Photo: Ford
When was the last time you opened the hood of your car? The answer to that probably has a very strong connection with the moment you filled the windshield washer fluid because that's about the extent of car maintenance we do these days.
But even though a five-year-old could do it, it still makes us feel good. Popping that hood is extremely manly, even though most of us look at what's in there with the same level of understanding as in a Chinese poetry book. We have a rough idea that it's where the engine goes, but just don't make us point at it.
It may be fake, but we enjoy it. It makes us feel like the greasy mechanics from the 60's and 70's films that could make a Ford Mustang run again with nothing but a wrench and their muscly arms. So what if we only pour some liquid into a hole, careful at all times not to get any grime on our clothes? It's basically the same thing.
Well, if Ford has its way with its latest patent, you can kiss all that good bye. The Blue Oval has an evil plan that seeks to take this little joy away from us by turning the radiator grille emblem (of a Lincoln in this case) into an extension for the washer fluid tank, essentially making it accessible without having to open the hood.
The plan is to offer the emblem a dual role: pull it from the bottom, and it acts as the hood safety latch that all our cars have. Pull it from the top, and it unveils the end of a tube that runs all the way down into the washer fluid reservoir.
Ford argues that this way, the driver doesn't have to have their hands close to the usually hot engine compartment for the refill, or probe under the hood for the opening latch, which could be dirty. We say we don't need this level of pampering, thank you very much, and a little dirt never hurt anyone.
It's enough we will soon need to take our malfunctioning cars to a software programmer rather than a mechanic, you don't need to take this last bit of pseudo maintenance work we do ourselves away from us. What's next, a car that drives itself?
It may be fake, but we enjoy it. It makes us feel like the greasy mechanics from the 60's and 70's films that could make a Ford Mustang run again with nothing but a wrench and their muscly arms. So what if we only pour some liquid into a hole, careful at all times not to get any grime on our clothes? It's basically the same thing.
Well, if Ford has its way with its latest patent, you can kiss all that good bye. The Blue Oval has an evil plan that seeks to take this little joy away from us by turning the radiator grille emblem (of a Lincoln in this case) into an extension for the washer fluid tank, essentially making it accessible without having to open the hood.
The plan is to offer the emblem a dual role: pull it from the bottom, and it acts as the hood safety latch that all our cars have. Pull it from the top, and it unveils the end of a tube that runs all the way down into the washer fluid reservoir.
Ford argues that this way, the driver doesn't have to have their hands close to the usually hot engine compartment for the refill, or probe under the hood for the opening latch, which could be dirty. We say we don't need this level of pampering, thank you very much, and a little dirt never hurt anyone.
It's enough we will soon need to take our malfunctioning cars to a software programmer rather than a mechanic, you don't need to take this last bit of pseudo maintenance work we do ourselves away from us. What's next, a car that drives itself?
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