You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lee Stewart]

The 2011 Ford Crown Victoria was the last car to offer a cassette player as an option. Ford also shut down production of the Crown Victoria itself that year.

[Lee Stewart]

Research from the Federal Highway Administration found that there are about 280 million tires discarded each year by American motorists, nearly one tire for every person in the country. Around 30 million of these tires are retreaded or reused. It has been estimated that there may be up to 3 billion tires contained in numerous stockpiles.

[Lee Stewart]

Only about 18% of Americans can drive a stick shift, and just 5% of the cars sold in the United States have manual transmissions, creating a disincentive to learn how to drive a stick. Another factor is traffic congestion, which discourages drivers from buying cars with a manual transmission. People used to get cars with stick shifts because upfront costs were lower, they were better on gas, they were more durable, and they engaged the driver more. Today, manual transmissions can be found mostly in sports cars.

[Lee Stewart]

Until 1973, the auto industry used sperm whale oil as an ingredient in automatic transmission fluid. Automakers like General Motors continued to use it until 1973, when Congress passed the Endangered Species Act forbidding the use of sperm whale oil. Until the act was passed, thousands of sperm whales were killed every year to get nearly 29 million pounds of the whale oil used in automatic transmission fluid.

[Lee Stewart]

The world’s first electric traffic signal was installed at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland in 1914. The first center-painted dividing line appeared in Michigan in 1911, and the first sign prohibiting left turns debuted in Buffalo, New York, in 1916.

[Lee Stewart]

In 1950, 36-year-old engineer Eiji Toyoda was sent by the U.S. Army, which was still occupying Japan, to learn about mass production from Ford at the sprawling Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan. The Army needed Toyoda’s family-owned car company, Toyota, to build trucks for U.S. troops fighting in Korea, and Toyoda was looking for ways to help his family’s struggling company survive. He helped develop a production process in Japan that over the next 20 years created the modern Toyota colossus.

[Lee Stewart]

Norway is among the more environmentally conscious nations in the world, and that is reflected in that country’s choice of transportation. Half of all new cars sold in Norway are electric or hybrid.

[Lee Stewart]

The Toyota Corolla is the world’s best-selling car. It’s sold in over 150 countries and regions and is sold once every 15 seconds. The car debuted in 1966 and arrived in the United States in 1968. The Corolla is now in its 12th generation.

[Lee Stewart]

Honda Accords and Civics are usually the most stolen cars in the United States. The 1994 Honda Accord is the most stolen car in the history of the United States.

[Lee Stewart]

The Ferrari logo is among the most well known of automakers’ emblems. The horse silhouette on a yellow background was painted on Ferrari vehicles to honor Italian fighter pilot and World War I hero Count Francesco Barraca, who painted a similar horse on his plane.