Media | Articles
What’s the Best Automotive Easter Egg?
I am a big fan of Easter Eggs, and not just in the traditional egg/chocolate hunt that many of us enjoy on a particular Sunday every spring. Instead, I am talking about an unexpected feature or reference in a product that’s only noticeable upon close examination. My first experience with a non-Easter-holiday-related Easter Egg likely isn’t unique, as many of us grew up hunting for the secret treasure in the Adventure video game for the Atari 2600.
But then we have car-related finds, like the “Hi” my 1965 Ford Galaxie wore on its firewall. That was a truly mind-blowing find when performing a mere spark plug swap, only to be topped by the Lagonda that’s printed on the circuit board of said Aston Martin in the top photo. My final example to you comes from the upgrade I made to my 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII, as its HID headlight assemblies have a stunning brand logo in the low-beam reflector.
I spent way too much time obsessing over this dead-end technology in past articles, so I will just walk in the garage and snap a picture for you instead. Finding a corporate logo in a 30-year-old headlight is a nice Easter Egg, something modern automakers (especially pre-Stellantis Chrysler products) embraced in a big way.
I suspect it’s a lot of fun for all parties involved, and now we need to get the readers of Hagerty Media on board. Easter Sunday isn’t too far away, so what’s the best automotive Easter Egg you’ve ever found?
Find more values
Search for prices of other cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles
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.
The Corvette has had many hidden Easter eggs,
A hidden one is the C4 Corvette. The tub has molded into 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 face in the corner of the new ZR1 that is going to be built.
The Hummer has a map of the landing area of the moon on the speaker grills.
There are more and some very clever things if you just look around.
My 2025 Forester has a bunch of little outdoorsy / camping things molded in here and there, which I really like. A little lantern, a humming bird. 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.
The Indian head hi beam indicator on 60’s Pontiacs
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?
Yep, My 49 Pontiac had that and his cousin was on the hood.
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…
I guess putting the build sheet inside a car after its done can be considered an Easter Egg! Might not be for the people at the factory, but it definitely is for the owner!
For some of my finds, an engine that turns is a nice easter egg
You and Derek Bieri and Matthew Anderson all have that in common! 😛
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.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IRLEasterEggs/comments/k2fmfa/the_new_dodge_ram_trx_trex_has_an_embossed_image/?rdt=60406
My 2024 Mustang GT convertible with Performance Package is full of Easter eggs even inside the dual air filter housings
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 outlive 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
My 2012 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.
Pony puddle lights on my 2016 Mustang
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.
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 Gen1 Bronco can be found.
• On the roll bar near 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 (per the article, this seems to be a theme with Ford/Lincoln)
There are many other locations where the Bronco horse of 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. 😁
Interesting on the QR code. I tried reading it with my iPhone and couldn’t get it to come up with anything.
Perhaps not an “Easter Egg” but in the 50s and early 60s a lot of cars had the model year embossed into the tail-light and parking-light lenses.
There are a bunch on the new Prius I saw in a video that made me chuckle a bit.
The original jack and bias ply spare, factory spare keys, and the manual still in the glove compartment ( along with that yellow tin of Bussman glass fuses and a couple of old Texaco maps )