10 Of The Coolest Easter Eggs Ever Put In A Car

If you've bought many used cars, you'll likely have encountered all kinds of hidden surprises thanks to previous owners, from undisclosed electrical gremlins to long-lost possessions. Even if you're following all the best buying tips from mechanics, it's easy to get caught out. New car owners are generally less susceptible to unfortunate surprises, but they're not immune: Few who pre-ordered the Fisker Ocean, for example, would have anticipated that they'd have to help establish their own service centers in the wake of the firm's bankruptcy.

However, not every hidden surprise results in a headache. Some are even intentional surprises from the automaker, and were left there for the owner to eventually discover. They're usually referred to as Easter eggs, and virtually every automaker has included one in one of its cars at some point in its history. These 10 are among our favorites, but it's worth checking owners' forums to see if your car has any hidden Easter eggs, even if they're not listed here.

For such a small SUV, the Jeep Renegade definitely holds a lot of surprises. We've previously highlighted many of the Renegade's best Easter eggs in a separate article, but one of the most unique is the spider that you'll find when you go to refill the car. It's located just below the gas tank opening — which is capless, to make refueling faster — and features a speech bubble with the words, "Ciao baby!" Ciao is famously an Italian greeting, and the Renegade has more of an Italian connection than you might think.

Not only has the Renegade been manufactured in Italy since it was launched, it also shares a platform with an Italian crossover, the Fiat 500X. The hidden Italian spider is likely a way to pay tribute to the Renegade's Italian history, although exactly why its designers chose a spider remains a mystery. Mazda once had to issue a recall for some of its cars because spiders kept crawling into the fuel lines, but Jeep's little spider won't be moving anywhere closer to the gas tank. Instead, he just wants to say hello.

It's less well hidden than some of the other Easter eggs here, but the "play" and "pause" pedals available in certain VW ID models are some of the funkiest under-the-radar features to appear in a mass-market EV. And VW isn't actually the first automaker to come up with a similar idea: Renault also designed play, pause, and stop pedals for its manual-transmission Twingo RS 133. However, since it was only a limited edition, and never sold in America, we think VW takes the crown for the coolest implementation of the idea.

The unique pedal design appears on VW's popular ID.4 SUV, which became one of the highest-selling EVs in the U.S. market at the start of 2025. It also appears in the smaller ID.3, which isn't sold in America. In Europe, the ID.3 is sold as an all-electric alternative to the Golf, and carries similar proportions and a similar price tag. The same pedals also make an appearance in VW's relaunched electric microbus, the appropriately named ID.Buzz.

Honda isn't usually known for Easter eggs, but the 10th generation Civic has a sneaky hidden tribute to the brand's manufacturing history. It can be found on the back of the rubber mat that lines the base of the center console. It's not unusual for rubber mats like these to feature some kind of pattern for additional grip, but the Civic's features several different designs, each with outlines of vehicles from Honda's manufacturing history. Some feature motorcycles, F1 cars, and jets, while others reportedly depict Honda's humanoid robot, Asimo.

Only certain models of Civic reportedly have the Easter egg, with some base-spec models missing out. Japanese buyers also reportedly got their own version of the design that featured sketches of previous generation Civics. It's not known who the first person was to discover the hidden design, but it certainly wasn't anybody on Honda's PR team. When they were first asked about the Easter egg, they'd reportedly never heard of it.

Many older car brands have become increasingly globalized, but the U.K.'s Vauxhall is an exception to the trend. Despite being the oldest surviving car brand in the country, with production starting in 1903, it has remained mostly limited to the U.K. over its century-plus of existence. Today's Vauxhall brand only sells rebadged cars from its sister brand Opel, and it has done so for some time. For many years, both brands were subsidiaries of General Motors, but both were sold to the former PSA Group — now Stellantis — in 2017. Through the changes of ownership, one feature has remained the same since the GM years: every Vauxhall built since 2004 has a hidden shark somewhere in its design.

The shark Easter egg reportedly began in 2004, when an Opel designer was creating the latest generation of the two brands' Corsa hatchback. He was trying to figure out a design to strengthen the side panel of the plastic glove box, when his son suggested drawing a shark on the side. The designer followed his son's idea, and it turned out that the shape worked well for providing support to the panel. The idea stuck, and ever since, Vauxhall/Opel designers have made sure to include a hidden shark on all of their new models somewhere within the car.

Despite the obvious connections between an all-conquering dinosaur and an all-conquering pickup truck, the Ram TRX wasn't actually named after the T-Rex. It wasn't actually named after anything specific at all, but rather a handy acronym Ram had already acquired the rights to years before the latest TRX was created. When the designers were searching for a new name for the truck, they stumbled across the TRX branding, and thought it was easy to remember, so they kept it.

