait til you hear what Pajero means
gumption_boy@reddit
The best one by far is the Mazda Laputa
lellololes@reddit
"No va" means it doesn't go.
Nova? It means the same thing it does in English.
Nobody was confused, they just didn't like the car.
IKnewThisYearsAgo@reddit
I'll point out that regular gas sold by Pemex in Mexico is also branded Nova.
E90BarberaRed6spdN52@reddit
How does it sell ? Maybe the price is right ! LOL
Fuzzy_Diver_320@reddit
If having an unfortunate name for a foreign car were really a problem we wouldn’t have the Subaru Sexually Transmitted Infection, or all the various Toyota TuRDs. lol.
PossibleMechanic89@reddit
Yeah but, the snipes link shows this as being false.
E90BarberaRed6spdN52@reddit
I can tell you I heard it when I was younger in the 70's so there was something to it...
rh681@reddit
I've heard that one before too. Although Snopes saying anything isn't an indicator of truth or not.
IDPotatoFarmer@reddit
Aston Martin slapped their badge on a Scion iQ and sold it as an Aston Martin.
zact82@reddit
Changing the battery in a Lotus 340r was a full day (I think) job requiring the removal of the body
Hartge built BMW 3 series compacts with a 5 litre v8
PaperOrnery8697@reddit
In a modern manual transmission car, you get better gas milage leaving it in gear while coasting downhill than if you pop it in neutral. Modern engines stop fuel flow while engine breaking. (I don't know if this is true. I read it on reddit)
UniquePotato@reddit
Very true. If you put it in neutral it is using fuel to keep the engine going. Just the same as though you were stationary, though the difference wouldn’t be much
Casalf@reddit
Fun fact about the Nissan super turbo:
I don’t know any fun facts about the Nissan super turbo.
lingenfelter22@reddit
The 1970s Opel GT had headlights that rolled over, turning like a clock from the drivers view.
ActTrick3810@reddit
The Toyota MR2 did badly in France because ‘m-er-deux’
sounded like ‘merde’ (French for ‘shit’).
Leapimus_Maximus@reddit
The mk1 (na) Mazda MX5 has the same internal door handles as the Aston Martin DB5.
dont_remember_eatin@reddit
Derivatives of the 4speed longitudinal automatic by aisin-warner were used in everything from the Jeep Wrangler to the Volvo 960, with stops at Toyota/Lexus along the way.
Kind of like how the ZF 8spd automatic gets around today.
dont_remember_eatin@reddit
The Noble M400 used a twin-turboed version of the same DOHC V6 found in your grandma's Ford Taurus.
glade_air_freshner@reddit
The Ford Duratec V6 has Porsche DNA. So when you're rocking that old rickety Escape with busted rear shock towers, you can somewhat pretend you're actually in a Porsche.
dont_remember_eatin@reddit
Volvo modular "white block" engines, too#
preludehaver@reddit
Good to know my dad's busted ass Ford Fusion that hasn't been driven in like a year is quality German engineering 🔥🔥🔥
Worried_Amphibian_54@reddit
I see one on Michelin and Bridgestone and that one cracked me up. Both two companies that work in two completely different (today) areas.
Michelin builds car tires... and reviews the finest restaurants in the world. Careers as a chef are made by getting a 3 star Michelin review in France. It started from them putting out guide books for car owners to help them enjoy their travels.
Bridgestone makes car tires... And golf balls and supplies.
Shadesbane43@reddit
Yamaha helped with the Lexus LFA... The musical instrument division of Yamaha. Kingsford charcoal was started when Henry Ford wanted to come up with a way to make money from all the scrap wood waste his factories were making.
No-Session5955@reddit
Yamaha also designed the engine ford used in the original Tarsus SHO. While the car was a complete pile of shit, that engine had some balls.
dont_remember_eatin@reddit
And the second generation SHO, that little V8.
Shadesbane43@reddit
They also made the V8 for the Volvo XC90. Found out recently Volvo made a supercharged "PUV" concept for SEMA.
Amarathe_@reddit
The pt cruiser was the first car completely designed in CAD. Because of how tight the engine fit it took several weeks to get production up from more than a handful of cars a day
ValkyroftheMall@reddit
CAD is one of the big reasons things are such a PITA to work on now.
jfklingon@reddit
Don't I know it, those fuckers
miseeker@reddit
In my career I manufactured or supervised the making of millions of steering parts for auto makers world over. You wouldn’t believe some of the horror stories.
