20 weird car facts even your petrolhead friends wouldn’t know
Published on Feb 25, 2025 at 4:20 AM | By Daisy Edwards
As car enthusiasts, we love diving into quirky and lesser-known car facts. After spending what felt like forever in lockdown, we had plenty of time to dig deeper. So here are 20 of our favorite bizarre car facts:
Fact 1
The McLaren F1’s door mirrors were actually borrowed from the VW Corrado, and its rear lights came straight from the Lamborghini Diablo.
Fact 2
Volvo made history as the first automaker to equip its vehicles with six-digit odometers, a testament to their reliability.
Fact 3
In 2001, Queen Elizabeth took delivery of a custom Land Rover Defender 110, complete with a V8 engine and automatic transmission. However, she returned it soon after and requested it be fitted with a manual gearbox instead.
Fact 4
The ‘XJ’ in Jaguar XJ stands for ‘eXperimental Jaguar.’
Fact 5
The Porsche 997 911 GT3 RS comes with an abundance of Alcantara, a feature inspired by the GT department boss Andreas Preuninger’s love for the material, which he first encountered in his Lancia Delta Integrales.
Fact 6
Top Gear actually started in 1977 as a 30-minute monthly program, originally broadcast only in the Midlands.
Fact 7
The Audi 80 and 100 were named after the amount of horsepower each vehicle produced.
Fact 8
The Ford Mondeo almost had a very different name: the Ford Lyrus. Glad they didn’t go with that one!
Fact 9
The Smart Roadster and the Porsche 911 (997 generation) share the same wheelbase.
Fact 10
In the mid-90s, BMW purchased the Rover Group for £800 million, only to sell it for a mere £10 in 2000.
Fact 11
A 2010 study by BMW revealed that four out of five 1 Series owners thought their car was front-wheel drive (FWD).
Fact 12
The V10 engine powering the Dodge Viper was actually produced by Lamborghini.
Fact 13
The innovative folding seat system in the first-ever Vauxhall Zafira was designed by Porsche, due to its complexity.
Fact 14
When Lotus added electric windows to the Elise, purists were up in arms. Little did they know, the motorized system actually made the car lighter.
Fact 15
The launch of the 4WD version of the Lamborghini Diablo was delayed after thieves broke into the lorry transporting the prototype back from testing.
Fact 16
While the Germans are often credited with inventing the car, it wasn’t them who led in production. In fact, France outproduced all other nations in car manufacturing until 1906.
Fact 17
Volvo’s first car, the Jakob (or OV4), was released in 1927. But its craftsmanship wasn’t perfect: the rear axle was assembled incorrectly, leading to the car having four reverse gears and only one forward gear.
Fact 18
The 1958 Daimler Conquest’s name was inspired by the car’s price of £1066, which coincidentally matched the year of the Norman Conquest.
Fact 19
The Pagani Zonda shares its climate control unit with the Rover 45.
Fact 20
Who makes the most tires every year? It’s not Michelin, Pirelli, or Continental—it’s LEGO!
