HomeEaster eggs! The secret features hidden in cars

Easter eggs! The secret features hidden in cars

Some of these car design quirks are useful, others are just fun. We reveal the secret surprises concealed in modern vehicles.

April 5, 2026

Surprise and delight
© VW
Easter eggs aren’t only chocolate treats to enjoy once a year. The term is also used to describe a hidden feature or message, usually within a film or video game. Recently, we have seen ever more Easter eggs in the car world, many of which we reveal here. Let’s kick off with the ‘play and pause’ pedals in the Volkswagen ID. Buzz. They’re a neat idea that seems especially appropriate for an electric vehicle.
Volvo’s seat belt buckle
© Volvo
Volvo was the first car manufacturer to fit three-point seat belts – now a legal requirement – back in 1959. It makes a subtle reference to this date on belt buckles in its new cars. Seat belts have potentially saved more than a million lives since.
Shining a light
© Ford
The term ‘Easter eggs’ is used to describe a hidden feature or message, usually within a film or video game. However, they also exist in the car world, as our gallery proves. We can’t promise you any chocolate, but you can expect a few surprises.
Ford GT headlights
© Ford
The GT was first revealed in 2003, on the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Company. To mark the occasion, the V8 supercar’s nearside headlight was designed to read ‘100’. We wonder how many people noticed.
Mini Openometer
© Mini
This ‘Openometer’ gauge in the Mini Convertible shows how much time you’ve spent driving with the roof open. Presumably once you’ve managed the full six hours, you can stick the heater on and dry off.
Volkswagen’s golf ball gearknob
© VW
Volkswagen had a habit of naming its cars after winds, so it’s likely that ‘Golf’ refers to the Gulf Stream, rather than a game with 18 holes and tasselled shoes. Nonetheless, many versions of the Golf GTI have played upon this association with a dimpled ‘golf ball’ gearknob. It’s yet another reason to spec your GTI with a manual ’box.
Skoda’s Superb umbrella
© Skoda
Fancy a Rolls-Royce but can’t quite find enough pennies down the back of the sofa? The Skoda Superb does a mighty fine impression of a luxury car, right down to the umbrella hidden away in the rear door. Indeed, the Superb goes one better by offering two brollies. Now Skoda is really spoiling us.
Jeep Renegade and the hidden Italian spider
© FCA
Ciao baby: not our words, but the words of the little spider sat inside the fuel filler cap of the Jeep Renegade. It’s there to highlight the efficiency of the compact crossover. Apparently you’ll fill up so infrequently, cobwebs will appear inside the filler cap. So now you know.
Jeep Renegade and numerous nods to its heritage
© Jeep
Indeed, Jeep threw a truck-load of Easter eggs at the Renegade. From topographical maps to the iconic Jeep grille, you’ll find references to Jeep’s heritage everywhere. Seriously, this thing has more Easter eggs than Thorntons. Jeep has adopted a similar stance on the new Wrangler.
The Tesla Model S and Elon Musk’s tribute to Spinal Tap
© Tesla
In a brilliant nod to This Is Spinal Tap, the volume controls in the Tesla Model S go ‘up to 11.’ Hat-tip to Elon Musk – perhaps he got some things right, after all…
Not to mention the Tesla Model S and its underwater abilities
© Newspress
This is one of the very best Easter eggs. Hidden away in the menus of the Tesla Model S is a Lotus Esprit submarine setting. Pressing the Tesla logo for a set period of time and entering ‘007’ as the code will transform the display to that of James Bond’s Esprit. Brilliant.
Honda and its Magic Seats
© Honda
Honda’s so-called Magic Seats can’t make you look younger or reverse Brexit. But their flip-up bases do create a floor-to-roof load space, so you can easily load tall objects. They’re perfect for carrying pot plants.
Vauxhall Corsa bike rack
© Vauxhall
By far the most interesting thing about the old Vauxhall Corsa was its FlexFix integrated bike rack. This popped out from behind the rear number plate when you lifted a handle in the boot. The extra rear lights were provided, too.
Pandamonium
© Fiat
The previous Fiat Panda was known for its rounded-off ‘squircles’, which appeared everywhere on the car. But a lesser-known feature is the ‘Panda’ inscription on the door cards. Look closely and you’ll spot thousands of little letters. It’s a very cool touch.
Ford Mustang and a projected pony
© Ford
The Ford Mustang’s pony projection lights that display the iconic Mustang logo on the road beneath the car. It’s like the Bat-Signal, only with a horse. That said, Horse-Man sounds like a rubbish superhero.