However, that hasn't stopped the automaker from leaning into the connection between the two. One of the Ram's most fun Easter eggs is a hidden sketch that depicts a T-Rex eating a Raptor, in a clever jab at Ford. It can be found underneath the TRX's engine cover, and so will require a bit of effort to find. Ram has also previously hidden other Easter eggs inside its trucks, with one of the best-known being the hidden conversion tables and protractor that appear on the underside of the armrest.

Eco-friendly driving is good for both the environment and for your wallet, but it isn't very interesting. So, Mini tried to make it more interesting by turning it into a game. In the third-generation Mini Cooper Hatch, which launched in 2014, drivers could try their hand at pleasing a particularly demanding fish that appeared when the car's Green mode was enabled. The fish, which appeared only on the mode's minimalism screen, started off looking grumpy. Then, you continued their journey and changed gear at low revs, braked gradually, and accelerated softly, a star would appear above the fish's bowl.

The fish would collect the star, add it to your tally and look a little happier each time he did so. Conversely, if you weren't careful with your driving, and braked too suddenly, you'd lose a star. The fish would also bring out a pair of binoculars, as a tongue-in-cheek reminder that you needed to look further ahead at the road. If you accelerated too fast, the fish's bowl would spin around, again as a reminder to keep things steady.

Another SUV with plenty of Easter eggs to find is the Ford Bronco. There are hidden graphics and designs all over the car, and there may well be some that owners haven't even spotted yet. Given that the Bronco leans more heavily on its heritage than other SUVs of its kind, it seems fitting that a number of these Bronco Easter eggs also acknowledge that history.

One of our favorites is the silhouettes of previous Bronco generations that can be found by the door of the fuel tank. The U13, U14, and U15 Broncos are all represented, and reinforce the point that Ford has been at the SUV game for a very long time. As well as visual Easter eggs, the Bronco also has a lot of hidden interior features that can be activated by pushing down certain buttons on the key fob or dash. For example, holding down the unlock button on the key fob for around five seconds can reportedly roll down all the windows at once on some Bronco models.

Few carmakers are as big a fan of Easter eggs as Tesla. All of its models have Easter eggs for owners to find, but arguably none are quite as over the top as the brand's light show and orchestral performance Easter egg. It's available for owners of the Model X, and can be activated by going to the Car Controls menu, then selecting Software. Owners will then need to enter the code "Holiday," and the performance should then start.

The car will not only begin playing a song by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but it will also flap its doors and flash its lights in time with the music. The performance is just one of several hidden Tesla Easter eggs, with others that reference Mario Kart, Spinal Tap, and even Rick and Morty being hidden within the brand's cars for those that know where to look for them.

Even before its endlessly controversial rebrand, Jaguar wasn't short on self-confidence. The press release for its 2017 E-Pace crossover breathlessly announced, "We are darers, performers and creators. Enemies to everydayers and play‑it‑safers. We are the heirs to greatness on road and track." It all seems a bit much, considering that the E-Pace was difficult enough to differentiate from its lineup siblings thanks to its confusing name, to say nothing of the many other luxury crossovers on the market at the time.

Jaguar's designers might not have been able to prove the brand's "greatness on road and track" with the E-Pace, but at least they were able to squeeze in some extra creativity with a few Easter eggs in the car's options list. If you optioned puddle lamps in a launch edition Jaguar E-Pace, they would display a graphic of a Jaguar and its cub on the floor. The "cub" was reportedly the internal name given to Jag's compact crossover, and the design team wanted to honor that in the final product. The puddle lamps aren't the only place where the cub can be found — he's also on the windshield. The Jaguar theming continued to the seat labels, with every label given a subtle Jaguar print that's not immediately obvious at first glance.

The coolest Easter egg in the new Renault 5 isn't in the car as standard. Instead, it's hidden in the official options list. The 5 is a retro-modern reinvention of a classic, and it's already drawn plenty of attention in Europe. Its looks, interior, and engaging handling have all played a part, but what's surely sealed the deal for some buyers is the option to spec a wicker baguette holder designed to haul fresh bread back from the bakery in the morning. Rather than rely on wasteful plastic packaging or simply risking the bread rolling around in the passenger seat, drivers can now secure their bread in a dedicated removable holder.

It's less of an Easter egg than it once was, since reviewers quickly spotted this odd accessory in the spec sheet and Renault subsequently acknowledged it on its website, but it's still a fun addition to the little city car. Other carmakers make a point of emphasizing how large their infotainment screens are, or how their latest cars are more efficient than ever. Renault does those things too, but most importantly, the automaker wants to make sure your bread arrives home safely.