DriveJohnnyDrive@reddit
Tell us your favourite story
Xyzzydude@reddit
If you can get your hands on it read Savage Factory by Robert Dewar. It’s a pretty hair raising look at how Ford automatic transmissions were made in 70s and 80s.
miseeker@reddit
One job we had been the sole manufacturer for close to 10 years. The program had been scheduled to die out, but the auto company decided to keep it alive for one more year. This meant that we did not have up-to-date tooling for another years run. The company decided to pin an accident on us, but it was unfounded. In our management meeting, the guy who did the meeting Lisa part on the table, shows us to suppose a defect and asked us how many parts we had made like this. We all look at each other, and I said, all of them. He throws a fit, of course. How could you do this? Well you see, we do check that on a gauge every day and it’s the gauge that was supplied by the auto company. They promptly sent us updated gauges to reflect their newfound concern. It wasn’t really a defect as much as it was they decided to change a specification for the last year of the run.
Xyzzydude@reddit
If you can get your hands on it read Savage Factory by Robert Dewar. It’s a pretty hair raising look at how Ford automatic transmissions were made in 70s and 80s.
Chipdip88@reddit
TVR, the British sports car company.
You would think it stands for something like, Total Vehicle Racing or an abbreviation like that.
No.... It's literally Trevor. It stands for Trevor, the first name of the founder.
informal-mushroom47@reddit
Ah, so not an actual acronym, just a capitalized abbreviation. The Air Force loves these; they’re fucking moronic.
Overall-Lynx917@reddit
The TVR Chimaera had design input from Trevor Wilkinson's dog.
The story goes that his dog got hold of a scale model of the car and gave it a good chewing.
Having got the model off the dog, Trevor looked at the result and thought "actually, that looks pretty good" and incorporated some of the bite marks into the car.
Don't believe me? Look at the styling around the front indicators/side lights. The recesses are the shape of a dog's canine teeth!
Fine-Huckleberry4165@reddit
Peter Wheeler's dog. Wheeler had bought the company in 1981. Also, it was a full-size foam model (quite common in the industry, even in major OEMs), not a scale model.
Garet44@reddit
when the abbreviation has more syllables than the word itself. Just like VW.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
Yep that seems straight down the line for TVR 😂
When they had no money and launched the Sagaris, I think their response to why didn't it have ABS, traction control or airbags was "well don't crash then!"
Other great quotes from Peter Wheeler (TVR's chairman at the time) a high torque to weight ratio "can lead to the approaching of obstacles at higher speeds than imagined."
Soggy_Cabbage@reddit
It's a bit of a reach to expect the average driver not to crash when you're practically selling them a road legal race car that was assembled in a shed with no TCS or ABS lol.
kaoh5647@reddit
Ford Model Ts were black because black paint dried the fastest allowing for more production.
Senior_Pension3112@reddit
VW would have ended during WW2 if it wasn't forthe British Army that got the plant rebuilt and producing cars again.
Senior_Pension3112@reddit
Suburban is the longest selling model and it used to have three doors
TobyChan@reddit
The headlights on an Ascari KZ1 come off a Peugeot 407. The door openings are also significantly different circumferences from one side to the other; not for any technical reason; just the hand crafted clay model was wonky.
RagingTortoiseGaming@reddit
Chrysler sold their euro division for one us dollar
You should also look up the Saturn homecoming party. Where thousands of saturn owners drove from wherever they lived to spring hill Tennessee and they a party in the assembly plant
j350z16@reddit (OP)
I think the Phoenix consortium bought MG Rover off BMW for £10. And a pretty famous Formula 1 story is Ross Brawn bought the Honda team for £1 and then his team went on to win the championship the following year
TobyChan@reddit
The chap at Honda is reported to have kept that £1 coin.
Apparently it’s a legal requirement for money (or something of worth) to change hands to make a contract valid.
ILickBlueScreens@reddit
The second Volkswagen beetle ever made was the first beetle convertible and was personally owned by none other than Adolf Hitler.
I heard that little fact a long time ago and I don't remember where so I may or may not be wrong. None the less, it's a neat little fact
Cunning_Linguist21@reddit
Unsurprising, since Hitler/the Nazi party was responsible for the creation of Volkswagen to begin with.
MidniteOG@reddit
The biggest tire producer in the world is Lego
Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit
How is that possible?
