With more
than a billion cars in the world nowadays, it’s astonishing that we can
remember where we parked the darn thing.
Yep. It’s
amazing how little people know about their own vehicles!
Like, have you
ever wondered what the world’s most favorite car color is? No, it’s not puce.
How much of
your car is recyclable? Or why does your turn signal make this annoying
clicking sound?
Well, check
these out:
1.
The first
cars weren’t equipped with a steering wheel. When a driver needed to turn, they
had to use a special lever.
2.
The heaviest
limousine called “Midnight Rider” was produced in 2004. This huge vehicle
weighed more than 50,000 pounds, which is three and a half times as heavy as an
elephant! At about 70 ft long, the limo could comfortably seat 40 passengers
and 4 crew members, had three different lounges and a separate bar.
3.
The world’s
lowest street-legal car is Mirai, which means “future” in Japanese, that’s
where the unusual vehicle was built. This single-seater rises less than 18
inches above the ground. And since it’s a slightly scary experience to drive
Mirai on a busy street, when someone does, there’s always a guarding car in
front of the little vehicle, and another one behind.
4.
The average
family car spends 95% of its lifetime parked. Surprising, huh?
5.
A dashboard
was originally a wooden part attached to the front of a carriage pulled by a
horse. It prevented mud from splattering onto the driver.
6.
Do you like
the smell of a new car? Then, I’ve got some bad news for you: it’s actually the
odor of different volatile organic compounds used to build vehicles. The smell
does no good to your health, and manufacturers are adopting various techniques
and measures to get rid of it.
7.
More than
250 million car tires are thrown away every year.
8.
The world’s
first speeding ticket was issued in 1904. The offender was going at a speed of
12 miles per hour in the area with a speed limit of 8 miles per hour. By the
way, at that time, most cars couldn’t drive faster than 45 miles per hour.
9.
Electric
cars aren’t a recent invention. In 1900, almost 40% of all cars were electric.
Around 40% of vehicles were powered by steam, and a bit more than 20% were
fueled by gasoline.
10.
The average
driver spends 5 months of their life waiting in their car at red lights.
11.
In 1960,
$3,000 would have bought you a brand-new car, for example, Buick Le Sabre. These
days, you would have just enough to get a steering wheel, transmission, and two
doors.
12.
The average
car is stuffed with 55 pounds of copper wiring, which is as heavy as 6
medium-sized domestic cats! And an electric car has three times this amount of
copper (which is 165 pounds or 18 kitties!). Yeah- that’s a crazy comparison
compounding copper into kitties, but we’re creative here on the Way of Buzz.
13.
When asked,
more than 90% of drivers confess they regularly sing behind the wheel. What’s
your favorite tune to sing while driving? Tell me about it in the comments.
14.
Up to 75% of
all the Rolls Royce cars ever made are still on the road these days!
15.
The largest
speeding fine ever was a reported $290,000 ticket a Swiss motorist got in
Switzerland. The Ferrari Testarossa driver was going through a 50-mile-per-hour
zone at a speed almost twice as high. The fine was calculated based on the
driver’s wealth, plus, it was a repeat offense. Zoom zoom. Ka-ching!
16.
There are
about 1.2 billion cars in the world these days. For comparison, in 1986, there
were only 500 million. Experts are sure that by 2040, people all over the world
will own more than 2 billion cars.
17.
Every day,
around 165,000 cars are produced worldwide. It adds up to more than 60 million
cars a year.
18.
One of the
world’s most loved cars is Volkswagen Beetle: more than 20 million units have
been sold all over the world. It was also called the most popular car of the
20th century.
19.
The last car
that still had a cassette player was the Ford Crown Victoria in 2011. After
that, you had to buy CDs for new music playing devices installed in vehicles.
20.
The
three-point seat belt saves one life every six minutes. By the way, this safety
measure was invented by Volvo in 1959. The company didn’t patent its invention
so that other car producers could use it for passenger safety as well.
