10 Cool Facts about CARS!

Far from being something that gets you from A to B, the humble car is a source of enlightenment. Here are 10 cool facts about cars that you might not have known:

1. It’s all about the paintwork

It takes around 25 hours to build a new car, and roughly 10 of those hours are devoted to painting it.

2. Colour counts

Car colour has always played a significant role, and if you like fast cars, the chances are you might opt for a red one. Not if you live in Shanghai, China, however, as red cars are banned there.

3. Money talks

The most expensive car in the world is a Lamborghini Veneno, boasting a cool price tag of $4.5 million, or the equivalent cost of over 20 Bentleys.

4. Vintage classics

If you’re looking for interesting cars on the road, a trip to Cuba won’t disappoint. Sanctions on buying new cars means the streets are packed with vintage Chevys, many of which are nearly 60 years old and rarely come with seat belts.

5. Mind the mud

A car’s dashboard is the control centre of a vehicle, but this wasn’t always the case. The dashboard was originally designed to stop mud splashing the driver.

6. Limited edition

Ford produces up to 10,000 new vehicles every day. If you want something a bit more exclusive, however, try a Ferrari – only 14 are made daily.

7. An escape route

Leaving your car unlocked is usually asking for trouble, but in the Canadian town of Churchill, residents leave their vehicles unlocked so pedestrians who encounter a polar bear can hop inside and escape.

8. A hefty fine

If you live in Sweden, the fine you pay for speeding is determined by how much you earn. One driver who clocked up 180 mph received a whopping fine of $1,000,000.

9. The oldest fine

The first speeding fine was issued in Ohio in 1904, where the driver was travelling at 12 miles per hour.

10. Levers not wheels

The first cars were steered using a lever, not a wheel. To get the engine started, you had to hand crank it.