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According To You: The Best Automotive Easter Eggs
With the Easter holiday coming next month, we decided it was a good time to ask readers of Hagerty Media about their favorite automotive Easter Eggs. Your answers were enlightening, as I did not know many of these examples from a wide variety of automakers. Of course, there’s a good chance we didn’t get all the eggs out there, so please chime in the comments section with some Easter Eggs that you found in your automotive experiences!
Stellantis
John G: The Dodge Ram TRX (“T-Rex”) has an embossed image you can only see if you remove the engine cover. It’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex eating a Velociraptor.
George: I have lost count of the amount of Easter eggs found on modern Jeep products, but the outlines of each Grand Cherokee body change from start to current on the inner rear quarter window takes the cake.
Bill: The current Jeep Renegades have a Sasquatch on the back window along with the Jeep image on the windshield.
Ford
Rod: The American flag on the dashboard edge in my ’21 F-150 is pretty slick.
Marketplace
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Davidm0604: My 2024 Mustang GT convertible with Performance Package is full of Easter eggs, even inside the dual air filter housings!
Geo: I just purchased a new Bronco which has a bunch of Easter eggs…
- On the hardtops on the right side above the front passenger head are the coordinates of the mountain where the first Bronco was tested, along with an outline of the mountain range.
- The HVAC recirculation button is the silhouette of a Bronco.
- The gearshift selector has an American Flag engraved on it.
- The inside of the fuel door has the silhouette of every generation Bronco.
- If you look inside the removable fender flares “Lift me up” is embossed in the plastic.
- Bronco logo in the headlights.
- The outline of the start/stop ignition button is the same as the headlights.
Tim: I don’t know about being the best, but the current generation Bronco is absolutely loaded with Easter eggs. Some examples:
- “Congratulations on ponying up for a more capable bumper” stamped into the steel structure of the modular bumper.
- Inside the gas cap, the three versions of the original Gen 1 Bronco can be found.
- On the roll bar on the passenger side are printed the GPS coordinates of what is now known as “Bronco Knoll.”
- “Lift Me, Baby” is printed inside the wheel wells.
- The Bronco horse can be found inside the headlights.
There are many other locations where the Bronco horse, vehicle silhouette, or similar elements are used as clever design touches. For example, the push-to-start button is outlined with the iconic shape of the headlamp. A lasso is used as an icon at the tie-down hooks in the cargo area. Little Bronco horses light up where interior light switches are located.
Probably the coolest one I found was a QR code on the front windshield that appears to most closely approximate the birth date of my Bronco. 😁
General Motors
Davidm0604: My 2012 Cadillac CTS-V has more subtle Easter eggs (if they can be called that) with the V shape used throughout the design, from the third brake light to the design on the seat backrest among other locations.
hyperv6: The Corvette has had many hidden Easter eggs. A hidden one is the C4 Corvette. In the rear tub under the carpet is a Baseball Bat, Hot Dog, and Apple Pie molded into the fiber tub in the cargo area. The ZR1 in the C6 had a Jake Skull, the symbol of the Covette race team, molded into the intake bridge. Just recently we got Tadge Juechter’s face in the corner of the new ZR1 that is going to be built.
High Beam Indicators
SEVND2: The Indian head hi-beam indicator on 60’s Pontiacs!
DUB6: My ’66 GTO dash has a simple blue-dot indicator, maybe the size of a pencil eraser – apparently, the performance guys didn’t get the Indian head memo?
John B: Yep, My ’49 Pontiac had that and his cousin was on the hood.
Jake: In the classic Mustangs, at least in 1973, the high beam indicator is a little red Mustang under the speedometer. It’s one of my favorite things about my car.
