The Best Automotive Easter Eggs
Any Easter celebration would not be the same without Easter Eggs. So as it is Easter this weekend we thought we’d take a look at the alternative meaning of an Easter Egg. An Easter Egg is obviously a tasty chocolate treat but it can also be a hidden message or image often hiding in plain sight, and usually a nostalgic nod or appreciation to something either historic or possibly a hint to something in the future.
There have been hidden Easter Eggs in films, especially more recent computer animated franchises, but what you may not know is that they also appear in certain cars. Car makers often go to great lengths to include a design feature or graphic in their cars that mean something to fans of the brand, yet many may not even notice they are there the whole time they own the car.
We thought we would take a look at 8 of the best automotive Easter Eggs that have been included in cars to celebrate the Bank Holiday weekend.
Volvo
Over the years Volvo have often led the way with automotive safety and even to this day they are pioneers of not only crash protection but also prevention. One particular introduction that they are understandably proud of is perhaps one of the most important of all, the three-point seatbelt as we know it today.
Introduced as standard equipment in 1959 the seatbelt design and Volvo’s commitment to testing and proving its effectiveness was a major leap forward for automotive safety and paved the way for safety standard acts and laws worldwide to be introduced. A fitting Easter Egg on belt buckles in their modern cars, yet one you might not have noticed.
Those who also own the popular and highly praised SUV, the XC90, may have also noticed a small but fun Easter Egg likely to have caught the attention of any children in the rear of the car. One of the clever storage bins incorporated in the rear passenger compartment features a web design to the underside of the lid complete with friendly looking spider. A pointless addition perhaps but the kind of thing that shows just how much thought Volvo put into every aspect of one of the best family vehicles around.
Ford GT Headlights
Back in 2003 Ford needed a fitting way to celebrate their centenary and they decided to reinvent one of their most iconic and successful racing cars of all time, the GT40. Designed specifically to take on the might of Ferrari, the GT40 took 4 consecutive wins at Le Mans from 1966-1969 including a 1-2-3 finish in 1966. It was a huge success story built on the back of a failed attempt for the brand to buy the famous Italian company, and essentially beat them at their own game instead.
The resulting Ford GT may have been longer, wider and more importantly taller than the original car, but its design and styling influences were undoubtedly inspired by the original racing car. With a 5.4-litre supercharged V8 producing 550hp it had the performance to match its supercar styling.
Despite its very unsubtle styling and performance there was something very subtle about the Easter Egg Ford had hidden in the GT. As it was built to celebrate the company centenary the front right headlight cluster was designed to read ‘100’, and what a fantastic present to yourself to mark the occasion.
Jaguar
These days Jaguar are going through the biggest change in the company’s history, with a new approach for a fully electric era. Yet their most recent models are some of the finest cars the company has ever made, from their range of sports cars, to the luxurious saloons and the SUV’s. One of their models that frequently went under the radar somewhat was the E-Pace compact SUV.
The E-Pace was the younger sibling of the well regarded F-Pace and as the brand’s smallest car, they decided to include a equally fitting Easter Egg as part of the design. Not many owners and even less passers-by will have seen that the windscreen surround, usually a bland ceramic coating from solid black to dots around the edge of the windscreen, actually has a small graphic of a Jaguar being followed by its cub. Unnecessary, yes, perhaps even too subtle for most, but undoubtedly cute and exactly what hidden Easter Eggs are all about.
Owners of Jaguars over the past few years may have also noticed that those equipped with a starter button on the centre console, the backlit button actually pulses like a heartbeat before the engine is pressed. A clever feature but one that is even more clever than you may have first thought. The frequency of the heartbeat that appears in lights is 72 beats per minute, the same rate as the resting heartbeat of a real life Jaguar.
Koenigsegg’s Ghost
Some Easter Eggs are not hidden at all yet are proudly displayed on some cars without explanation or even many people understanding what they are all about. Swedish hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg have just that. Their cars are well known for their outlandish styling and incredible performance, as well as exceptional attention to detail and engineering ingenuity, but have you ever noticed that many feature a graphic of a ghost on the car.
