128 Fun Facts About Cars

What does 'SUV' stand for?

There is no universally agreed definition: some insist an SUV must sit on a light-truck chassis, while broader definitions cover any car with off-road features such as raised ground clearance.

The Tesla Model S, produced from 2012, won which magazine's Car of the Year award for 2013?

Motor Trend named the Tesla Model S its 2013 Car of the Year, the first time in the award's history it went to a car without an internal-combustion engine.

Which Italian designer styled the gull-winged DMC DeLorean?

Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign styled the DeLorean DMC-12, produced in 1981 and 1982; the car became the time machine in the Back to the Future films.

Which car brand's logo features a prancing horse on a yellow background?

Ferrari's Cavallino Rampante was the emblem of World War I ace Francesco Baracca; Enzo Ferrari first ran it on his team's Alfa Romeos at the 1932 Spa 24 Hours, on Modena's canary-yellow ground.

The moving assembly line for car manufacturing began operating on 7 October 1913 at which plant?

Ford's Highland Park plant in Michigan started the first moving chassis assembly line on 7 October 1913; Model T assembly time fell from about 12.5 hours to 93 minutes.

Which film franchise features Dominic Toretto and street racing culture?

The Fast & Furious franchise began in 2001 and has become one of the highest-grossing film series ever. Vin Diesel stars as Dominic Toretto.

Which race has been run since 1911 on the 2.5-mile oval nicknamed the Brickyard?

The Indianapolis 500 was first run in 1911 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, whose original brick surface earned it the Brickyard nickname; it has been skipped only during the two World Wars.

What color was the Ford Model T exclusively available in from 1914 to 1925?

Henry Ford famously said customers could have any color they wanted, as long as it was black. The black japan enamel paint dried the fastest on the assembly line.

Which car company uses the slogan 'The Ultimate Driving Machine'?

In most markets the official slogan since 1972 has been 'Freude am Fahren' ('Sheer Driving Pleasure'), which first appeared as 'Aus Freude am Fahren' in 1965.

What does 'GT' stand for in car model names like the Ford Mustang GT?

GT stands for Grand Touring, an anglicisation of the Italian 'gran turismo'; the 1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT popularised the badge for fast, comfortable long-distance cars.

What does the 'RPM' gauge on a car dashboard measure?

RPM means engine revolutions per minute: the tachometer counts how many times the engine turns over each minute, with a red line marking the maximum safe engine speed.

Which luxury car brand uses a 'Spirit of Ecstasy' hood ornament?

The Spirit of Ecstasy is the iconic hood ornament on Rolls-Royce cars, designed by sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes and first used in 1911.

Which country manufactures the most cars annually?

China has built more vehicles than any other country since 2009, when it overtook Japan with 13.8 million units; its output passed 31 million in 2024, about three times the US figure.

Which car has outsold every other nameplate in history?

The Toyota Corolla became the best-selling nameplate in 1997 and topped 50 million cumulative sales in 2021, across twelve generations since its 1966 debut.

In a car's braking system, what do the letters ABS stand for?

Anti-lock Braking System keeps the wheels from locking in a hard stop so the driver can still steer; the same anti-skid idea is used on aircraft.

Which car, launched in April 1964, sold over 400,000 in its first year and spawned a new class of affordable sporty coupes?

The Ford Mustang gave the 'pony car' segment its name, pairing sporty styling with an affordable price; the one-millionth Mustang sold within two years of launch.

What is a 'turbocharger' in a car engine?

A device that compresses intake air, forcing more air into the engine for more power from the same displacement; unlike a belt-driven supercharger, a turbo is spun by the exhaust gases.

What was the first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid car, launched in Japan in December 1997?

The Prius went on sale in Japan on 10 December 1997 and worldwide in 2000, becoming the symbol of the hybrid movement with over 5 million sold.

Which iconic Porsche model has been in continuous production since 1963?

The Porsche 911 debuted at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show as the 901, a six-cylinder successor to the 356, and placed fifth in the 1999 Car of the Century poll.

