The Opel Shark is a hidden "Easter egg" that designers like to add, well, just for the fun of it, really. So we thought we would share five of the best automotive Easter eggs of all time!
Opel Corsa
While GM now tells a very corporate version of the Opel Shark's origins (along the lines of "we intended to do it all along!") the rumour persists that the shark was the result of a bet between Opel designers back in 2006 to see if one of them could get a shark hidden somewhere in the Corsa.
One of them managed it and it has since become a bit of an Opel tradition, appearing in the Insignia, Zafira Tourer, Adam and now the latest Astra. In fact, the Astra has a second shark hidden under the cupholders as well.
Volvo XC90
While Opel (and now Holden) may have the shark, look closely in a Volvo XC90 and you will find a cute cartoon spider chilling out under a lid in the rear.
Apparently the head of large cars at Volvo wasn't happy with the reinforcement his team had used on the underside of a storage bin lid in the third row, but there wasn't time to get it redesigned. So he just had them add a happy little spider to the web-like pattern, thereby creating something that will delight children. And adults too.
Jeep Renegade
The smallest Jeep is utterly saturated with clever little Easter eggs, ranging from the not-so-subtle nod to the original Jeep's Jerry cans in the Renegade's tail-lights through to the tiny Sasquatch hiking over the hump created by the washer motor on the rear window.
There is a tiny Willys Jeep driving along the windscreen, Jeep grille logos feature everywhere - including in the headlights - and the textures on the rubber mats in the various trays scattered around the cabin are actually topographical maps!
SRT Viper
Much like the Jeep Renegade, the latest incarnation of the mighty Viper also features a few maps hidden around its cabin.
But unlike the Jeep, these aren't topographical maps, but rather race tracks the Viper has made its name on. On the door in the pull handle just above the electric window switch is a small map of the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife, while the tray in the centre console has a map of the almost equally legendary Laguna Seca, complete with start/finish line and corner numbers!
Tesla Model S
While the other cars on this list on this list have design-related Easter eggs, Tesla has gone for features hidden in the car's software.
Tesla boss Elon Musk is a massive nerd, so he has packed his cars utterly full of pop culture Easter eggs, including the famous one that replaces the Model S on the settings display with James Bond's submersible Lotus Espirit (which Musk actually owns) and the Ludicrous setting that alludes to the Mel Brooks film Spaceballs.
Other hidden treats include one that turns the sat-nav into a map of Mars, complete with Mars Rover, a Mario Kart reference and the latest one that turns the massive centre touchscreen into a sketch pad. You can even upload your artistic endeavours to Tesla's servers.
