11 Fun Car Facts You Never Knew

The Love Bug has been bringing smiles to people’s faces since 1969. Like all great racing movies, Herbie, the Volkswagen Beetle that stars in the Disney film, has become an iconic character in movie history. But do you know where the number “53” came from? Apparently, producer Bill Walsh was a big Dodger’s fan and christened Herbie with the same number as Dodger’s pitcher Don Drysdale.

Who doesn’t love a classic James Bond film? In over 24 films, Bond has driven Aston Martins, making the agent synonymous with this iconic brand. But did you know in the book series the 007 franchise is based on, Bond originally drove a Bentley 4.5 litre known as “Blower Bentley”? Only 720 of these were ever made, and Bond was one of the lucky owners apparently.

Socially distanced movie viewing? As the “new normal” sets in, the U.S. is seeing a resurgence in drive-in theatres. And according to cars.com, the #1 car to take to the drive-in is the Volkswagen Atlas 3-row SUV. Not only does it comfortably seat 7 passengers, but the premium 12-speaker audio system will take your movie viewing experience to a whole new level.

If cars could fly… it would only take you about a month to get to the moon going an average of 60 miles an hour. Weird, right?

The world’s highest total mileage ever clocked by a single car was 2,850,000 miles. That’s the same as driving around the world 100 times. 

Here are our 4 tips to get YOUR car to 1,000,000 miles (and many more).

Waiting until the last minute to fill up? Running your car low on gas is actually bad for it…

Gasoline contains small particles of dirt and debris that can settle in your gas tank. When it’s low on gas, that debris can make its way into the fuel pump and cause damage to critical engine parts. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to keep at least ¼ tank of gas in your car at all times to keep it running smoothly.

Unless you’re a huge Back to the Future fan like some of us at FIXD, you probably don’t know these fun facts about the DeLorean …

The 1985 cult classic has a following of diehard fans, and perhaps it’s most beloved character is Doc’s car, the DeLorean DMC-12. Today, there are only about 6000 of these cars left on the market. And while it may have been used for time travel in the movie, the reality is that this was not a supercar. It was actually very slow and poorly manufactured.

Due to the lack of experience from the DeLorean’s builders, it didn’t even come painted and only produced a measly 130 horsepower!

Lastly, Marty McFly may have gone back to the future traveling at 88 mph, but the speedometer on stock DeLoreans only went up to 85 mph (thanks to a Jimmy Carter mandate to discourage speeding). The production crew had to build a custom speedometer with a digital speed readout to get around this snafu.

The first speeding ticket ever issued in the U.S. took place in 1899, and it was given to an NYC taxi driver who was going an astonishing 12 mph! (Back then, New York’s speed limits were from 4 mph to 8 mph.) 

Meanwhile, the most expensive citation issued was in Sweden for €1,000,000. OUCH.

In the early 1900s, there were more cars powered by steam and electric than gasoline. In fact, way back in 1898, Porsche’s first car design was an electric vehicle that could go up to 21 mph with a range of 49 miles on a single charge!

Ever wondered how many people can actually fit into a smart car? Well, the world record is an impressive 19 girls! No idea how they would actually drive, but now you know what’s possible! 

The average car contains over 30,000 parts. Frankly, it’s amazing our vehicles don’t break down more often. To make things even more complicated, everything (engine, transmission, brakes, power steering, windows, you name it) on newer cars is controlled by a computer!

Fortunately, FIXD is always here to keep things simple whenever you do get a check engine light or need repairs.