JimiForPresident@reddit
Counting by units rather than weight or volume. Apparently they peaked at 381,000,000 tires in 2010.
Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit
Thought it might be something like that, in that case it's dumb.
MuscularBye@reddit
they make more tires than anybody else, what else did you want?
DriveJohnnyDrive@reddit
Lego tires like the little ones for cars and other builds
PCOON43456a@reddit
This is my go to! It makes a great joke question. Especially to people that have been in the industry for ages.
MidniteOG@reddit
It makes sense after you think about it, but until then, no one would guess it
Guvnah-Wyze@reddit
Also the smallest tire producer
MidniteOG@reddit
lol good point
voucher420@reddit
I would think hot wheels or matchbox would be a close second.
infinitecosmic_power@reddit
They don't use rubber tires. Just molded plastic wheels.
superluig164@reddit
Well, some of them have rubber tires, but most don't.
molehunterz@reddit
The first touchscreens in a car were by general motors in the Oldsmobile trofeo and the Buick reatta in the late '80s. Iirc
I could be wrong but that's what I remember.
frog980@reddit
You are correct, I saw a video of one yesterday that had primitive gps
molehunterz@reddit
I didn't realize it had gps. I knew it controlled HVAC and radio. I thought it was pretty cool until everybody said if it fails, you have no HVAC or radio controls. And they were already pretty old by the time I could drive. But I thought it was a fun fact. I think the next touch screen in a car was over a decade later
frog980@reddit
Actually I think it was late 90's was the Oldsmobile that had the gps.
Mrofcourse@reddit
The Subaru Forester became known as a car for lesbians. You think it would be some pop culture phenomenon but no. Subaru actively marketed the forester to that demographic.
GTOdriver04@reddit
One company’s CEO entered one of his company’s products into a legendary sports car race under a fake name.
Mrofcourse@reddit
Gazoo Racing! Now known for the GR line up for Toyota!
caterham09@reddit
I want to say it was either Nissan or Toyota
ashyjay@reddit
Akio Toyoda, raced under the name Morizo Kinoshita
TraditionalBidN2O4@reddit
LFA?
Motorized23@reddit
Yes. The LFA was greenlit for production after that.
Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit
He wasn't CEO at the time though.
pm-me-racecars@reddit
I don't know who used the fake name, but plenty of important car people have raced their cars.
Grouchy_Property4310@reddit
The production DeLorean speedometer only went up to 85 mph. They had to customize one for Back to the Future.
Material-Kick-9753@reddit
That makes sense because the flux capacitor would only kick in at 88kph.
error629@reddit
https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-capacitor
Material-Kick-9753@reddit
That's cool.
error629@reddit
Call your local Oreily’s and just give them the part number and ask off they have it in stock.
magowanc@reddit
The 85 mph speedometer was a NHTSA regulation brought in to try and conserve fuel. They did it hoping people wouldn't go over 85 mph. The max speed any car of that era sold in the US could display was 85 mph.
85 MPH Speedometer: Why Did Cars in the 1980s Have This? - Ran When Parked - Car, Vehicle & Truck Guides and Repair Journals.
ElectronicCorner574@reddit
That makes so much sense. I wondered why cars were so slow when I was a kid. I thought 85 was the fastest they could go.
CosmicCommando@reddit
I would love this rule today. The speedometer in my 110hp Fit goes up to 140mph. The highest speed limit around me is 65.
Expert_Mad@reddit
Gun suppressors and automotive mufflers were developed at the same time by the same people in the 1920’s
The automobile is the most recycled consumer product at almost 90% of components being reused or repurposed
Cadillac has almost reintroduced a V16 twice since 1941. Once in 1970 using the 425-472-500V8 architecture and again in the 2000’s
Britain has speed limits on highways because of the Shelby Cobra.
First production vehicles with EFI was the 1958 Desoto Firedome and Chrysler 300. It was installed on around 35 vehicles and almost immediately replaced with a 4bbl Carburetor because of reliability issues. Studebaker almost beat them in 1957 with their own system developed by Bendix but opted not to.
Chrysler was the first company to have a 4 wheel electronic ABS system in 1971.
GM was the first company with a supplemental inflatable restraint system and was installed on the 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado and Chevy Impala
Tlmitf@reddit
The standardised layout of controls (throttle, clutch, brake) was done by the British in the the second world war.
I don't know where I learned this, and I have been unable to fact check it.
Might have been WWI, I'm not sure.
