Star Wars - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details

There's a persistent story that the design for the podracer-like vehicle seen in Mos Eisley (specifically, the one that almost runs Luke over) was a deliberate nod to Stanley Kubrick. The story goes that one of the effects artists on Star Wars had previously worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey and included a miniature model of the Discovery One's cockpit inside this vehicle as a tribute, though this is difficult to spot in the final film.

The number 1138 appears in the film as part of the designation for the detention block where Leia is held, "Cell 2187, Detention Block AA-23." However, the more direct reference is when Luke, disguised as a stormtrooper, says the prisoner transfer is from "cell block 1138." This is a recurring easter egg in George Lucas's work, referencing his first feature film, "THX 1138."