One day, when I was litte girl, we went for a family drive. Being at the "what is that-why is that?"age, I asked my Dad what the handles on the roof of the car were for. He replied, in a convining way, that they were for holding the roof on in high winds and when driving down the motorway. From then on there were wry smiles whenever I helpfully offered to 'hold the roof on'..!

Angela.T, London

A friend of mine believed until he was in his teens that the shape of the truck indicated what it was carrying. Therefore rectangle trucks carried tissue boxes, tank trucks carried cans etc.

esmerelda

When I was little, my mom told me that there was a little man that lived in the car and his job was to make the numbers on the odometer changed. His name was Mr Yahootie and his brother was the guy that turned on the light in the refrigerator.

Anom

I used to believe those handles in cars above the window were called Jesus Handles, because my mom always grabbed hers and yelled "Jesus!" whenever someone else drove badly.

whiz kid

When I was little, I believed (for some unfathomable reason) that every person who drove a car or a truck or any kind of vehicle, was in some kind of "race" to get to some finish line. I believed that this "race" went on in every country. I also believed that you weren't supposed to talk to it to anyone, especially kids. I thought that when I grew up and got my own car, my dad would have a talk with me about it and tell me about this race and how I was supposed to win it or something... yeah I was a weird kid.

Vivin

I used to think that since fuel was consumed by a car going forward, that if you pushed a car backwards, the tank would fill up.

Mike

Until recently, I believed that the mud shields under a car were the brakes!!! Like a bike, I thought that when the brake was pressed, the mud shields would push onto the wheel and stop the car. I only realised that they were not the brakes, when I thought to myself that I never see them moving!!! Duh.

F

I used to think that the "coast" button on the cruise control would actually take you to the coast, specifically Port Aransas. I was very disappointed when I started to drive and it didn't.

Stacey Dalmolin

During my childhood, I loved the color pink, so naturally I wanted a pink car when I was older. However, I had never once seen a pink car, so I was convinced they didn't exist. I was then determined to become a car egineer when I grew up and build a pink car.

Still searching for that pink car...

I used to believe that cars were propelled by their exhaust pipes and it made perfect sense to me as ferraris had four and skodas had one little one.

Henley Bailey

I used to believe that there was only one man in the country who put out all the road cones himself.
I felt so sorry for him!!

Louise Ransley

my mother and father used to have a Pontiac Grand Am that had the paint peeling off of it. they always commenter that the car had leprocy, obviously i thought that leprocy was when that paint peeled off of your car. in the third grade my teacher asked what leprocy was. i raised my hand and proudly gave my answer (thinking i was a genius). i then learned that i really wasnt.

timmy

I used to wonder why cars were designed with stuff still 'to do' when you drove them - like gears and stuff. I had always thought you should simply get in, press start and just steer...

anna

I used to believe that the semi-trucks that transport livestock, actually were used to collect wind throuhg the slats on the side. The driver drove around, collected the wind in the trucks, then released it at lakes or the ocean. This was the conclusion I came up with when I learned sailboats used wind to move. I figured you had to have a way to guarentee there would be wind to move the sailboat. The first time I actually saw cows in a livestock truck was really sad and confusing. My mom had no idea how I had come up with the idea.

Ren

When I was young I thought that a parking spot was a spot like a polka dot and not a space for a car.

Mina Tova

When my father was driving my mother and me in our car he would frequently take off his glasses and hand them to my mother and ask her to clean them. This terrified me. I thought that when you wore glasses you were literally blind when you took them off.

John Adams

When I was small, I was convinced that if my father would let me open all four doors of the car while we were moving they would act like wings and the car would fly.

Sue

I used to believe that freeways (Highways) were giant conveyor belts, and when cars got onto one it would know where the driver was going, and would deposit the car at the exit nearest thier destination. I was a weird kid! :-P Still am weird!

Celia H.

I didn't understand the concept of a radio - I thought every car was made playing a certain kind of music. My grandparents listen to classical and, after they got a new car, I remember saying "It's a good thing this car plays the kind of music you like!" 

Teri 

When my dad was driving along a road and beeped the horn on the car for no apparent reason, he used to tell me he did it because there was a fly on the road and he didn't want to run it over! I must have been about 8 before I realised he was taking the p**s..!

Paul H