Eggs of a different variety
DUB6: Probably doesn’t really count as an Easter Egg, but finding a Build Sheet under the rear seat of a lot of vintage cars is as thrilling (to many) as discovering any chocolate treat in the tall grass…
norm1200: Since DUB6 already mentioned build sheets, I thought I’d go the opposite direction: assembly line pranks, or rotten Easter eggs. You know, like when the assembly line tech put a marble in the frame rail that rolls forward when the new car buyer brakes, and rolls back when taking off from a start. Or a hose in an HVAC duct that rolls around making noise when the car makes a turn (and a note stuffed inside it says “How long did it take to find me?”).
One of my favorites is a new 1983 Cadillac that stumbled and hesitated whenever stepping into the throttle a bit aggressively. The dealer replaced almost every fuel-related part, including the fuel pump, carburetor, fuel tank, plus distributor, ground cables, etc etc. Finally, a field rep came to the dealer and had virtually every replaced part replaced again…to no avail. He then decided to see how much fuel was getting to the carburetor. With the metal flared line disconnected, before having the engine cranked, he saw something inside the end of the fuel line: a cigarette filter. I’ve wondered if the line tech was bored, angry with management, or something else.
TG: For some of my finds, an engine that turns is a nice easter egg.
Japanese Brands
Gary B: There are a bunch on the new Prius I saw in a video that made me chuckle a bit.
Steve C: Older Suzuki 4WD vehicles (i.e. early 70’s LJ10/LJ20, also known as the Brute in the US) had the Suzuki “S” stamped into many parts, including brake parts (wheel cylinders, master cylinders, drums), crankcase, and hardened steel bolts. By the time the Samurai showed up in 1986, these were long gone, except for a few carryover parts.
John D: My 2025 Forester has a bunch of little outdoorsy / camping things molded in here and there, which I really like. A little lantern, a hummingbird. Dog prints and a little compass and some boot prints and topographic lines molded into the floor mats. And more I’m sure that will turn up in time. I actually do Subaru things in my Subaru. I like to go camping and I take my dog.
Andre V: The first-generation Honda CR-V came with a folding table that was hidden in the rear cargo area. By that logic, I think the ultimate Easter Egg would be the Motocompo inside a Honda City, followed by the umbrellas hidden inside the rear doors of Rolls-Royce automobiles.
German Brands
’02 Original Owner: Germans are way too uptight to put those previously described Easter eggs on their cars, but practically every part on my 2002–even those made by an outside supplier and not BMW–has a sometimes tiny BMW roundel logo either stamped or molded into the plastic or metal. Engine blocks, cylinder heads, transmissions, and differential housings have date codes cast into the metal.
In addition, things like instruments, tail light and parking light housings, heater housings–even seats–have day, month, and year stamped on ’em–with an ink stamp. Those date stamps predate the car’s actual assembly date anywhere from a few days to several months. They also confirm whether they were original to that car.
GLI48: Many Mercedes parts, even from the ’70s, have the Mercedes star molded in the metal or plastic.
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Many early Porsches had 50’s-60’s style kitchen wallpaper attached to the top side of their ash tray cover. We restored our ’66 911 a few years back and found a apple fruit pattern on ours. A restoration specialist we were working with at the time, said he had seen something similar on several other occasions. I’ve also met someone at a car show who had restored his ’67 911, and his wallpaper included blueberries. No one seems to know why.
My 1969 Ferrari 365GT clinked every time I went around a corner. It took me several months a a kid in the back to find it. Inside a rear passenger side leather covered panel was an empty Italian wine bottle rolling between a body panel and an inner brace. It was surrounded by welded in members, so I had to break it and vacuum the pieces out.
My new Silver/black ‘73 Dodge Charger SE 400-4BBL came with all the options I ordered except the “SlapStick” Console (had column shift) and Rally Steering wheel but instead of an Easter egg it had a Burger King bag with a Whopper wrapper and a large drink cup under the rear seat which I found later when running rear speaker wires. Lunch on the Dodge line was apparently ok at the time. Also found a light film of rust on bare metal on the inside trunk, sail and rocker panels. I declined to accept the car, it was the height of the gas crisis and the dealer said nobody wanted the car with such a big engine so they sold it to me for $100 over their cost as verified on the invoice from the factory. I kept it for 12 years and put 160k miles on it plus normal maintenance and several rust repairs but sold it for $2500. It was a nice looking car and the 400 Thermoquad could hold its own. My first and last Dodge.