Which NASCAR race is considered the 'Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing'?

The Daytona 500 is NASCAR's richest and most prestigious race; it has opened the Cup Series season every year since 1982, so the sport's biggest event comes first.

Before Schumacher, which driver held the record with five Formula One titles (1951-57)?

Juan Manuel Fangio won the championship in 1951 and from 1954 to 1957 with four different constructors; his five titles stood as the record until Michael Schumacher's sixth in 2003.

What 1885 vehicle is widely considered the first true internal-combustion automobile?

Carl Benz built the Patent-Motorwagen in Mannheim, Germany in 1885 and patented it in 1886; it is widely regarded as the first practical automobile and the first put into production.

Ferruccio Lamborghini founded his car company in 1963. What did he manufacture before that?

Ferruccio Lamborghini was a successful tractor manufacturer who founded Automobili Lamborghini in 1963, reportedly after a dispute with Enzo Ferrari.

What does the 'C8' in the Chevrolet Corvette's production code refer to?

C8 marks the eighth generation of the Corvette, launched for 2020; it is the first with a mid-mounted engine after seven front-engined generations dating back to 1953.

In which decade did Nils Bohlin's three-point seatbelt first become standard on a production car?

Bohlin developed it for Volvo, which fitted it as standard from 1959; an American three-point design had already been patented in 1955.

Which car chase scene in a 1968 Steve McQueen film is considered one of the greatest ever filmed?

The car chase in 'Bullitt' (1968) through the streets of San Francisco, featuring Steve McQueen driving a Ford Mustang GT 390, set the standard for movie car chases.

In which year did Tesla deliver its first car, the Lotus Elise-based Roadster?

2008 saw the first Roadster delivered in February; built on a Lotus Elise chassis, it was the first highway-legal serial production all-electric car to use lithium-ion cells.

Which Japanese manufacturer developed the 'VTEC' engine system?

Honda's VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control), introduced in 1989, uses two camshaft profiles for efficiency at low RPM and performance at high RPM.

The Bugatti Veyron's full name ends in '16.4'. What does the '4' refer to?

The 16 is the cylinder count of its 8.0-litre W16, effectively two narrow-angle V8s bolted together; the 'EB' honours founder Ettore Bugatti.

Which car brand's name comes from the Latin word for 'I roll'?

Volvo is Latin for 'I roll'. Ball-bearing maker SKF registered the trademark in 1915 for a bearing line aimed at America, then launched the car company in Gothenburg in 1927.

What was unique about the DeLorean DMC-12's body panels?

John DeLorean picked stainless skin over a fibreglass underbody after a paint-finish problem, reasoning the extra cost was offset by not having to paint the cars at all.

Which car is known as 'Godzilla' in automotive culture?

Australian magazine Wheels nicknamed the Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 'Godzilla' in its July 1989 issue, a nod to its monster performance and Japanese origin; the name has followed every GT-R since.

Which country is home to the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the world's most demanding circuit?

The Nürburgring lies in Germany's Eifel mountains; its Nordschleife runs 20.8 km (12.9 miles) with about 300 m of elevation change, and Jackie Stewart nicknamed it 'the Green Hell'.

What does the Mazda 'Wankel' engine use instead of conventional pistons?

The rotor is shaped much like a Reuleaux triangle and spins inside a figure-eight-like epitrochoidal housing around a fixed gear.

What is the cylinder layout of a 'boxer' engine?

The pistons of each opposed pair move in and out together like a boxer's fists; flat-fours power most Subarus and flat-sixes the Porsche 911.

Which innovation did Cadillac introduce in 1912, earning its second Dewar Trophy and sparing drivers a dangerous chore?

Electric self-starter motors ended the hand crank; the same electrical system handled ignition and lighting, and it earned Cadillac its second Dewar Trophy.

Which car company pioneered the use of crumple zones for crash safety in the 1950s?

Mercedes-Benz engineer Béla Barényi patented the crumple-zone concept in 1952, and the 1959 W111 'tail fin' saloon was the first car built with a rigid passenger cell between deformable front and rear sections.

