The physical sensation you probably most distinctly remember from a car you once owned long ago isn’t the feel of the metal, or a squeak in a seat, but the smell. That distinct funk, sometimes good or so incredibly horrible, that says “this is a car.” And this is how Ford makes sure that funk is absolutely perfect.
At least until you go around ruining it with cigarettes, McDonalds, and malodorous deeds too terrible to speak of.
Ford has actual professional sniffers to ensure its New Car Smell is just perfectly new car-ish, who shove various materials into jars that are then brought to just the right temperature, and just the right humidity, to ensure maximum smelliness. But the sniffers jobs aren’t necessarily to ensure a car smells good, as Slate notes, but to make sure they don’t smell bad.
And if that’s the case, why don’t they just make every car smell like bacon?
H/t to Slate!
Contact the author at ballaban@jalopnik.com.
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