In a car exhibition, seven cars of seven different companies — Cadillac,…
2023
In a car exhibition, seven cars of seven different companies — Cadillac, Ambassador, Fiat, Maruti, Mercedes, Bedford, and Fargo — were displayed in a row, facing east, such that:
Cadillac car was to the immediate right of Fargo.
Fargo was fourth to the right of Fiat.
Maruti car was between Ambassador and Bedford.
Fiat, which was third to the left of Ambassador car, was at one of the ends.
Which of the cars are on both the sides of the Cadillac car?
- A.
Ambassador and Maruti
- B.
Maruti and Fiat
- C.
Fargo and Mercedes
- D.
Ambassador and Fargo
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: In a linear (single-row) arrangement puzzle, every clue — "immediate right/left of", "nth to the right/left of", "between X and Y", "at one of the ends" — is a constraint that fixes a seat number on a straight line of positions. Assign each car a position from 1 (west end) to 7 (east end) and apply the clues one at a time to pin down the row.
Application: Number the seats 1 to 7 from the west end.
Clue 4 says Fiat is third to the left of Ambassador AND Fiat is at one of the ends, so Fiat must be at position 1 (if Fiat were at position 7, Ambassador would need to sit at position 10, which does not exist). This fixes Ambassador at position 1 + 3 = 4.
Clue 2 says Fargo is fourth to the right of Fiat, so Fargo sits at position 1 + 4 = 5.
Clue 1 says Cadillac is immediately to the right of Fargo, so Cadillac sits at position 5 + 1 = 6.
Clue 3 says Maruti is between Ambassador and Bedford, i.e., Ambassador-Maruti-Bedford (or the reverse) occupy three consecutive seats with Maruti in the middle. Ambassador is already fixed at position 4, and positions 5 and 6 are taken by Fargo and Cadillac, so the only free consecutive block including position 4 is 2-3-4, giving Bedford at 2, Maruti at 3, Ambassador at 4.
The only position left, 7, must hold the only car not yet placed: Mercedes.
This gives the complete row: Fiat (1), Bedford (2), Maruti (3), Ambassador (4), Fargo (5), Cadillac (6), Mercedes (7).
Seat | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Car | Fiat | Bedford | Maruti | Ambassador | Fargo | Cadillac | Mercedes |
Cross-check: verifying every clue against this row — (1) Cadillac(6) is immediately right of Fargo(5): holds. (2) Fargo(5) is fourth to the right of Fiat(1), since 5 − 1 = 4: holds. (3) Maruti(3) sits between Ambassador(4) and Bedford(2): holds. (4) Fiat is third to the left of Ambassador, since 4 − 1 = 3, and Fiat sits at end position 1: holds. All four clues check out, so the row is uniquely determined.
Cadillac occupies seat 6, whose immediate neighbours are seat 5 (Fargo) and seat 7 (Mercedes). So the two cars on both sides of Cadillac are Fargo and Mercedes.