15 Random Car Facts To Impress Your Friends & Family | Easterns (2024)

For decades, cars have been an essential part of everyday life, but their widespread adoption as the primary means of transportation didn’t happen overnight. Back when automobiles were first introduced to the public in 1886, cars were viewed as a luxury item that only the wealthiest households could afford. Today, over 130 years later, there are an estimated 1.4 billion vehicles in the world.

We rely heavily on cars to get us from point A to point B. Whether it’s work, school or soccer practice, reliable transportation is a necessity in our day-to-day lives.

It’s no surprise that there are many fascinating facts about these extremely complex yet very common pieces of vital property. Next time you find yourself chatting with a group of friends at a party or sitting around the dinner table with family, spark a conversation and show off your automobile knowledge with these fun facts.

1. The first full-size car was built in 1789 by French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot using water and steam pressure.
2. German engineer Karl Friedrich Benz (also known as Carl) invented the first modern car using three wheels and an engine located in the back. The Benz Patent Motorcar was first announced to the public in 1886 at an original cost of $150.
3. The Duryea Motor Wagon, introduced in 1893, was the first American-made gasoline-powered car. It was built by the Duryea brothers, Charles and Frank, using a $70 carriage and single cylinder-gasoline motor.
4. The Ford Model T, which was first made available by the Ford Motor Company in 1908, was the first affordable mass-produced vehicle. With a maximum speed between 40 to 45 miles-per-hour (mph), the Model T cost $825 (equivalent to $18,000 today).
5. BMW was first known as an aircraft engine manufacturer — the first product being the BMW III (a straight-six aircraft engine). BMW didn’t start making cars until they acquired a German automobile manufacturer in 1928.
6. On average, if you count every nut and bolt, a modern vehicle has 30,000 parts.
7. Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of Porsche, Ferdinand Porsche, invented the first hybrid car in 1900 using an octagonal electric motor.
8. The three-point seatbelt we use today was invented by Swedish mechanical engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin when he was hired by Volvo. The three-point lap seatbelts were first introduced in Volvo cars in 1959.
9. The first muscle car (also known as a “supercar”) was released by General Motors in 1949. In order to be considered a muscle car, a vehicle needed to have a lightweight body, V8 engine and rear-wheel drive — all features that were designed for drag racing. The earliest muscle car on the market was the Oldsmobile 88, which went on to make NASCAR history.
10. The code inside an average car’s internal computer could stretch for 100 miles if printed on paper.
11. Car insurance was first implemented in the United Kingdom when Minister of Transport Herbert Morrison mandated the Road Traffic Act 1930.
12. Only 18 percent of Americans know how to drive stick shift, which might explain why only 5-percent of vehicles sold in the country are manual.
13. The fastest police car in the world is in Dubai. The Dubai Police Department’s fleet includes 14 supercars — the Bugatti Veyron being the fastest with a top speed of 253 mph.
14. The Ford Crown Victoria was the last vehicle to offer a cassette tape player in 2011.
15. The top selling car of all-time is the Toyota Corolla. Since it was first introduced by Toyota Motor Corporation in 1966, the manufacturer has sold an estimated 50 million Corollas.

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At Easterns, we do what we can to make the car buying process as easy as possible. Learn more about our trade-in offers and how we can help by calling us at 877-867-0641.