The 1971 Steve McQueen film 'Le Mans' used real footage shot at the 24-hour race of which year?

McQueen plays Michael Delaney, driver of the #20 Gulf Porsche 917K, in a story built around the duel with the Ferrari 512s.

What is the record-setting top speed achieved by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+?

Andy Wallace drove a pre-production Chiron Super Sport 300+ to 304.77 mph (490.48 km/h) at Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track on 2 August 2019, the first production-based car past 300 mph.

What did the Oldsmobile Curved Dash, produced starting in 1901, achieve in American automotive history?

The Oldsmobile Curved Dash is considered the first mass-produced American automobile. Ransom Olds used a stationary assembly line concept starting in 1901, predating Ford by over a decade.

Which rally class of 1982–86, home of the Audi Quattro S1 and Lancia Delta S4, did the FIA disband after fatal accidents?

Group B cars such as the Peugeot 205 T16 packed power no narrow forest stage could contain, and the FIA disbanded the class after 1986.

In 1909 the Ford Model T Runabout started at what price?

The 1909 Runabout listed at $825 (the Touring at $850); assembly-line savings pushed the price down almost every year, to just $260 by 1925, when Ford was building about 9,000 cars a day.

From which model year did US emissions rules require catalytic converters on essentially all new cars?

From the 1975 model year most petrol cars sold in the United States carried catalytic converters to meet the EPA's exhaust emissions rules - which is also why unleaded fuel became standard at US pumps.

The most recognisable feature of the 1948 Tucker 48 was a third, centrally mounted what?

The Tucker 48's central 'Cyclops' headlamp swivelled with the steering to light the way round corners at angles above 10 degrees; only 51 cars were built before the company collapsed in 1949.

Mexico's president famously had a 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car run on which liquid?

President Adolfo López Mateos had a Chrysler Turbine Car run on tequila after Chrysler engineers confirmed the multi-fuel turbine would cope; Chrysler's turbine programme ended in 1979.

How many orders did Citroën take for the DS on its first day at the 1955 Paris Motor Show?

Citroën took 743 orders in the first 15 minutes and 12,000 by the end of the DS's first day at the 1955 Paris Salon, with about 80,000 over the ten-day show.

Which automaker produced the first car with monocoque (unibody) construction?

The 1922 Lancia Lambda is widely considered the first car to feature load-bearing monocoque construction, where the body itself provides structural rigidity rather than a separate frame.

What is the significance of the 1934 Tatra T77 in automotive history?

The Tatra 77, designed by Hans Ledwinka with aerodynamicist Paul Jaray, was the first serial-production car with a genuinely streamlined body: rear-mounted air-cooled V8, central dorsal fin and enclosed rear wheels.

Which 1961 Jaguar topped The Daily Telegraph's 2008 list of the 100 most beautiful cars of all time?

The E-Type, unveiled at the March 1961 Geneva Motor Show with a claimed 150 mph top speed, topped the Telegraph's 2008 list; Enzo Ferrari is widely, if unverifiably, quoted calling it 'the most beautiful car ever made'.

Which car part keeps the battery charged by converting engine motion into electricity?

The alternator, belt-driven by the engine, produces alternating current that diodes rectify to DC to run the electrics and keep the battery charged.

Sitting behind the grille, a car's radiator is essentially what kind of device?

A heat exchanger is all it is: coolant heated in the engine block flows through it, sheds heat to the air, then loops back to the engine.

Which engine part converts the pistons' up-and-down motion into rotation?

The crankshaft turns the pistons' reciprocating motion into rotation: each connecting rod pushes on an offset crankpin, and the spinning shaft drives the flywheel and gearbox.

What does a timing belt keep synchronized with the crank so the valves open on time?

The timing belt links the crankshaft to the camshaft so the cams open and close the valves at the right moment relative to the pistons; some engines use a chain or gears instead.

What is the job of a differential in a car's drive axle?

Without it the outside wheel, which travels farther, would have to skid whenever the car turned.

