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:
- The first cars weren’t equipped with a steering wheel. When a driver needed to turn, they had to
use a special lever. - 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. - 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. - The average family car spends 95% of its
lifetime parked. Surprising, huh? - 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. - 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. - More than 250 million car tires are thrown
away every year. - 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. - 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. - The average driver spends 5 months of their
life waiting in their car at red lights. - 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. - 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 Bright Side. - 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. - Up to 75% of all the Rolls Royce cars ever
made are still on the road these days! - 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! - 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. - Every day, around 165,000 cars are produced
worldwide. It adds up to more than 60 million cars a
year. - 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. - 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. - 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. - Airbags’ 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. - Almost 80% of the average car is recyclable. In some countries, automobile recycling is
one of the largest industries. - 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. - 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. - 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! - 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. - 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! - In some countries, police cars carry teddy
bears. These stuffed toys are used to calm down scared
kids who got lost. - 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!). - 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. - Audi’s four overlapping rings emblem symbolizes
four originally independent companies that eventually merged into one, the famous Audi
Group. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - Driver surveys show that 16% of all car
owners never wash their cars. - When Mary Anderson invented the first effective
windshield wipers, they were considered an unnecessary distraction until drivers realized
they were game changers. - 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). - 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. - Hyundai Tucson has a special edition that
contains a zombie survival kit, just in case. Hey, if you learned something new today, then
give the video a like and share it with a friend! And here are some other videos I think you'll
enjoy. Just click to the left or right, and stay
on the Bright Side of life!
