9 Hidden Facts You Didn't Know About Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
1. Anakin's Pod Switches Are Actually From A Fiat
You've no doubt heard of the many fascinating ways George Lucas and his team took real-world items and transformed them into pieces of tech used in this galaxy far, far away, with many brilliant examples being present in Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
Away from more obvious and famous things like Qui-Gon Jinn using a women's razor to communicate, you may not be aware of the fact that Anakin Skywalker's pod racer also possessed some rather familiar features.
As he flicks the switches within that rapid vehicle during the Boonta Eve Classic, those who have spent some time driving around in a Fiat Uno from the '80s will possibly recognise some of them. That's because they were taken right from that car and used to craft Ani's winning pod, with V-Brakes from a bike seemingly also being used for it, too.
A fun little bit of trivia for you: Lucas' first car was apparently a Fiat, one that he used to race and almost got killed in.
So, you could say this was George's way of chucking a bit of his own history into the galaxy far, far away....