Since the 1990s, carburetors in cars have been largely replaced by what?

Fuel injection replaced carburettors because it meters fuel precisely enough to meet tightening emissions rules; carburettors live on in lawnmowers, small motorcycles and many piston aircraft.

Which inventor is credited with the first spark plug, used in his 1860 internal-combustion engine?

Étienne Lenoir used an electric spark plug to ignite the gas-air mix in his 1860 engine; the first commercially viable high-voltage plug came in 1902 from Bosch engineer Gottlob Honold.

Which brand of spark plug was developed by a member of a famous Irish brewing family?

KLG takes its initials from Kenelm Lee Guinness of the Irish brewing family, a Sunbeam racing driver who founded the spark-plug maker at Putney Vale in south-west London.

The device British drivers call a 'silencer' is known in North America as what?

North Americans call the silencer a muffler: a chamber of baffles and perforated tubes in the exhaust that cancels and absorbs the engine's pulses of sound.

Who is popularly credited with inventing the first working windshield wiper in 1903?

Mary Anderson of Alabama patented her 'window cleaning device' in November 1903 after watching a New York streetcar driver struggle in sleet; a lever inside the car swung a rubber blade across the glass.

In a disc brake, what squeezes the pads against the spinning rotor?

The caliper straddles the rotor and uses hydraulic pistons to squeeze the pads against it; the master cylinder supplies the pressure and the booster merely multiplies pedal effort.

Which car maker's C-Type won the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours as the only entry using disc brakes?

Jaguar's C-Type, driven by Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton, won the 1953 race on Dunlop disc brakes that resisted fade lap after lap; it was the first Le Mans winner to average over 100 mph.

Which US car was the first domestic model to include a passenger-side airbag, in 1973?

The 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado was the first production car sold with a passenger-side airbag; GM called the system ACRS and dropped it after the 1976 model year for lack of demand.

Which German luxury car first offered an airbag as an option in Europe in 1981?

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W126) offered a driver's airbag from 1981, paired with a seat-belt pretensioner fired by the same sensor, treating bag and belt as one system.

Most shock absorbers force oil through small internal valves, turning bump energy into what?

A damper converts bump energy into heat: oil forced through small valves resists the motion by viscous friction, and the warmth dissipates through the damper body.

Who made the first long-distance drive in an internal-combustion car, in August 1888?

Bertha Benz drove the Patent-Motorwagen No. 3 from Mannheim to Pforzheim, about 106 km, in August 1888 without her husband's knowledge, having a cobbler fit leather brake linings along the way.

By what nickname was the Ford Model T colloquially known?

Tin Lizzie was the pet name for a car that sold over 15 million units between 1908 and 1927.

In which year did the Volkswagen Beetle pass the Model T's production record?

On 17 February 1972 the 15,007,034th Beetle was built, one more than the entire 1908-27 Model T run, making the Beetle the best-selling car in history at the time.

Toyota was founded as a spin-off of a company that originally made what?

Kiichiro Toyoda incorporated Toyota in 1937 out of his father's Toyota Industries machine business.

Honda has been the world's largest manufacturer of which vehicles since 1959?

It reached 500 million motorcycles produced by May 2025.

Mazda was founded in 1920 as a company making what?

Mazda began as Toyo Cork Kogyo, a cork maker founded in Hiroshima in 1920; Jujiro Matsuda took charge in 1921 and moved it into machine tools and, by 1931, three-wheeled trucks.

Subaru's name and six-star logo refer to which star cluster?

Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades; the logo's six stars stand for the five companies merged into Fuji Heavy Industries plus the parent, and six Pleiades are easily visible to the naked eye.

Which British Army officer revived Volkswagen after World War II?

Major Ivan Hirst of the REME took charge of the bombed Wolfsburg plant in 1945, won a British Army order for 20,000 Beetles and restarted production before the factory returned to German control in 1949.

Audi's four rings stand for the 1932 union of Horch, Audi, Wanderer and which firm?