It was done so people only needed to be taught one set of controls, and that allowed them to drive anything the British army had.
Expert_Mad@reddit
Cadillac had this in 1918. The Austin 7 had it a few years later
thatvhstapeguy@reddit
The Chevy Monza reused the compact H-body underpinnings from the Vega but added a V8 option. Click and Clack of Car Talk observed that any mechanic who had been with their shop in Boston for longer than a month would head for the bathroom when a Monza came in.
Expert_Mad@reddit
Even funner fact, the Monza was originally designed with a rotary engine and just before it went into production GM decided to scrap the engine and shelve it and use their normal engine lineup which is why those are such a pain to work on. If you ever see a Monza look at the firewall and you’ll see its got an indent for the rotary to fit
badpuffthaikitty@reddit
My mum had a V8 Monza Spyder. Her mechanic had to loosen the motor mounts and drop the engine a few inches to change the rear spark plugs.
Dependent_Disaster40@reddit
I had a 1977 Chevy Monza Mirage with the 305 V8.
Heishungier@reddit
Studebaker Auto Company didn't go broke. They just decided that since there was so little profit, they just stopped making cars.
abattlescar@reddit
Huh, so they just called it a day and went home? No legacy left whatsoever?
Heishungier@reddit
They were manufacturing all types of auto parts. In 1967, they megered with Wagner Corp.
DJJbird09@reddit
Lamborghini was a Taurus thus the bull for their emblem same deal with Abarth is a Scorpio thus the scorpion.
sagsag19@reddit
Well known but I always like the Lamborghini Diablo having Nissan 300zx headlights
Jef_Wheaton@reddit
In the early 1970s, the US was rolling out its new emissions standards, and American car manufacturers were having a cow over it.
Soichiro Honda developed the CVCC head for his new little car, the Civic, and it passed all the emissions requirements.
The Americans, especially the head of GM, dismissed the CVCC and said it might be good for "those tiny motorcycle engines", but wouldn't work on a big, powerful American V8.
Honda bought a 1974 Chevy Impala, air-freighted it to Japan, had his team build CVCC heads for its V8, then shipped it back to the US.
It passed the more stringent 1975 EPA tests easily.
He then discarded it and went back to building the small economy cars that would dominate the American car market.
Yummy_Crayons91@reddit
I can only imagine how many miles of vacuum hoses that thing had. Google "Honda CVCC Vacuum hose Diagram" for some horror of what emission controlled carbureted vehicles were like.
preludehaver@reddit
NOOOOOOOO I WANT A HONDA-TUNED IMPALA
FoShizzleMissFrizzle@reddit
I've always loved this story, and would love to somehow magically get my hands on a set of those heads for an SBC. 70s cars are always so tricky to get through emissions testing, I'd run those every day.
NerfFauna@reddit
The Yugo is the only car to get blown off the Mackinac Bridge
Pleasant_Reaction_10@reddit
that bridge is scary as fuk. there's a few companies that will drive your car for you across the bridge while you sit in the back with your eyes closed, or take a bus across. not joking
NerfFauna@reddit
I hear ya- I had a friend who was terrified to go over it, white-knuckled in the back seat.
To be fair, they changed the railing design after the Yugo went over in the late 80s. They used to have a curb and then a railing. The curb gave that car a head start for going all the way over.
2-Skinny@reddit
The way Toyota developed the airbox attachment to cheat on the ralley Celica to open the restrictor when the clamp was tightened.
Shambud@reddit
All over the world, there are thousands of cars
Pleasant_Reaction_10@reddit
The car was calling...from inside the house
_NeiLtheReaLDeaL_@reddit
Volvo invented the 3-point seatbelt and didn’t patent for everyone to use in 1959.
Kid booster seats (my newish one has it built into the middle seat.)
Blind Spot Information System introduced 2003 I think.
Pleasant_Reaction_10@reddit
I recently drove a 2008 S30 and was shocked to find out it had a blind spot system.
Yourenotmygf@reddit
Mercedes invented the car.
KingoftheRoosters2@reddit
GM offfers a 2.7 high output twin turbo inline 4 as the base engine for their 1500 trucks.