Every dodge of that era rusted out something fierce! The cars were bare steel inside. How cheap can ya get?
My 73 Road Runner, B body just like Charger, has 120K miles, original paint and only a couple specks of rust. Driven year round for many years. I haven’t seen many Ford, GM, or Asian vehicles that are in as good of shape as my “cheaply built” Plymouth.
Every time I see a Ram pickup’s tail lights, I see a drawing of Fallopian Tubes from my high school science class, not a ram’s head. I’m sure there’s a good explanation for that….
The 2018 Chrysler Pacifica front console has silhouettes of four generations of Chrysler mini-vans embossed into the storage tray.
Seeing the comments above about logos being stamped on German car parts recalled to me my new 1984 Mercedes Benz 190e (5-spd stick shift). As I remember, the ONLY place “Mercedes Benz” was actually spelled out was on the blue enamel laurel, under the star atop the radiator grill. Otherwise it was only their star.
The tiny glove box door handle on my 69 Jag is a miniature version of the outside door handle.
My 2021 tacoma has a pickup with a taco in the bed molded into the plastic behind the instrument cluster.
Years ago I rented a Dodge Avenger at the Phoenix airport for a 2 week 4 state vacation. On our way to return the car my wife was wiping her foot prints off the dashboard and touched the emblem. The dash popped up exposing a 6 pack cooler chilled with the AC coils.
I don’t understand this term “automotive Easter eggs”. The things people note are mostly interesting, but what does it have to do with Easter eggs?
The Easter Egg” term came from the world of computer programming. Programmers would occasionally include non-program-related coding that if the user did the right thing, something unexpected (but almost never negative) would pop up on the screen. These little hidden extras were known in the programming world as “Easter Eggs”.
Jake: In the classic Mustangs, the high beam indicator in my ’68 is a little red Mustang running pony logo but my ’67 had a simple round light.
My 2024 Nissan Z has “Since 1969” imprinted in the back hatchglass in tiny lettering
My 1960 Chevy Apache 30 pickup high beam indicator lights up in red in the shape of the Chevrolet Bowtie
I think this was common in some other Chevrolet vehicles
My ‘70 C/10 had the same thing, but I think they stopped doing it in ‘70 as I have a ‘71 instrument cluster that just has a round red light for the high beams.
Sajeev, this is not a comment based on actual, but perceived data – do your pieces garner the most comments within the shortest amount of time, and as a follow-up, do the staff get paid more for more comments?
😉
1) Probably, but only “According To You.” Vellum Venom is generally a ghost town, for obvious reasons.
2) I wish 🤪
Easter Eggs look like they are a common thing for American manufacturers, but the Aussies have got into it hardcore with the Next Gen Ranger & Everest sold in Australia.
Ranger.
– RH wheel liner has all the Ranger grill silhouettes from the first to current embossed on it
– Built.Fird Tough on the radiator plastic cover
– Fries symbol embossed in the “chip holder” in front of the gear selector
– Wheelbarrow embossed in the glass over the Ute Tray
– LH wheel liner has a world map showing the three factories manufacturing the Ranger but a “Home” symbol showing where it was designed
– Cup holder symbols of Phone, Sunglasses, Keys, Coffee Cup
– Glovebox has a Wallet logo embossed
– Side Steps have Wrong Way Up embossed underneath them
Everest
In addition to Ranger has……
– Tailgate glass Melbourne skyline LH, Himalayan Mountains RH side
– Roof Racks have abseiling man falling off them (suggestion is do not hand on this)
Looks like they can also have a bit of fun Down Under