The union was known as Auto Union; VW bought it in the 1960s.

BMW got its name in 1917 when which firm renamed itself Bayerische Motoren Werke?

Rapp Motorenwerke, a Munich aero-engine maker founded by Karl Rapp in 1913, became Bayerische Motoren Werke in July 1917; the name and assets passed to Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in 1922.

The Mercedes-Benz brand was born in 1926 when Karl Benz's firm merged with whose company?

Benz & Cie merged with Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, the firm Gottlieb Daimler founded with Wilhelm Maybach in 1890, to form Daimler-Benz AG on 28 June 1926.

Lamborghini has been controlled by which Volkswagen Group division since 1998?

Audi AG bought Automobili Lamborghini from its Indonesian owners (Megatech) in 1998, placing the Sant'Agata Bolognese firm under Audi within the Volkswagen Group.

Maserati's trident logo is based on a statue of Neptune in which Italian city?

Mario Maserati designed the emblem; the company was founded in Bologna in 1914.

Alfa Romeo began in 1910 as A.L.F.A. What was the 'L' for?

Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili; Nicola Romeo took control in 1915.

How many times did Fiat win European Car of the Year between 1967 and 2008?

Fiat won nine times, from the 124 in 1967 to the 500 in 2008, with the 128, 127, Uno, Tipo, Punto, Bravo/Brava and Panda in between.

Which carmaker, founded as a family business in 1810, is regarded as the world's oldest?

Peugeot began as a family steel and tool business in 1810; Émile Peugeot registered the lion trademark in 1858, and Armand Peugeot built the firm's first petrol car, the Type 2, in 1890.

Citroën's double-chevron logo was inspired by what?

The chevrons represent the double-helical (herringbone) gears André Citroën manufactured after buying a Polish patent for them on a 1900 trip; his gear business preceded the 1919 car company.

Ford sold Volvo Cars in 2010 to which Chinese group?

Zhejiang Geely Holding paid about $1.8 billion for Volvo Cars in 2010, far less than the $6.45 billion Ford had paid in 1999; Volvo Cars listed on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2021.

Jaguar's business began in 1922 under what name?

The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in Blackpool in 1922 to build motorcycle sidecars; it became SS Cars in 1934 and took the Jaguar name in 1945.

Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and whom?

Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin set up Bamford & Martin in London in 1913; the Aston name came from Martin's hill-climb wins at Aston Hill, and David Brown took over in 1947.

Bentley won Le Mans five times between 1924 and 1930, then again in which year?

Bentley's Speed 8 won Le Mans in 2003 with Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and Guy Smith, the marque's sixth victory and its first since 1930.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a BMW subsidiary since 2003, is based at which West Sussex site?

The 42-acre plant sits close to the Goodwood Estate.

Louis Chevrolet, co-founder of Chevrolet in 1911, was born in which country?

Louis Chevrolet was born in 1878 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, a watchmaking town in the Jura; he made his name as a racing driver before co-founding Chevrolet with William Durant.

Cadillac is named after the French explorer who founded which city?

Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Detroit in 1701; the brand dates from 1902.

In 2010 the Chrysler Group sold which three brands alongside Chrysler itself?

Ram was split from Dodge as a separate truck brand for 2010, so Chrysler Group's lineup that year was Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram; Fiat returned to the US with the 500 in 2011.

Tesla was incorporated in July 2003 by which two founders?

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning incorporated Tesla Motors on 1 July 2003; Elon Musk led the first funding round in 2004 and became CEO in 2008.

BYD Auto was established in 2003 as a subsidiary of a company that originally made what?

BYD began in 1995 as a Shenzhen maker of rechargeable batteries for phones; founder Wang Chuanfu bought the struggling Xi'an Qinchuan Automobile in 2003 to create BYD Auto.

Which engine did the Chevrolet Corvette launch with in 1953?

The 1953 Corvette launched with Chevrolet's 235-cubic-inch 'Blue Flame' inline-six making 150 hp through a two-speed Powerglide automatic; the small-block V8 only arrived for 1955.

