The 'Moylan Arrow' Is One of Ford's Best Contributions to Car Design

The fuel-gauge arrow that shows which side of a car has its filler door is a small design feature with a far-reaching effect. Its creator was James Moylan, a Ford interior-trim designer who died at 80. In 1986, after arriving at a gas station in a company car with the tank nearly empty, Moylan pulled up to the pump on the wrong side. He responded by writing a memo proposing a simple indicator near the fuel gauge to tell drivers where the filler door was. His first concept used an overhead drawing of a car; it later became the familiar arrow.

The indicator appeared on a Ford Escort a few years later, then spread throughout Ford’s cars and trucks and was adopted by rival automakers. Moylan did not seek recognition, and his name stayed largely unknown until a podcast brought it to public attention about seven years ago. Ford archivists later recovered and digitized his memo, and CEO Jim Farley shared it in 2022. Ford may not have been the first automaker to use a fuel-filler indicator: some Mercedes-Benz models reportedly used an arrow with the low-fuel warning. But Moylan and Ford helped popularize the idea, which has since spared countless drivers confusion in unfamiliar vehicles.