Nothing gets a nerdish man up on his hind legs like an arcane question to which they know the answer. And that’s what happened to me the other week when, on social media, a chap called Rich idly wondered why his two Volvos, a 940 and an 850, had fuel filler flaps on opposite sides.
I know a distressing amount about filler flap placement. This started years ago when I realised different cars wore their fillers on different sides and I couldn’t find a solid logic for why. While mulling this, I found myself at the Geneva motor show, or more specifically in the bar of a nearby hotel. Across the room was a very well-known car designer. We’d met before so I ambled over to say hi. Some pleasantries were exchanged and then I hit him with it: how does your company decide on which side to put the fuel filler? He froze for a moment, perhaps wondering how best to signal to his PR minder to get him away from this weirdo. But then he composed himself and gave me his answer: ‘Erm… I don’t know’. By chance, standing just behind us was another well-known car designer. Designer 1 tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Hey [well-known car designer], he wants to know, how do we decide which side the fuel filler goes on?’ he said, jerking a thumb towards me. Car Designer 2 puffed out his cheeks and gave a quite Anglo-Saxon response to indicate that he had no intercoursing idea. ‘I’d have to ask our ergo guys and get back to you.’ Great, I smiled, could you do that and let me know? Car Designer 2 suddenly remembered he needed an early night and left the bar.
