In the automotive industry, April 1 has become kind of a ‘thing’ as they are constantly looking for ways to fool you. Thankfully it has finally come to an end this year, although, depending on your time zone, you may have a few more hours left to scare the crap out of someone. Nonetheless, here’s a list of April Fool’s jokes we found yesterday that perhaps you might have missed…
1. F1 Censored nose
BBC yesterday reported that the been forced to censor a number of cars’ “gentleman areas” after a number of complaints made by the viewers.
BC spokesman Joe King (arf arf) said: “After literally dozens of complaints, the BBC have had no choice but to censor certain cars during future Formula One grands prix. A number of elderly viewers were particularly offended by the Force India, and the BBC have come to the decision that they will no longer be able to show the following cars without necessary censorship: Force India, Toro Rosso, Sauber, Caterham, Williams and McLaren.”
2. MINI Paceman GoalCooper
Yes, I humbly admit that I’ve got fooled myself when MINI released a very detailed press release of this very festive Paceman GoalCooper to celebrate the 2014 Brazil World Cup. It wears a green, blue and yellow paint job called the “Danielson multi-coloured exterior line.” Inside are Brasileiro astro turf matting from front to back, a miniature football set in the center rail, an iPad holder for back-seat occupants to watch Brazil’s World Cup games and a smartphone-and-beer holder up front.
MINI says that the Game tailgaters can get in on the action with the miniature pitch in the cargo area and a net tied to the front seats, with the “interior monitoring sensors” and Park Distance Control making audible note of shots on goal. Win enough games and you can take home the top trophy of Mini Community World Champion – as long as you get all your games finished on April 1. (I’ll wager some soccer-mad fan will paint their Mini like this! – CW)
3. MINI Cooper T
This picture needs no explanation, and it seems clear that the MINI UK social manager has a great sense of humour with the introduction of the world’s first car that can run on a tea-leaf biofuel composite.
4. Audi Quattro Sushi
Audi Japan on the other hand had a bit of fun with the brand’s fascination with high design, and the most precise culinary tradition on the planet. Er, Quattro sushi anyone?
5.GM recalls 1953-1955 Chevy Corvette for missing V8
This happens to be the best April Fool’s post yet by General Motors, even the beleaguered Mary Barra probably got a chuckle over this one, yesterday.
For unexplained reasons, the 1953-1955 Corvette’s were installed with an in-line 6 engine instead of the proper V8. Every 1953-1954 Corvette and some 1955’s that rolled off the assembly line managed to get by quality checks and sold to customers with the wrong motor installed. Seeing how this massive slip up has managed to go by undetected for over 50 years has current GM management flabbergasted. GM’s new CEO Mary Barra stated, ” This is clearly unacceptable. We will make this right for our customers owning those Corvette’s affected by this blatant oversight”. Current chief engineer for the Corvette Tadge Juechter had this to say over this issue, ” I am personally insulted by this. This has been a black eye on the Corvette’s illustrious history. Every person who owns a Corvette deserves to experience our legendary Small Block V8 engine”
6.BMW Force Injection Booster
BMW’s desire to create the ultimate driving machine has led them to develop the new Force Injection Booster for this April Fool. According to BMW UK, Force Injection Booster (FIB = to bluff, clever!) uses kinetic energy to create positive g-forces. These are then transferred to the driver and front passenger via the air vents, while a mild electric current is delivered through the front seats.
In an effort to appease female drivers, BMW will equip the cars with AirNet technology. This promises to protect their expensive hairdo!
7. Nissan 370 LIMO-Z
The ever popular Nissan sports car now comes in a limousine version! Near-pun for a model name: check. Low hanging fun fruit for Nissan’s Twitter feed: you bet.
8.Acura celebrates 28 years as top US luxury brand… alphabetically.
Acura released a funny press release in which it celebrated “an important milestone, marking 28 consecutive years as the top luxury automobile brand in America based on alphabetical ranking”
“At Acura, there are many things we’re proud of, and one of those things is our alphabetic dominance. I mean, these are the A-B-Cs of marketing, and no one does it better than Acura,” said Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Acura. “Audi has been nipping at our heels since the beginning, and then there was that deal with Amati, which never really had a shot. We even toyed with adding another A on the front of the name, but we’re confident that we can maintain our leadership, assuming no one comes along with Abalone or Aardvark or something like that.”
9. Opel Astra Copacabana
MINI is not the only company that comes up with special edition 2014 World Cup model as Opel introduced the Astra Copacabana yesterday dedicated to soccer fans from all over the world that would be willing to sit inside a car which has real grass upholstery from the Maracana stadium as well as a horn with samba or vuvuzela tones.
You won’t find the usual floor mats as these have been replaced with sand from the Copacabana beaches. The Opel Astra Copacabana also has a crushed ice machine and an alcohol-free Caipirinha dispenser. Check out the video below to find out more 😉
10. Honda Fit DIY
Just like your Tamiya cars, now you can also get a 2015 Fit do-it-yourself kit! So rather than waiting for your Honda Fit to be assembled in the factory, all the 180,000+ mechanical parts can now be shipped to your door so that you can start putting them all together!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8GLIJ_HQJ8
11. Mazda MX-5 four-seater
This actually looked plausible, that is until you realise just how ridiculous it really is. Taking an iconic car like the MX-5 and giving it rear seats plus two extra doors would cause a riot among die-hard fans of this very likeable roadster. How fast can you say ‘execution at dawn by firing squad’? Thankfully it was just a prank, phew!
I surely missed a lot more of these automotive April Fools jokes yesterday but leave us your comments or share with us your automotive April Fool jokes below.