When one of the brand’s factories burned down they acquired an abandoned airfield to set up a new factory that used to belong to the oldest aircraft squadron in Sweden, the Ghost Squadron. So called because they performed their missions in the dead of night prompting residents nearby to hear but not see the squadron. Founder Christian von Koenigsegg vowed that every car made in that factory would carry the Ghost Squadron image.
Tesla
No one does Easter Eggs quite like Tesla, though Jeep (read below) aren’t far off in terms of number of them. Elon Musk is well known for his often quirky sense of humour when it comes to things included in his products that often make no practical or sensible function, but they do make the car more fun to own and use. Some are merely gimmicks like the ability to make your Model X put on its own song and dance performance, the fact you can change the image of the vehicle in the display to look like Bond’s Lotus Esprit, or that you can alter the satellite navigation to appear like you are driving on Mars. The latter for no reason at all other than Musk’s fascination with sending people to the Red Planet at some point in the future.
Others are less obvious, like the fact that the current and forthcoming product range’s initials sort of spell out SEXY CAR (Model S, 3, X and Y, Cybertruck, ATV and Roadster). Perhaps the only real Easter Egg amongst them all is the fact that the volume button goes up to 11 rather than the usual maximum of 10. A nod to the 1984 film ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ where the amplifiers went up to 11 instead of the usual 10 to highlight the excessive maximum volume.
BMW Z4
Replacing the popular yet often criticised Z3, the Z4 took the controversial styling of BMW’s design direction at the time and created an updated 2-seater Roadster and later Coupe. With a stiffer chassis, revised suspension and steering, as well as a later ‘Z4M’ version with the engine from the E46 M3, the Z4 was a popular choice amongst sports car fans.
Whilst the model remains in the BMW line up to this day, it was the E85/E86 iteration from 2003-2008 that featured a styling Easter Egg that for many will have gone unnoticed. Looking at the car side on from the passenger side, (for right and drive models, drivers side for left hand side models), you will notice that the front wing just behind the front wheel has a crease in the panel that creates the letter ‘Z’ as it passes through the side repeater. A deliberate nod to the model name and a clever hidden quirk from the designer.
Jeep
If anyone rivals Tesla for the sheer quantity of hidden design Easter Eggs dotted all over their cars, it is Jeep. The American manufacturer is keen to share with everyone their extensive heritage and the fact that their Willys Jeep is one of the first and perhaps only has the original Land Rover as a rival to the most iconic of all 4×4’s.
From the Italian speaking spider inside the filler cap and topographical maps in the storage compartments on the Renegade, to the Willys Jeep logo on the wheels of the Chrokee Trailhawk, another appearance of the Willy’s Jeep in the headlights of the Grand Cherokee, the ‘419’ area code stamped into the load bay of the Gladiator pickup and so much more. Owners of Jeep products will never get bored hunting for the sheer number of Easter Eggs hidden all over their cars, if you currently own one, get looking!
Volkswagen
The German manufacturer is perhaps more notable for their degree of sensibleness and fastidious build quality than their sense of humour, but that doesn’t mean they don’t show their creative side from time to time. As far back as the original Golf GTi in 1976, Volkswagen not only created one of the most fun cars to drive and the beginning of the hot hatchback but also created one of the most popular Easter Eggs in that car too. In recognition of the model name the manual gear shifter on the car was made to look like a golf ball. As Easter Eggs go its fairly obvious but has become an iconic feature of the car.
Whilst they may not be big on straying from their reputation for seriousness too often, they are still showing a hint of their creativity even in their most modern of vehicles. This can be seen in their latest range of all-electric ‘ID’ range where the accelerator and brake pedals are styled with the play and pause logo. It may go unnoticed, how many people actually look down at their pedals, but a clever feature, nonetheless.
Speak To Oracle Car Finance This Easter
This Easter Bank Holiday, your dedicated Account Manager will be more than happy to answer any of your questions no matter how small or big they may seem. We always have our customers best interests at heart so want to make sure we leave no stone unturned when it comes to your finance package and the range of options you have, not just now, but in the future too. Being an Oracle Car Finance customer means we are here for you throughout your whole car buying journey, from your first car to the purchase of your dream car, and your Account Manager is always here for you as and when you need them.
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