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Tales of interesting automotive coincidences

1st October 2021, 17:55 by Rahul Nagaraj

I mean, what are the odds! Not two, not three, but eight Hyundai cars all parked next to each other by complete happenstance!

BHPian Turbojc recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My parents and I were en route to Coimbatore from Chennai by car. It was around 2 pm when the air raid sirens in my stomach blared furiously. I was so engrossed with driving on my favourite highways after two years that I'd forgotten it was lunchtime.

We were on the outskirts of Salem when we spotted a nice restaurant off the highway. I parked my car and rushed in to grab a bite.

After a quick but sumptuous lunch, we headed back to the parking lot, where we were greeted by this mother of all coincidences:

I mean, what are the odds! Not two, not three, but eight Hyundai cars all parked next to each other by complete happenstance! Mine's the third car from the left, the Wine Red Grand i10.

There is another interesting automotive coincidence in my life - my neighbour and I both own a Breeze Blue Ritz VDi that share the same registration series and are fitted with the same Sony Xplod head unit!

Have you witnessed any such bizarre automotive coincidences? Please do share them here.

Cheers!

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Lovely thread! Thanks for sharing. A couple of neat ones from my side:
Hyundai planned the Alcazar embargo to end exactly 1 day before the Kushaq review. This is absolute war in the segment - Hyundai wanted to show it can offer a 7-seater at a price comparable to Skoda's 4 seaters.
By sheer coincidence, the Team-BHP Trivia thread ended up having approximately the same number of trivia points as the thread that inspired it (automotive trivia in India). Wasn't planned at all. I just started writing & researching the same way I did that thread. Such is the incredible coincidences of life!
Later, both cars came out with superb crash test results on the same date!
The Ciaz & 4th-gen City's derrières were scarily similar, and it was a complete coincidence as there were no design leaks 2 - 4 years ahead of launch (which is when car designs are finalised):
For the Team-BHP Mod Meet @ Pawna, the Mumbai & Bangalore Teams reached the designated spot at Lonavla within 10 minutes of each other. In the picture are Rehaan, Suhaas307, Ajmat, Vid6639, GTO, F50, Flying Spur & Manson. Mumbai is 2 hours away from this spot, while Bangalore is like 6 - 7 times that! The timing wasn't planned at all. In fact, IIRC, Manson took us on a last-minute detour to Bandra to pick something up:
Update: Man, I just remembered the mother of all coincidences! So my best bud had a Yamaha RX100 circa 1994. Rode his bike, got tempted and I decided to get one a year later in 1995. We go to pick up my RX100 on his RX100 to Bombay Cycle & Motor, Opera House. We see my shiny new bike parked at the front, ready for delivery. While I am signing the paperwork, he is sitting on my RX100 and fiddling around. During this, he inserts his key into the ignition console of my RX100. Voila - the ignition accepts it and it turns!
For a moment there, we thought it was a faulty console. But then we look at the keys of our respective motorcycles and guess what, both of them read the serial number 5016. What are the odds of two best friends ending up with the same key for their bikes?
To date, if we end up doing something similar, we mutter "5016" to each other.

Here's what BHPian tharian had to say on the matter:

Nice thread and not everyone would notice such scenes.
The photos below were from the office parking lot just a few days before I sold my Figo(with the aux lamps). On one occasion, it was flanked by two other Figo's and on another occasion, a line of similar coloured cars on one side.
Another very nice coincidence was when my childhood and good friend, also a senior Team Bhpian,(SandeepMohan) bought his Fiat Tjet a year and a half after I bought my Figo and his car number was 7774 and mine was 7775. The RTO was the same too, except his registration series was the next in line after mine. 'MM' and 'MP'.

Here's what BHPian Sahil had to say on the matter:

When I bought my w222 S350 in 2015, the rear bumper bothered me a lot since it had no exhaust tips like the S500. The dealership refuse to sell me an S500 bumper as it was not a part that could be supplied to my VIN.
In a general chat with a friend who had bought the S500 launch edition, he mentioned that he’s put the AMG kit. I promptly asked where is your rear bumper and he replied it’s lying like junk in my garage please take it! However, it was white in colour and my car was black.
Doesn’t end there, the dealership delayed my delivery by several weeks so I gave them a bad rating. They called me saying they would like to make it up to me, I said please repaint and fit the S500 bumper I have got to my S350. They agreed and it fit like a glove! All this coincidently happened in a matter of a few days, within a week of delivery I had my rear bumper swapped for free to exactly what I wanted.

Here's what BHPian gkveda had to say on the matter:

I always purchase vehicles dedicating to my parents, wife or children. When I purchased my first bike(Suzuki samurai in 2001), I dedicated it to my mother and its number was KAXXXX P 1021. P is the starting letter of my mother name and 1021 was my father's birth date (21st October)
Again when we purchased the car(Santro in 2008), coincidentally it had KA XXXX K 2710. K is starting letter of my father's name and 27th October was my mom's birth date.
Both bike and car are not with us now and neither are my parents.

Here's what BHPian Thilak29 had to say on the matter:

I was returning to Bangalore from a good long drive in TN and I stopped for a break near Krishnagiri, my attention went to the car parked next to mine and noticed the registration number which is in sequence with mine.
Of all the places that these two cars can be on that given moment of time they chose to get parked next to each other - I believe the biggest coincidence I have encountered (even mathematically!)