There’s Something Fishy About This Car

Isaiah 53:2b
“He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”

Why in the world would engineers at Mercedes-Benz and DaimlerChrysler turn to a fish built like a box for inspiration on automotive design? After all, automakers want their vehicles to travel just as efficiently through air as sharks swim through water. But the boxfish is anything but streamlined.

Humpback turretfish, a type of boxfish The fact is – the cube-shaped boxfish slips through water with unparalleled efficiency. As the journal Science put it, “One look at the aptly named boxfish, and you might expect it to swim as well as a barn would fly.” Creationist Donald DeYoung points out in his book Discovery of Design, “Observations show that the boxfish swims easily and safely, even in turbulent water. Self-correcting vortices of current develop around its body and effectively cancel out the buffeting forces of surging water.”

DeYoung pointed out that though the automotive engineers had gone to the aquarium to design a car patterned after the sleek shark, the aquatic creature DaimlerChrysler ended up basing their automobile designs on was the boxfish. And it wasn’t just the fish’s shape that they copied. By patterning the door panels after the hexagonal skin pattern of the fish, the cars were found to excel in safety, comfort, maneuverability and environmental friendliness. The compact cars even boasted excellent gas mileage to as high as 70 miles per gallon!

Only our glorious Creator could have designed a clunky-looking fish that can help automobile designers develop safer and more fuel-efficient cars!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for creating a world filled with magnificent creatures that not only help mankind but also bring glory to You! Amen.

Author: Steven J. Schwartz
Ref: Discovery of Design, Donald DeYoung, pp. 74-75. Master Books, 2009. Photo: Humpback turretfish, a type of boxfish. Courtesy of Bernd, posted to Flickr. (CC-BY-SA 2.0)