1320Fastback@reddit
Thanks for the warning.
jcrazy78@reddit
Elon Musk used to be sane.
abattlescar@reddit
When? You can clearly see he was already a creepy moleman when he worked with PayPal.
jcrazy78@reddit
I'm pretty sure newborn Elon wasn't insane, but you're right, there's no way to know for sure...
j350z16@reddit (OP)
One of the reasons I'll never buy a Tesla is I'm pretty convinced Elon has slipped some software into the autopilot that'll lock the doors and find the nearest lake...
jcrazy78@reddit
To be fair, I think that's only for Democrats. :)
Shopstoosmall@reddit
The mechanical engineer who developed cruise control was blind - Ralph Teetor
liberty@reddit
Next you'll tell me that one of the greatest composers of all time was deaf.
BassWingerC-137@reddit
In his later years…. Not always.
no_user_selected@reddit
Which makes sense, it would be hard to see the speedo to keep going a consistent speed if you are blind.
Conspicuous_Ruse@reddit
Lamborghini used the same V12 block for 49 years.
The Aventador was the first Lamborghini to get a totally new V12. The Murcielago and every car before it had an engine based on the same V12 block.
It's one of the longest engine production runs for any manufacturer.
robindawilliams@reddit
This is something I was surprised by with Ford and Chevy small blocks well. The "small block" was used from the 50s until the 2000s and was available as a 302 for Ford almost that entire time. If you try to buy a random 302 off a guy for your car project, it might have early 60s stickers or late 90s computer plugs on it while still being fundamentally the same engine haha.
Most car companies evolved their engines to be indistinguishable every decade with more main bearings and relocating components and more or less cylinders to hit emissions, but they really just stuck with it in the US minus a bit of displacement variation.
Train2Perfection@reddit
Toyota couldn’t sell luxury cars in the US under its brand. Hence they came up with another name for their luxury exports to the US aka LEXUS.
JT_3K@reddit
The reason half (approx) of Rover Metros rusting in to the ground?
Rover had two buildings at Longbridge in which, for budgetary reasons, it needed to build the two halves of the car. They’d production line it until it was able to run, drive it out one building, round factory roads and in another, where they’d undercoat and finish it. In winter, those roads were salted. The half-made cars were not washed before being undercoated, or protected from rock chips.
gt500rr@reddit
That early Land Rover prototypes were centre steer using Jeep chassis. Bonus is almost was a "Road Rover", a more tame road based vehicle, one using a Rover P4 style as a more civilized vehicle. Maurice Wilks was convinced there was a market for a rugged styled estate vehicle. So Rover indirectly predicted crossovers back in 1951.
PracticableSolution@reddit
Ford was so worried that Willy’s built jeeps would get warranty claimed against the ones he built, he had the ford logo put on every component in the jeep down to the bolt heads
MAC_Zehn@reddit
Speaking of which Willy's is pronounced 'Willis', as in whatchu talking about, not like the groundskeeper at Springfield Elementary.
DriveJohnnyDrive@reddit
that’s pretty interesting, where the ford built ones more reliable
Shadesbane43@reddit
I wanna say no, but their competition was Jeep so it's a toss up
abattlescar@reddit
Truly a race to the bottom.
Senappi@reddit
Before Volvo finally decided on the SPA platform, one of the main contenders wes a mid engine car based on the V50 with a D5 engine slanted over the rear axle.
Source: the book "sanningen om volvo" written by Magnus Sundemo
whatisthisgoddamnson@reddit
Vafan, det hade ju varit en underbar bil
Senappi@reddit
According to the author, it had excellent handling and was a blast to drive
Colors08@reddit
Teslas having a plate of hundreds of literal vape batteries (18650 cells) inches off the ground under the entire length of the car. Like maybe I'm an idiot, I just always assumed they had some cool ass battery tech but nah it's extremely ghetto. Any car guy I tell that to has also been shocked in disbelief about it.
LegoLeonidas@reddit
The Subaru Brat got its legendary jumpseats as a gimmick to bypass tariffs on foreign-made light pickups. Adding extra seats allowed them to classify it as a passenger vehicle.
TheDiscomfort@reddit
Chicken tax, represent
MeltingDog@reddit
The first Toyota to be exported to the USA was to be called the Toyolette, but fortunately marketers stepped in at the last minute and convinced Toyota to change it to Toyopet.
abattlescar@reddit
I just don't believe that. The word that the Japanese most commonly use for toilet is a loan word from the English, toire, and I'm sure that was in their lexicon by 1957.
MattTheMechan1c@reddit
Some of the current Ferrari cars like the Ferrari SF90 Stradale and the Purosangue don’t have a physical reverse gear in their transmissions. Reversing is done via electric motors on the front axle. This is so that the 8 speed dual clutch unit is lightweight and compact.
