by Danny Benson
posted on April 9, 2020
FrançaisAn automotive Easter egg hunt for casual and serious fans
There is no doubt that most cars today are made for the masses, but once in a while, automotive designers like to have some fun with their fans. Sometimes they’ll sneak in little details that hearken back to company heritage that only diehard fans will understand, or they’ll simply include fun things that give observant laypeople something to smile about. Here are eight automotive Easter eggs that both car fanatics and casual consumers will enjoy.
Jeep Wrangler Willys Jeep logo
The Jeep brand has had quite a journey with multiple different owners over the decades. But many forget that it all started back in 1943 with the Willys Jeep, the original off-road 4×4. To show some love to where it all began and remind Jeep fans of just how far the brand has come, Jeep has included little silhouettes of the Willys Jeep all around the current Wrangler. You can find them on the rims, the bottom corner of the windshield, and on the gear selector!
Tesla’s “Holiday Show”
To help Tesla owners get into the holiday spirit, Tesla included a “holiday show” in their Model X luxury SUV. This show comes complete with music, flashing lights, moving mirrors, and flapping falcon doors, and is just one more feature that helps the Model X stand out in its class. It’s enough to put anybody at ease with the stress of the holidays. To access the show, you press and hold the Tesla “T” on the center screen for about five seconds. You are then asked to enter a code, where you can enter either “ModelXmas” or simply “holiday.” The vehicle will then instruct you to close and lock all doors and stand six feet away from the vehicle. From there you can sit back and enjoy the show!
McLaren P1’s logo headlights
McLaren came up with probably the sneakiest, and coolest, way to incorporate the company logo onto the P1. If you look closely at the front end of the P1 you can see that the headlights are actually the McLaren logo. Now that’s some subliminal messaging.
Chevy Impala badge
2020 marks the final year of one of the most popular cars ever made, the Chevy Impala. The Impala has gone through tons of iterations since its inception in 1957, but one thing has remained consistent: the iconic leaping Impala badge. No matter what year model, and how different the car has become, you can find that badge somewhere letting everyone know the Impala endures (until now).
Volvo XC90 third row visitor
In the third-row storage compartment of the Volvo XC90, you’ll find a stowaway hiding beneath the lid, a cute grinning spider. Plastic lids like this one usually have some sort of ribbed structure underneath to make them more durable and this one so happened to turn out looking like a spider web. So what better Easter egg to include than a smiling spider to greet the kids in the back every time they peek inside the lid?
Dodge Challenger Hellcat headlight intake
Dodge loves to use all sorts of Easter eggs to call back to the company’s rich history, so this one may be familiar to many enthusiasts out there. In the Challenger Hellcat, as well as the Demon and T/A versions, the passenger-side DRL headlight has a hole in it that’s a functioning ram-air intake. The intake is necessary to feed more air to the monstrous 6.2L supercharged Hemi V8, which gulps down air like nobody’s business. If you look closely, inside the headlight hole is an engraved logo corresponding to the version of Challenger it belongs to.
Lincoln coach doors
For the 2019 Lincoln Continental, Lincoln wanted to throw back to the classic models by including limited edition suici… sorry, coach doors. The last time a Lincoln Continental included the iconic coach doors was in 1969. When Lincoln brought them back as a special order option in 2019 they immediately sold out, leading Lincoln to offer them again for the 2020 limited edition model.
Hyundai Genesis puddle lights
There are many little things that automotive manufacturers include in their higher-end cars to differentiate them from the lower-end ones. A perfect example is the inclusion of puddle lights on the luxurious Hyundai Genesis models. Every time you open the door, the Genesis logo shines on the ground reminding you that you are driving one classy car while making sure you keep your shoes clean. Many luxury cars have this nowadays, but the Genesis was doing it back in 2008.
Danny Benson
Danny Benson is a car fanatic and writer from rural Northern California (aka Bigfoot country). His friends are hoping that his being able to write about cars for a living will get him to stop talking their ears off with useless car trivia.
