The kind of car you drive — or the one you're attracted to — may say something about your personality, new research suggests.

Take the redesigned Volkswagen Beetle, says Dennis Slice, a shape analysis researcher at Florida State University. "I don't think anyone could be mean to someone else in a Volkswagen Beetle," he said.

The narrow body, wide-eyed circular headlights, tall windshield and curve of the bug's hood match the facial features of a smiling woman or child, Slice said.

"This is the classic cute car — not dominant, not aggressive," said Slice, who is an associate professor of scientific computing at Florida State.

Contributing to his perception of the car: the butterfly decals on the front bumper, flowers in the dashboard vase and lime-green paint job.

Slice is exploring the widely held belief that cars project personalities because they look like human faces when viewed head-on.

Key for designers

He and colleagues at Vienna University are hoping to help designers determine what parts of a car, such as the headlights, grill or windshield, they can change to project traits that make cars more appealing to different kinds of customers.

One key question is whether drivers have the same personalities as their cars.

Slice got a bit of anecdotal evidence in the parking lot from Gwen Oliver, a custodial supervisor at Florida State, after telling her that her black Eclipse is dominant, aggressive, powerful and "ready to take care of business."

Oliver agreed.

"I am. Everything you said, I'm like that," Oliver told him after she briskly walked over to see why he was interested in her car.

"I'm aggressive, I'm straightforward and I'm outgoing and I believe in getting the job done," she said.

The idea of seeing faces in inanimate objects is part of a survival instinct that goes back to prehistoric times, Slice said.

Facial features offering clues about a person's sex, age, emotions and intentions helped early humans "know whether the guy that just stepped out of the bushes is going to take your head back for a trophy or invite you to lunch," Slice said.

Slice said future research may look at whether cars' personalities relate to drivers' habits and interactions.

"Possibilities are if you see an aggressive car in your rear view mirror you may be more likely to pull over and yield to it," he said.

"By the same token, if you see a submissive or more immature car trying to get into traffic you may be more likely to yield to it and help the innocent little car get into traffic."