Once upon a time, you knew everything there was to know about cars. Then you learned other things, like the internets and how to use Snapchat. If there weren’t such a thing as Wikipedia, you’d be totally lost.
Don’t believe it? Take this little test…
Remember the old Earth, Earth 1.0., long before we built this synthetic one in the same place? Nope. Nobody does.
No problem. We’ve got you covered over here at the History Garage. These are all the cool bits of car trivia that you’ve forgotten over the years.
Read them, memorize, and then impress your friends.
The First Car Accident Was in 1891
While the first death from a car happened in 1869 in the UK, the first collision took place in 1861, in Ohio City, Ohio.
Everyone wants to be the first at something, but it’s doubtful Ohio wanted to pin a flag on this one.
John Lambert was driving with James Swoveland in his gas-powered car when they bounced off a tree root, swerved and crashed into a hitching post.
History shows that John’s airbags didn’t deploy. That may be because his car didn’t have any, but still… facts are facts.
The Honda CRV Came With A Picnic Table
From 1997 to 2006, Honda sold cars with a fold out picnic table over the spare wheel well. Mind you, there were no chairs with said table, so it was kinda weird.
In fairness to Honda, at least at first, when the CR-V came out in 1997, SUVs weren’t yet a huge market. They didn’t know what sort of neat things an SUV adventurer might want.
One would imagine they’d have figured it out by the 2000s, though.
The Last Car With A Cassette Player Was 2011
The picture above is actually a 2005 Crown Victoria, but that’s okay. They didn’t change the Crown Vic much from ’05 to ’11.
One thing that was the same was the sweet, sweet cassette deck.
Lest you have a CD-cassette combo in mind, nope. It was just for playing cassettes unless you were still porting in your MP3 player via a cassette adapter.
Target demo withholding, my guess is the was nothing MP3 about the Crown Vic.
The Austin Maestro Spoke In Different Genders In Different Countries
There were two brands attached to the Maestro, Austin, and MG. Both Maestros were one and the same European car, sold between 1983 and 1991.
The Maestro was a simple five-door design but came with an impressive console and voice warning and information system.
Depending on which country you owned your Maestro, it spoke with a male or a female voice. It was male in Spain and Germany, but female elsewhere.
You Can Play Pong Using Your Saab 9-3 SS
saabplanet.com
Navigating the computer menu of the 2003-2007 Saab 9-3 SS with the GM Tech II, an analytical device, you can find an easter egg buried in the Airbag/SRS submenu.
It’s a functional version of the old Atari game, Pong, visible on the Tech II.
75% of Rolls-Royce Cars Produced Are Still On The Road
The Rolls-Royce brand has been around since 1903.
It is either a testament to the reliability of their cars or how much their owners are desperate to preserve their investment that 3/4 of Rolls-Royce cars are still on the road.
This is, of course, somewhat of an estimate. It may be as low as 65%, but that’s still leagues above any other auto manufacturer.
In Russia, Driving A Dirty Car Is Illegal
Alright, this isn’t completely true. The real offense is if a driver’s license plate is not visible, which is illegal in the United States too.
It’s not like the Russian Police are neat-nicks who can’t bear to see a smudgy window.
A dirty car could get you pulled over in the states too, like if you couldn’t see out the windows.
There you go!
As you consider when you will impress your friends with all these trivia, keep it to yourself about replacing Earth. We’ve kept this from people who weren’t smart enough to accept it.
You understand, right?