A Man Who Broke the Sound Barrier in a Car

When Opel presents their new car models, journalists always want to know where the sharks are this time. No joke here — Opel does hide images of the cute sea monsters into their vehicles since 2004.

One Sunday afternoon that year, Opel designer Dietmar Finger was working from home on a sketch for the new car interior. He got to probably the least exciting part — designing the outer panel of the glove box. Most people never even see it, as the passenger door covers it completely.

Yet, the panel is important as its plastic ribs help keep the glove box stable. Finger couldn’t think of anything original. His son decided to him and casually offered to draw a shark on the ribs.

Finger went with the idea and showed the shark sketch to the chief designer the next day. He also loved the idea, and that’s how sharks have become Opel’s hidden feature ever since and went beyond the glove box. The Zafira minivan came with 3 sharks inside the cockpit. Sharks also got a home inside the Adam city car and the Astra hatchback.

The exact location of those cuties remains a secret even from Opel’s design top management. And the new car buyers have fun searching for sharks in their vehicles. Volkswagen names its cars after different types of winds. Passat means “trade wind,” the Scirocco got its name after “sirocco,” a kind of Mediterranean wind, Polo stands for “polar winds,” and Jetta is German for “jet stream.”

The first windshield wipers were invented in 1905. Until then, drivers would have to pull off to the side of the road to wipe the windshield with a cloth. It all changed one snowy day in New York City when Mary Anderson was riding a streetcar. She was so tired of delays and constant stops for the driver to go out and wipe off the snow that she made a sketch of the first wiper as soon as she got home.

The driver was supposed to operate the wiper manually from inside the car by pulling the lever. Anderson patented her device and tried to sell it to manufacturing companies but got rejected. They thought it wouldn’t be a commercial success. Several years later, another inventor brought the idea to perfection. William Folberth created the first vacuum-powered automatic wiper.

The Chrysler 200 cars easily have the coolest custom floor mats. They feature the skyline of Detroit, the city where the company’s headquarters are located. But hmmm... something is missing from the skyline. They decided to erase General Motors’ headquarters. That company has been Chrysler’s key rival for many years.

It’s pretty easy to spot the letter “T” in the Toyota logo, but have you ever noticed you can actually read the entire company name in it? Here come the “T,” “O,” “Y,” and “A.” The current logo took 5 years to develop. The inner ovals stand for the hearts of buyers and the company overlapping and trusting each other. The space in the background symbolizes the endless opportunities ahead of the company.

Ralph Teetor invented cruise control in 1948. He lost the ability to see when he was five but had an amazing sense of touch and hearing. He knew how to avoid building corners and could sense cars approaching from a huge distance. He never gave up on his dream of becoming an engineer, although many colleges refused to even consider his application.

Teetor ended up getting a college degree and inventing the first “speedostat.” It was a device for speed control that would make the driver’s foot feel resisting pressure as a warning once the car reached a certain speed. Holding the pedal would let the driver start on that speed, and pressing down would let them go faster.

If word search is your favorite game, Fiat Panda might be a good choice for your next car. The interior of the door has the letters PANDA spread up, down, and sideways. Your word search might not be too eventful, though. I gave up at nap and pan.

The Jeep Renegade comes with a Jeep grille design built into the headlights and taillights and a little cartoon Jeep at the edge of the windshield. But probably the coolest hidden feature is the spider saying “Ciao baby!” that stares at you from the refueling compartment.

Hyundai’s upscale Genesis cars have unusual puddle lights that illuminate the area beside the front doors and project the Genesis logo onto the road. To see that cool effect, you need to activate the lighting with your key fob.

Most modern cars have rearview cameras to make it easier for you to reverse the vehicle, especially on busy or narrow streets. Recent Volkswagen Golfs and Passats also have the cam, but it’s hidden away behind the company’s logo. You can only see it when you shift into reverse, and the logo flips up. It’s a practical move as it helps keep the lens clean and safe.

In case you’re driving a Tesla, try setting the music volume to 11. This secret feature is an homage to the mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap.” Also, if you hold the “T” button and enter “holiday,” your car will start a cool light show. The GPS system lets you see yourself driving down the famous Rainbow Road from Mario Kart games. And the key fob is a miniature copy of your car.

Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber by accident in 1839! He was experimenting with a piece of rubber and a pin when he dropped a piece of India rubber mixed with sulfur on a hot stove. The rubber became black and tough.

Goodyear patented his invention but had a lot of legal and technical issues later when companies using his technology failed. As Goodyear passed away, he left debts of around $200,000, a huge amount for that time. That’s ironic enough, knowing that his invention would bring other people millions many years later.

The Ford Model-T used to be the best-selling car in history, with over 15 million vehicles sold in just 20 years. In 1972, Volkswagen Beetle took away its champion’s title to later pass it on to Toyota Corolla. Over 50 million Toyotas of this model have been sold as of 2021.

In 1997, Andy Green, a now-retired British pilot, set the Guinness Book world record for the fastest land speed reached by car. He took his jet-powered vehicle Thrust SSC to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It became the first car to have broken the sound barrier with a speed of 763 miles per hour.

If you’re an experienced driver, you hardly ever look down at the pedals to speed up or stop. But you might wanna do it if you have a Renault Twingo RS as their pedals are custom-made. You’ll see the play, pause, and stop symbols on them, just like in a video game!

The famous Lamborghini logo has two hidden meanings. First of all, the bull represents the zodiac sign of the company’s founder, Ferruccio Lamborghini, who was born on April 28 and was a Taurus. The second reason for this logo choice is that people often associate bulls with speed, power, and danger.

When the logo was just introduced, many people noticed how similar it was to Ferrari’s logo. Both logos use the shield of the same shape, gold and black colors, and feature an animal. Lamborghini didn’t even deny it was he always considered Ferrari his company’s rival.