In case you didn’t notice, April Fools’ Day happened this week. And true to tradition, car manufacturers from around the world teased us with a bunch of April fool’s gags.

You might think that they aren’t really known for their sense of humour, but when it comes to April fool’s jokes, car brands tend to go to great lengths to make their efforts look as convincing as possible. Their attempt to fool their audience is usually done through an advert or press release, which promotes a new model or science fiction technology that the company claims to be working on.

Even though some of them might seem silly, some end up being really funny. Here’s our roundup of the best.

 

McLaren Automotive – The Myth

If you happened to watch the one-minute video about the crazy attention to detail that has underpinned McLaren’s success in producing supercars, you might have fallen for the firm’s April fool’s effort.

The company claimed that they’re going to new lengths in search of productivity gains with a range of measures including daily monitoring of the depth of the lake and size of the floor tiles at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) to make sure nothing has changed. Synchronised tea breaks for staff members were given in result for time saving.

Aston Martin’s Project Sparta Monster Truck

You might think that a prestigious brand like Austin Martin would not have time to indulge in April Fool’s Day. Well, you’re wrong.

The brand’s April 1 press release announced Project Sparta, which is a new race programme to run alongside Aston’s current F1 and FIA World Endurance Championship efforts. Yes, Aston Martin is trying to make us believe that it’s entering a V12, 1,100 bhp monster truck in the US-based Monster Jam series.

The big-wheeled beast is designed to do battle with giants of the monster truck world, including Grave Digger, Big Kahuna, Ice Cream Man and Jailbird, and will enter the competition in the 2019 season. Or so Aston would have us believe.

Honda CR-V Roadster

Honda went to extreme measures for its April Fool’s Day by removing the roof from its CR-V mid-sized SUV. With the help of Photoshop to the picture, Honda tried to make us believe that the production version of this convertible would simply be the regular car with its roof literally hacked off (and not very well). Perhaps it’s a dig at the Range Rover Evoque Convertible?

Still, Honda said that the SUV is designed for sunnier climates, and it imagines selling it for half of the price of the existing model because most of the vehicle is gone.

MG Motor – A Car Powered By Alpaca Waste

MG Motors has announced an innovative decision to run cars using sustainable energy sources and help reduce vehicle emissions by making use of alpaca waste. It hopes that the results from the alpaca-powered vehicle trials on its compact SUV will help change the industry.

“We have launched a pilot programme in the UK with the Faerie Tale alpaca farm in Kenilworth and the initial results are very impressive. Following our decisions to no longer sell diesel-powered vehicles in the UK market, we wanted to take it one step further and see what was possible using alternative fuels to develop low emission vehicles,” said Daniel Gregorious, Head of Sales & Marketing at MG Motor UK.

 

Yallacompare – The ‘yallacar’

And here’s one from our own part of the world. yallacompare, a local insurance comparison site, has announced plans to build and market a new type of electric car, the ‘yallacar’. It looks cool, for sure, but it’s an April fool’s gag.

With extreme measures taken to make it believable, the company designed the car to be built on the blockchain with a decentralised manufacturing process based on 3D printing technologies and will offer drivers augmented reality (AR) features. The yallacar’s self-driving mode will make it the world’s first car to offer Level 5 full autonomous driving. Or maybe it won’t at all.