Under what name was the first-generation Volkswagen Golf sold in the United States and Canada?

Volkswagen sold the first-generation Golf as the Rabbit in the United States and Canada from 1975 and built it at Westmoreland, Pennsylvania from 1978; in Mexico it was the Caribe.

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of 1954 was famous for what type of doors?

The 300 SL's gullwing doors, hinged at the roof, were forced by its high-sided spaceframe chassis; with fuel injection it could reach about 260 km/h, the fastest production car of its day.

Which 1966 Lamborghini was the first high-performance road car with a rear mid-engine layout?

The Miura P400 debuted at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show with a transverse 3.9-litre V12 mounted behind the seats, a layout borrowed from racing that defined the modern supercar.

Which Ferrari, launched in 1987, was the last model personally approved by Enzo Ferrari?

The F40 launched in July 1987 to mark Ferrari's 40th anniversary and was the last car Enzo Ferrari approved before his death in 1988; its 2.9-litre twin-turbo V8 produced 478 hp.

Which Italian coachbuilder designed the Aston Martin DB5?

Carrozzeria Touring of Milan styled the DB5, an evolution of its DB4, using its patented Superleggera tube-frame body construction; the car was built from 1963 to 1965 and starred in Goldfinger.

Which designer won a Compasso d'Oro in 1959 for the Fiat 500?

The Nuova 500 launched in July 1957 as successor to the Topolino.

Which Citroën executive conceived the 2CV to help French farmers still using horses and carts?

Pierre-Jules Boulanger, who ran Citroën for Michelin from 1935, specified the TPV project in 1936 as an 'umbrella on four wheels' for rural France; the 2CV launched at the 1948 Paris Salon and was built until 1990.

The East German Trabant had body panels made of what material?

Trabant body panels were Duroplast, a phenolic resin reinforced with recycled cotton waste, fitted over a steel frame; the car was built in Zwickau from 1957 to 1991, mostly with a two-stroke twin.

Ralph Nader's 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed focused especially on which car?

Nader's opening chapter attacked the Chevrolet Corvair's swing-axle rear suspension, which could tuck under in hard cornering; the book helped bring about the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966.

Ford built the GT40 specifically to beat which team, Le Mans winners from 1960 to 1965?

The GT40 went on to win Le Mans four times, from 1966 to 1969.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans was first run in which year?

The first 24 Hours of Le Mans started on 26 May 1923 on public roads outside the city; it is the oldest active endurance race and runs on the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Which three races make up motorsport's Triple Crown?

The Monaco Grand Prix has run since 1929.

Dale Earnhardt famously drove which car number for Richard Childress Racing?

Nicknamed 'the Intimidator', he won 76 Cup races including the 1998 Daytona 500.

Richard Petty holds the NASCAR record for career Cup Series wins with how many?

Richard Petty won 200 Cup Series races between 1960 and 1984, the last at the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona with President Reagan watching; he was also the first driver to win seven championships.

Mario Andretti won the 1978 Formula One World Championship driving for which team?

Mario Andretti won the 1978 title in the ground-effect Lotus 79, clinching it at Monza on the day teammate Ronnie Peterson was fatally injured; he also won the 1969 Indianapolis 500 and the 1967 Daytona 500.

Modern cruise control was invented in 1948 by which blind engineer?

Ralph Teetor, blind since a childhood accident, patented his 'Speedostat' in 1950 after being irritated by his lawyer's uneven driving; Chrysler first offered it as Auto-Pilot on the 1958 Imperial.

Which US automaker was the first to offer seat belts as a factory option, in 1949?

Nash offered lap belts on its 1949 Airflyte models, the first US factory option; only about 1,000 were used in the first year amid what Nash called 'insurmountable sales resistance'.

GM's Hydra-Matic, the first mass-produced automatic gearbox, debuted in which brand's 1940 models?

Oldsmobile introduced the Hydra-Matic as an option on its 1940 models, pairing a fluid coupling with a four-speed planetary gearset; Cadillac followed for 1941.

