The Inventor Of The Little Arrow That Tells You What Side The Fuel Filler Is On Has Died - Jalopnik

The Inventor Of The Little Arrow That Tells You What Side The Fuel Filler Is On Has Died These days cars are smarter and more feature-packed than ever, but sometimes it's the simple, little things that can make all the difference. There's one now-ubiquitous detail that benefits millions of drivers every single day, saving them time and reducing stress, and you may not even realize it was something that needed to be invented - or how recently it was thought up. I'm talking about the little arrow in your gauge cluster that tells you which side of the car the fuel filler is on, which was thought up in 1986 by former Ford employee James Moylan , who died on December 11 at age 80. Automotive News' obituary tells his story, which is further proof that the best ideas really can come from anywhere. That little arrow feels like such a no-brainer that I wouldn't blame you for assuming cars have had them for decades longer than the late '80s, but until Moylan came up with the idea, drivers were left having to remember it themselves or take a guess, if it was a car they weren't familiar with. (This was less of a problem with older cars, where the fuel filler was often at the rear end, sometimes behind the license plate.) Even with pretty much every new car of the past few decades having the arrow, we all still know the annoyance of pulling up to a pump and realizing the gas cap is on the other side. It all started on a rainy day in Dearborn James Moylan was born in Detroit on December 19, 1944, and was hired by Ford as a draftsman in body engineering in March 1968. He was laid off in the '70s, but was later brought back to the company to work in plastics engineering, a growing sector as cars were getting smaller and cheaper. The idea came to Moylan on a rainy day in April 1986 when he hopped in one of Ford's employee fleet cars to drive to a meeting at another building. He had to fill up on the way, and, of course, parked with the wrong side of the car facing the gas pump, getting soaked by rain when he moved it. Moylan said he immediately had the idea to put an arrow in the gauge cluster indicating which side the gas cap is on, writing a draft of a "product convenience suggestion" proposal as soon as he got back to his desk. In the proposal, which included a sketch of what it could look like (though using an illustration of the fuel door open, not just a simple arrow), Moylan said "Even if all Ford product lines eventually locate on the same side, for the minor investment involved on the company's part, I think it would be a worthwhile convenience not only for two car families, but also pool car users and especially car rental customers." He...

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