Cars really do have their own personalities, according to new research that claims humans instinctively look for 'faces' in their motors.
Florida State University researcher Dennis Slice co-discovered a prehistoric impulse which drives people to see faces in the front end of cars - and to assume character based on what they see.
Most people in the study saw the headlights as being like eyes, with the grille or badge as the nose and air intake as the mouth.
They were asked to rate each of 38 models in a range of categories, including dominance, maturity, gender and friendliness.
Those with longer bonnets, lower bodies and angular headlights - said to look like a frown - were seen as powerful, while those which had more of an upward line around the edges of the 'face' were seen as having a friendly smile.
The most popular cars were those which had the most "arrogant and angry-looking" expressions.
Slice says it's all down to evolutionary instincts: "Seeing too many faces, even in mountains or toast has little or no penalty, but missing or misinterpreting the face of a predator or attacker could be fatal."