One of the most affordable parts of the Bugatti Veyron is its camshaft position sensors at around $15 a piece. It’s the same part number as that on a Volkswagen Golf.
The tail lamps of a McLaren F1 are from a VDL Futura coach bus.
JMSTEWARTJAX@reddit
My mom owned an old Volkswagen Rabbit, I think it was an '80 or '81. The car actually had mechanical fuel injection, no ECU, no computer, strictly analog, also had a cable for the clutch, no hydraulic clutch. My brother worked on that car to strip it down for his racer boy fantasies, removed the air conditioning, put straight pipes on it,. The car was simple, easy to work on and a blast to drive. I miss the old days.
mrmerkur@reddit
Had a couple Mk1 VWs as a teenager. Bosh K-Jetronic cars, but you’re talking about D-jet which would have been purely mechanical with no O2 sensor. Ran great when they worked.
1320Fastback@reddit
My 1992 Dodge diesel truck has mechanical fuel injection. It uses a Bosch injection pump which were also used in your mom's VW and also Land Rovers.
Technically my truck has a computer for the cruise control but since I swapped it to a manual transmission it doesn't do anything. Took the throttle position sensor and solenoid off when the auto trans came out.
Sam_Soper@reddit
The reason the Robertson screw never gained traction in the States is because the inventor wouldn't sell the patent to Henry Ford who then refused to use it in any of his manufacturing. Over a hundred years later, in an entirely different industry, in Canada, I still have to use the shittier Philips heads from time to time. Or so the story goes, who knows.
badpuffthaikitty@reddit
Don’t use Phillip screwdrivers on Japanese machinery. Use a JIS screwdriver instead.
Jewbacca522@reddit
If you’ve ever worked on a Japanese motorcycle, you know the very first tool you buy is a JIS screwdriver, followed immediately by every 10mm wrench and socket you can find.
03zx3@reddit
I know Canadian built Model Ts used them.
mrmerkur@reddit
The M5OD transmission in my 95’ F150 shared some components with the transmission installed in a NA Miata
Firestone5555@reddit
Take your speed, cut it in half, add it back to itself and that will give you an approximate of how many feet per second you are traveling. Most people are surprised at the distance traveled at high speeds. 100mph, plus half, 50 mph, equals 150 feet per second. So by the time you move your foot to the brake you've already covered half a football field.
Talentless_Cooking@reddit
The Michelin food guide in Europe was started to get people traveling around for the best food, only to attempt to sell more tires by wearing them out.
1320Fastback@reddit
If also was to give people somewhere to go as driving was new and people didn't know what to do.
ATF_scuba_crew-@reddit
The Chevy Vega was originally going to have a rotary engine.
The dodge neon was originally going to have a 2 stroke engine.
Gerarghini@reddit
The Honda CR-Z HPD is the world’s only supercharged, manual, hybrid production car.
GuitarEvening8674@reddit
The old model T's didn't have a fuel pump, it was gravity fed. So if you were going to drive up a hill, you had to back up the hill in reverse so you would have fuel pressure.
jfklingon@reddit
Often times you'd burn the poor clutch up trying to go up anything too steep, so it was a pretty rare problem
NonEnergeticCrouton@reddit
Have you seen the weird tires on the BMW i3?
They are so tall and narrow because BMW benchmarked the Mini Cooper for grip, but they wanted low drag. The solution is a super narrow tire in absurdly large wheel sizes (19” and 20”) so the contact patch is the same as the Mini.
The i3 has very little room up front so wider wheels and tires are almost impossible to fit without rubbing, and some suspension components require a minimum of 19” wheels, some grinding is needed to fit 18”s.
Life-Philosopher-129@reddit
Vega's were shipped hanging vertically to fit more in the train car. The train car was special just for the Vega.
Lethmusicdude@reddit
For every 1 gallon of gasoline burned. A gallon of water is emitted out of the exhaust.
Rampage_Rick@reddit
One gallon of gasoline contains more hydrogen than a gallon of liquid hydrogen (due to density)
Burning one gallon (6 lbs) of gasoline generates 3.5 lbs of CO (carbon monoxide) 19.6 lbs of CO₂ (carbon dioxide) and 5.3 lbs of H₂O (water)
tOSdude@reddit
I’m guessing these numbers are based on an uncontrolled burn, not quite best case scenario? Theoretically if burned fully no CO should be emitted.
