James Moylan, who thought up the little arrow on your gas gauge that tells you what side of the car your fuel filler sits, has passed away.Moylan was a Ford interior trim designer who came up with the idea after getting soaked in the rain because he parked on the wrong side at a gas station.Now virtually every car in the world has the convenience. It’s a convenience we take for granted now but it wasn’t always there: that little arrow next to the gas gauge on the dash that tells you on which side the fuel filler is located. For those who drive different cars all the time, or for families with several cars in their fleet, and especially for anyone who drives rental cars, the little arrow is a big help.Well, the guy who came up with the idea, Ford interior trim designer James Moylin, has passed away at age 80 after a 30-year career at Ford. James Moylan worked as an interior trim designer.Moylan got the idea for the arrow when he hopped into one of the company’s pool cars on a rainy day in April 1986 to attend a meeting in another building, according to Automotive News. But the gas tank was empty and when he pulled up to a pump in Dearborn, Michigan, to refuel, he had parked on the wrong side. He moved the car and fueled up but got soaked in the meantime.That’s when he got the idea for the arrow.“I got back to my office after the meeting, and without even taking my coat off, I sat down and started writing the first draft of this proposal,” Moylan told Design News in 2020. “I typed it up and turned it in and forgot completely about it.”The proposal was simple and to the point.“The indicator or symbol I have in mind would be located near the fuel gauge,” Moylan wrote in an April 17, 1986, proposal to his boss, “and simply describe to the driver on which side of the vehicle the fuel fill door is located.”The arrow debuted on the 1989 Ford Escort and Mercury Tracer, and soon showed up on virtually every car in the world. Moylan passed away December 11, 2025. Raise a gas hose to him next time you fill up. Thank you, Moylan, ya done good.