Anything Ford can do Land Rover can do earlier
© Land Rover
Of course, this logo projection thing is nothing new. Range Rover Evoque drivers have been impressing people at dinner parties for years now. In fact, puddle lights are becoming commonplace across the car industry.
Nissan Cube and the ripple-effect headliner
© Nissan
OK, so this is stretching the Easter egg principle a little, but if a Nissan Cube driver never looked up, they wouldn’t see the ripple-effect headliner. It looks like the interior light has been chucked in a pool of creamy water.
Toyota FT-1 and the F1-style rear light
© Toyota
The Toyota FT-1 concept was a pretty cool car. The front-engined, rear-wheel-drive machine felt like a nod to the company’s performance heritage, echoing the likes of the Supra and Celica. The concept even featured an F1-style flashing rain light at the back. Very cool.
Aston Martin gives you wings
© Aston Martin
Now this is also very clever. The rear lights on the previous Aston Martin Vanquish are designed in such a way that if you put them together they’d create the shape of the Aston Martin ‘wings’ logo. Subtle, but effective.
Logo within the MG3’s headlights
© PetrolBlog
There’s a sense that MG wanted to inject some individuality into what could otherwise be a dull supermini. Hence the little MG logos in the headlights of the pre-facelift MG3.
The Tesla Model S keyfob
© Motoring Research
Tesla uses the Porsche trick of creating a keyfob out of the shape of the car. Just how cool will this look on the coffee table? You even get a little bag to put it in. Just don’t go trying to hang it on your key holder.
‘Simply Clever’ ice scraper in the Skoda Octavia
© Skoda
There’s never an ice scraper when you need one. Which is why Skoda decided to put one on the inside of the Octavia’s fuel filler cap. Hands up all the Octavia owners who have forgotten to put it back again afterwards.
SRT Viper and its track stamps
© FCA
The SRT Viper featured two race track stamps: one of the Nurburging and the other of Laguna Seca. British buyers could allegedly order the same car with stamps of the North Circular and the Manchester Inner Ring Road.
The Z on the side of the BMW Z4
© BMW
Like the arrow inside the FedEx logo, once you’ve seen the Z on the side of the BMW Z4, you can never unsee it.
Vauxhall and Opel shark
© Opel
Back in 2004, Opel designer Dietmar Finger was at home working on a sketch for the new Corsa. For stability reasons, the outer panel of the glovebox required ribs integrated in the plastic surface. His son said: “Papa, why don’t you just draw a shark?” So he did. The glovebox shark later spread to many Vauxhall and Opel cars.
Volvo XC90 spider web
© SH
The interior of the Volvo XC90 was a work of brilliance: sophisticated and beautifully finished. Which makes the spider on the inside of one of the storage bins all the more surprising. A throwaway touch that shows Volvo hasn’t forgotten details matter. Superb.
500 into 500 does go
© Fiat
Peer inside the door grab handle of an electric Fiat 500e and you’ll find the outline of a classic Cinquecento – the original 500, built between 1957 and 1975. There is also a silhouette of the Turin skyline on the mobile phone holder.
Nissan Ariya hasn’t lost its cherry
© Nissan
This one is hidden inside the glovebox of the Ariya, Nissan’s flagship electric SUV. The ‘sakura’ cherry blossom leaves are a gentle reminder of the company’s Japanese heritage.
Lexus IS 300h interior light
© Lexus
Walking up to your keyless-go Lexus IS in complete darkness? Don’t worry – the car has your back. It senses your presence and the interior lights automatically glow as you get near, before you even touch either the key or the door handles. A really satisfying, feelgood hidden detail.
Jaguar E-Pace cub
© Jaguar
Take a look at the corner of the windscreen on the Jaguar E-Pace and you’ll find two big cats climbing a hill. The cub is there to represent the ‘baby’ crossover. How cute.
Renault Modus and its boot chute
© Renault
We all know that Parisians enjoy a little ‘parking by touch’. But if somebody parked too close for you to open the tailgate, the Renault Modus MPV had a neat solution. The boot chute means you can access the luggage area without lifting the whole lid.
The Nissan curry hook
© Nissan
It’s so simple, but many of the best ideas are. Nissan’s curry hook – introduced on the Almera in 1996 – provided somewhere to hang your takeaway food bags. It meant less chance of lamb madras and broken poppadoms on your carpets. Even an Almera doesn’t deserve that.