Rampage_Rick@reddit
Correct, an ideal burn of pure octane should produce no CO:
2 C₈H₁₈ + 25 O₂ → 16 CO₂ + 18 H₂O
Problem being that gasoline is not pure octane. Also a big contributor to CO is an insufficient supply of oxygen.
Heavy_Gap_5047@reddit
I do not believe that ratio is accurate.
Thungergod@reddit
Vapor. It's shocking how much water expands between liquid and gas states. Deceptive way to phrase it tho
liberty@reddit
I mean. I guess. But I'm not sure it makes much sense to measure a gas by its volume - except, I suppose, in the context of pressure in a contained environment? Otherwise, you could just as correctly say two gallons or 10 gallons or 100 gallons...eventually. I'd assume that the "gallon of water" is as measured in liquid form, or else the "fact" is meaningless.
teslaactual@reddit
The first speeding ticket ever issued was by Mercedes Benz's wife, along with the first count of grand theft auto and the idea of brake pads...all on the same trip
El_mochilero@reddit
The “ALFA” in Alfa Romeo actually stands for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili which means Lombardian Car Factory and the last name of the entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, who took control of the company.
tOSdude@reddit
The 3.3L V6 engine used in Chrysler minivans from 1990 to 2010 had a racing version in the early 90’s. Used in the Shelby Can-Am, it made 250 horsepower instead of the 150-ish it made stock.
A pushrod V6 minivan engine was in a race car with Shelby’s name on it.
Fine-Huckleberry4165@reddit
The best-selling "car" in many developed markets, including the USA, the UK and Australia isn't from the Detroit 3, nor the main European or Japanese brands. It is the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe
tOSdude@reddit
This fits right in with the top comment about Lego tires.
Bawbag3000@reddit
The mk1 and 2 Honda CRV's boot/trunk floor was also a picnic table.
knumberate@reddit
Toyota hilux is the world's favorite pickup truck, as long as ford's aren't sold there
ClumpyTurdHair@reddit
What year was the Corvette NOT produced?
UnderwhelmingAF@reddit
1983
gmm1972@reddit
Although there was never a 1983 Corvette sold, there was some test models produced and were destined to be destroyed after GM was finished with them. They all were destroyed except for one that survived by accident.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a22059071/the-importance-of-the-worlds-only-1983-corvette/
UnderwhelmingAF@reddit
Yep, I got to go to the Corvette museum in Bowling Green a few years back and got to see the ‘83 they have on display.
ClumpyTurdHair@reddit
You win the prize
kelseydcivic@reddit
1910
ClumpyTurdHair@reddit
Fair point. I updated my question for clarity.
Status_Guard4739@reddit
There has been only one tire manufacturer that bought a car OEM purely for tire R&D purposes.. who was it?
vicente8a@reddit
Ok Im interested. What is it?
Status_Guard4739@reddit
One of the Michelin family became the chairman of Citroen in 1935 and in 1936 Michelin bought the company officially.
Not terribly interesting but it's a fun fact that a lot of Michelin employees/engineers don't know. I work with some of them and always ask!
I have a 72 DS in North Texas, so I find it interesting.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
One of the stories I've heard about this is one of Michelin's first moves when they bought Citroen was to cancel a project called the 22CV. It was planned to be a V8 powered Traction Avant and when it got canned, Michelin ordered the 3 test cars to get scrapped.
But one supposedly survived. A few years later, a dealership in Chartres received a mysterious telegram from somewhere in Vietnam asking for parts to rebuild a 22CV water pump. As the project was scrapped they didn't have any and the Vietnam based 22CV has never been seen or heard from again...
nabob1978@reddit
Google Michelin PLR test car....
Status_Guard4739@reddit
Super cool, hadn't heard that before.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
I'm going to guess Michelin? They seem to be constantly doing R&D...
badpuffthaikitty@reddit
The flip side is Bridgestone. The Japanese motorcycle manufacturers told them the would stop equipping the bikes with Bridgestone tyres if the kept on manufacturing their own motorcycles.
XDevils41X@reddit
The BMW M tri-colors are blue, violet and red. It was born from when BMW motorsports was teamed up with Texaco. BMW colors were Blue, Texaco was Red so they combined it to make Violet. This is how you get the tri colors.