21.
Airbag’s
speed is faster than the blink of an eye — almost 200 miles per hour, and it
takes one just 40 milliseconds to deploy after an impact.
22.
Almost 80%
of the average car is recyclable. In some countries, automobile recycling is
one of the largest industries.
23.
The turn
signal makes its trademark clicking sound because of the heat. You switch on
the blinker, the electricity heats up a special spring, and the thing keeps
bending until it comes into contact with a small strip of metal. As soon as
these two components get connected, an electric current passes through them and
powers the turn signal light. After that, the spring cools down and returns to
its original shape, switching the light off. Then, the process starts again to
produce a new flash. The sound you hear is made by the spring as it bends back
and forth.
24.
By the way,
since more cars are getting computerized, lots of manufacturers start to rely
on computer technologies to activate turn signals. This way, the whole process
that once produced the clicks is skipped. Interestingly, some drivers get
unsettled when they don’t hear the familiar sound after activating the
blinkers. That’s why in some computerized cars, the sound is still there.
25.
The longest
car in the world was built in the US by Jay Ohrberg in 1986. Its length was a
jaw-dropping 100 feet, which is as long as five giraffes or more simply, a 5 on
the Giraffe scale! The incredible car featured a swimming pool with a diving
board and a king-sized water bed. Even better, it could be driven as a rigid
vehicle or adjusted to bend in the middle!
26.
White is the
world’s most favorite car color. Being more noticeable, white vehicles are 10%
less likely to get involved in road accidents than others. One more
super-popular car color is silver.
27.
One of
police cars in Dubai holds a Guinness world record for being the fastest police
car in the world. The Bugatti Veyron has an engine that can produce 1,000
horsepower, and its top speed reaches 253 miles per hour — that’s a 3.5 on the
hurricane wind scale!
28.
In some
countries, police cars carry teddy bears. These stuffed toys are used to calm
down scared kids who got lost.
29.
Several
decades ago, Japan was the world’s leading car manufacturer. These days, it’s
only the third — after China and the USA (with China producing almost 25% of
the world’s cars!).
30.
The world-famous
three-pointed Mercedes-Benz star was chosen to represent the company’s
dominance in three places: the land, sea, and air. Somehow I have not yet seen
their car which can drive, float and fly, so if you have, jot something in the
comments please.
31.
Audi’s four
overlapping rings emblem symbolizes four originally independent companies that
eventually merged into one, the famous Audi Group.
32.
As for the
BMW logo, it comes from the company’s original production — airplanes. The blue
and white circle (aka “target sign”) symbolizes a white spinning propeller
against the blue sky.
33.
The BMW M5
has such a quiet engine that the car has to play fake engine noises through its
audio system to remind the driver that it’s actually working.
34.
The world’s
cheapest car is Tata Nano, a tiny thing shaped like a jelly bean. This
rear-wheel drive vehicle can accelerate up to 65 miles per hour and costs
around $2,000.
35.
It's a
wide-spread misconception that just a few countries have left-hand traffic. In
reality, not more than 65% of the world’s population drive on the right side of
the road.
36.
Driver
surveys show that 16% of all car owners never wash their cars.
37.
When Mary
Anderson invented the first effective windshield wipers, they were considered
an unnecessary distraction until drivers realized they were game changers.
38.
Historians
believe that the word “car” came from the Latin word “carrus” (which means a
wheeled vehicle). Another version is the Middle English word “carre” (a
two-wheeled cart).
39.
The first
car radio appeared in 1924. This device had an exorbitant price that could
reach $130. It may seem like not a big sum, but how about this: the average car
price was around $540 at that time! The car radio was believed to be
distracting, and many safety agencies were trying to ban it from cars.
40.
Hyundai
Tucson has a special edition that contains a zombie survival kit, just in case.
Hey, if you learned something new today, then make sure to check other
articles. Thank you for reading