What name did Daimler and Maybach give their 1885 two-wheeled test vehicle?

Daimler and Maybach called their wooden-framed 1885 test bed the Reitwagen ('riding car'); Daimler's son Paul rode it near Cannstatt in November 1885, making it the first internal-combustion motorcycle.

The first working parking meter was designed in 1935 for a lawyer in which US state capital?

Carl Magee, an Oklahoma City newspaper publisher and lawyer, commissioned the Park-O-Meter; the first one, nicknamed the Black Maria, was installed downtown on 16 July 1935.

Herbie the Love Bug carries which racing number?

Herbie wears No. 53, chosen by producer Bill Walsh after Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale's jersey number; he is a 1963 Beetle with red, white and blue stripes and plate OFP 857.

What did Doc Brown take from Libyan terrorists to power the DeLorean time machine?

Doc Brown swindled a case of plutonium from Libyan terrorists, telling them he would build a bomb; each pellet fed the flux capacitor the 1.21 gigawatts a time jump needed.

The 1966 TV Batmobile was built from which concept car?

George Barris built the Batmobile in three weeks from the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept, which he had bought from Ford for $1; the car sold at auction for $4.62 million in 2013.

Hot Wheels were introduced by Mattel in which year?

Mattel launched Hot Wheels in 1968 with sixteen cars, the 'Sweet 16', after co-founder Elliot Handler wanted a boys' line to match Barbie; the Custom Camaro was the first released.

Which British company introduced Matchbox toy cars in 1953?

Lesney Products, founded by Leslie and Rodney Smith in London, launched Matchbox in 1953 with models sized to fit a matchbox; Mattel acquired the brand with Tyco in 1997.

Roughly how many cars worldwide carried Volkswagen's Dieselgate 'defeat device' software?

Volkswagen admitted in September 2015, days after the EPA's notice of violation, that about 11 million diesel cars worldwide carried the defeat-device software; the scandal cost it over €30 billion.

John DeLorean's factory was built in Dunmurry, a suburb of which city?

The Dunmurry plant, in south-west Belfast, was funded by the British government to create jobs in Northern Ireland; it built about 9,000 DMC-12s before collapsing in 1982, the year DeLorean was charged with cocaine trafficking.

Bruce McLaren, founder of the McLaren racing team, was born in which country?

Bruce McLaren was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1937; he founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in 1963 and was killed testing his M8D Can-Am car at Goodwood in June 1970.

John Boyd Dunlop invented the practical pneumatic tyre for what?

Dunlop was a Scottish veterinary surgeon working in Ireland.

Michelin is based in which French city?

Michelin was founded in Clermont-Ferrand in 1889 when brothers Édouard and André took over the family rubber and farm-implement business; the Bibendum mascot followed in 1898.

Goodyear, founded in Akron in 1898, is named after the inventor of what?

Charles Goodyear died in 1860; founder Frank Seiberling borrowed the name.

Which country was the first to introduce vehicle registration plates, in 1893?

A Paris police ordinance of 14 August 1893 made France the first country to require registration plates; Germany followed in 1896, and New York became the first US state to require them in 1901.

Cat's eye road studs were invented in 1934 by Percy Shaw of which English town?

Percy Shaw of Boothtown, Halifax, patented the cat's eye in 1934 and made them at his Reflecting Roadstuds factory there; a rubber dome wipes the reflectors clean each time a car drives over them.

Kia began in 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, making steel tubing and parts for what?

It built South Korea's first domestic bicycle, the Samchuly, in 1951 and became Kia Industries in 1952.

In 1984 Hyundai began exporting the Pony to Canada but not the US. Why?

Canadian sales far exceeded expectations and the Pony was at one point the top-selling car in Canada.

The original 1959 Mini's front-wheel-drive layout freed roughly what share of its floorpan for passengers and luggage?

Issigonis's transverse engine and front-wheel drive left about 80% of the Mini's 10-foot length for passengers and luggage; BMC and successors built it until 2000, and BMW launched the new MINI in 2001.