Ok-Tangelo4024@reddit
The Lamborghini Diablo's headlights came from the Nissan 300ZX (Z32). It was the first generation of the Z after pop up headlights and Nissan had put a lot of R&D into creating a sleek aerodynamic headlight that was also effective. Lamborghini bought the lights from Nissan and put a piece of trim over the Nissan logo at the top of the headlight.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
I think the indicator stalks on the Countach are from a Morris Marina and the Ferrari 512 TR borrowed the electric mirror controls from an Austin Montego. Who said British Leyland couldn't make anything exotic...
Rampage_Rick@reddit
The front turn signals on a Murcielago are from a Ford Focus...
$20 to get a replacement from Ford, $250 to get a replacement from Lamborghini
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a42791400/lamborghini-murcielago-parts-shared/
rdkil@reddit
The johnny cash song One Piece At A Time has some truth to it. Back in the day if you worked in the plant and ordered a new car you could find out when yours was going to hit production. Many many people ordered basic radios and had premium radios left inside the doors. Source: I was 3rd generation in my family that worked at a GM factory.
cannedrex2406@reddit
Here are 2 Honda ones I know:
So the test drivers drove it hard....... And crashed it. So they bought another....... And crashed it again. And then AGAIN.
eventually the project itself was cancelled due to sky-rocketing costs. I wonder why?
Source: Boring Car Trivia 4 by Richard Porter. If you love posts like these. All 4 books are just filled with random car trivia no one will give a shit about
j350z16@reddit (OP)
Ah Richard Porter, the car based QI elf...
I've read all of them they're fantastic. The Vauxhall Dove story was pretty magnificent 😂
Mrofcourse@reddit
I think the whole Morizo, GR, Akio story is pretty cool and fascinating!
badpuffthaikitty@reddit
He built and designed an automobile that had individual electric hub driven wheels on all 4 corners over 100 years ago.
Who was he?
j350z16@reddit (OP)
Roughly 1924, Tesla?
badpuffthaikitty@reddit
Nope. Earlier. His name wasn’t on the car.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
I'm going to have to admit defeat. I'm Really curious now...
badpuffthaikitty@reddit
Ferdinand Porsche designed the 1898 Egger-Lohner C.2 Phaeton. In 1902 he designed a Hybrid automobile called the Porsche-Lohner Mixte.
j350z16@reddit (OP)
Aaahhh. And now to Google if the VW phaeton's name was a coincidence...
Lothar_Ecklord@reddit
Maybe, maybe not. Phaeton, like many car names, was derived from the days of coaches. Terms like coupe, sedan, landau, runabout, phaeton, brougham, cabriolet, continental, boot/trunk, were all originally types/layouts for carriages that carried over into the car world since the first horseless coaches were sold as just a chassis.. Over time, they would start adding motor, transmission, wheels, passenger compartment and so-forth to become standard but those names live on!
Some would take on a new form, for instance, a continental was simply applied whenever a coach had a spare tire mounted on the back - now it's used for a range of models that often don't have a spare tire on the back; I don't know many people who would still call this a landau, but it historically isn't because a landau meant it would have been retractable, and nowadays it would just be a vinyl top.
Deemt58@reddit
The C4 Corvette ZR-1’s engine was designed with the help of Lotus and were built by Mercury Marine
proscriptus@reddit
Rambler had an integrated motor mild hybrid in the 1912 Cross Country. Same system the Prius uses.
By 1912, you could have built a supercharged, fuel-injected hybrid with an automatic transmission and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes.
Efficient_Field4700@reddit
The lotus Elise was named after the founder's girlfriend and business partner , Elisa artioli. Not super unknown but it's one I learned quite recently. Also the very first lotus was produced in a little garage in the founder's free time. Elisa finished the car while he was serving his term in the British military and when he came home, he entered it into it's first race and crushed the competition. A humble origin for a car that would go on to set the standard for lightweight sports cars.
Fine-Huckleberry4165@reddit
Not the founder - Colin Chapman died quite a few years before the Elise came along - and not the girlfriend or business partner. Elisa Artioli was the granddaughter of the then owner of Lotus, Romano Artioli. See here.
Efficient_Field4700@reddit
Huh the more you know. It would appear I've been ill informed. Thanks for the correction!
badpuffthaikitty@reddit
Otto Jellinek named his car after his daughter Mercedes.
emile_best@reddit
The biggest tire manufacturer is not who you think it is
JassSomm@reddit
That’s one of the cleverest ones 👌
Technotitclan@reddit
Lego