January 1, 2026
Small arrow, huge legacy
James Moylan, engineer behind arrow signaling which side to refuel a car, dies
RIP to the gas arrow guy; internet just learned what it means
TLDR: James Moylan, the Ford engineer behind the fuel gauge arrow, has died at 80. Comments swung between shock that many never knew its purpose and debates over cars that use the pump icon’s handle instead—proof that tiny design choices matter because they save real people from real, wet mistakes.
The internet is saluting James Moylan, the Ford engineer who saved us all from gas pump guesswork with a tiny arrow on the fuel gauge. Moylan, who died at 80, dreamed up the idea after a rainy 1986 mix-up left him drenched, and by 1989 the little Moylan Arrow spread across Ford—and then everywhere. Cue today’s comment-section meltdown: half the crowd just discovered what that arrow actually means, and they’re screaming “mind blown.” The other half is posting links like Wikipedia, the obituary, and even old writeups like Jalopnik while whispering “we told you so.”
Drama hit when “arrow truthers” squared off with “pump-handle purists,” who claim cars without arrows quietly show the correct side by the pump icon’s handle. Cue debates, friendly roasting, and gas station shower survivors swapping war stories. The vibe? Warm tributes mixed with memes: people are “pouring one out”—on the right side—for the man who made refueling less embarrassing. The community crowned Moylan a low-key design legend: proof that small ideas fix big everyday annoyances and deserve loud applause. RIP to the hero of wrong-side pull-ups, forever the arrow of our hearts.
Key Points
- •James (Jim) Moylan, the former Ford engineer who created the fuel-side indicator arrow, has died at age 80.
- •Moylan conceived the idea in 1986 after parking on the wrong side of a fuel pump and drafted a proposal the same day.
- •He submitted the concept to his boss, R. F. Zokas, proposing an arrow near the fuel gauge to show the fuel door side.
- •The indicator appeared in Ford vehicles by 1989 and later spread across the automotive industry.
- •Moylan’s Ford career began in 1968; he worked in body and plastics engineering, spent time in Hiroshima via the Ford-Mazda partnership, and retired in 2003.