April Fool’s Day has come and gone, and as you might have expected, a number of automakers spent the occasion trying to pull a fast one on all of us. Some of them worked while others didn’t. Some got us thinking if the pranks were real - or we wish they were real - while others flamed out because they were too obvious from the very beginning. Still, it was a good day to check out what kind of absurdity we had coming our way. If you missed out on all the April Fool’s pranks that these auto brands came out with, well, we got you, fam.
Tesla Bankruptcy
Tesla’s April Fool’s prank is actually played out. Every year, it seems like there’s one company that announces that it’s filing for bankruptcy. So, there are no points for originality and creativity here. But the automaker is so big these days that when Elon Musk “announced” that Tesla had gone bankrupt, it didn’t seem that farfetched of an idea. Apparently, the company was in such financial despair that it had to resort to “intense efforts to raise money” to keep business afloat. Those efforts, according to Musk, included “a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs.” Unfortunately, even the eggs couldn’t help Tesla cross the road back to financial stability, forcing Musk to file for all chapters of bankruptcy, including the worst and most dreaded of them all, “Chapter 14…and a half.”
Hopefully, Tesla’s fortunes improve today now that April 1 has come and gone.
Nissan’s Bunz the Bunny
Is the daily grind getting to you? Are your creative juices running on empty? These questions are important because over at Nissan Design America studio in San Diego, there’s a four-year-old dwarf Lionhead bunny named “Bunz,” that can help get your creativity flowing again. The rabbit, according to Nissan, is owned by designer Jacqueline Reeve, who admits in a carefully curated video that Bunz the Bunny is a great source of inspiration for everyone at the office. Apparently, Bunz also has a title in the office as the “Ambassador of Hoppy-ness.”
I honestly don’t know if this is an April Fool’s prank or if it’s real and Nissan used it as a clever tie-up with Easter Sunday. The automaker even got Nissan Design America Vice President Taro Ueda to talk about Bunz the Bunny. “Designing cars is a serious and competitive business," Ueda said. "Designers thrive in unique, fast-paced and creatively demanding environments, but it's important to have an open mind and outside inspiration, even if sparked by a bunny visiting the office.”
Regardless if it’s true or not, there’s one indisputable thing about Bunz the Bunny: she’s so cute, she could be my Ambassador of Hoppy-ness.
Porsche’s Mission E Tractor
There’s nothing creative about this one. A Porsche Mission E Tractor? Really? You can do better than that, Porsche.
I will indulge the attempt because some people could’ve still been hoodwinked by this. Here’s the lowdown on the Mission E Tractor: it’s a tractor that takes styling cues from Porsche’ tractors from the 1950s. Great.
It’s also powered by the same 800-volt fast-charging system that we saw on the Mission E Cross Turismo Concept at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. That means that the Mission E Tractor produces 700 horsepower, making it the fastest accelerating and quietest zero-emission tractor in the world. Given its credentials, Porsche said that farmers will be able to harvest their crops in record time. What Porsche didn’t say, though, is that when you turn the Mission E Tractor and up and unleash all 700 ponies, you’re just as likely to fly off the damn thing as you are in setting whatever agricultural records actually exist.
Nice try, Porsche.
Aston Martin’s Project Sparta Monster Truck
Now this is one April Fool’s prank that I’m actually hoping ends up becoming true. It probably won’t, but still, this ridiculous monstrosity is so over-the-top, I actually want one in my home.
In case you haven’t seen it, this is the Aston Martin Project Sparta, a monster truck so epic it’s supposedly based on the Aston Martin DBX and has a hybrid setup that includes a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V-12 engine and an electric motor that produces a combined 1,100 horsepower.
Not surprisingly, Q by Aston Martin had a hand in developing this monster truck of sorts, doing so for an unnamed customer that probably doesn’t even exist, to begin with. But hey, this is the kind of April Fool’s prank I’d love to see actually come to life. When was the last time you saw an Aston Martin with those kinds of wheels? Never? Even James Bond would be jealous!
McLaren's new workplace actitivies
This would’ve been a little easier to believe if it weren’t so creepy. Is it just me or does the sight of synchronized tea breaks has an element of Stepford Wives in it? While I’m at it, what’s the point of the daily measurement of tiles? McLaren says that it’s meant to boost efficiency, but I think it’s actually going overboard with what the work requirements at the McLaren Technology Center.
Maybe the company found some humor in this kind of April Fool’s gag, but from my perspective, it’s nothing but a waste of marketing money. Come back next year with something better, McLaren.
Honda CR-V Roadster
People are so stupid crazy over SUVs these days that a momentary lapse of stylistic sense leads to vehicles like the Range Rover Evoque Convertible and the upcoming T-Roc Convertible. So, for April fools, Honda decided to troll Land Rover and Volkswagen while putting out a fun little April Fools gag – a rendering that showed a CR-V Roadster. But, this isn’t like any roadster. Honda took things to extremes by going back-yard tuner style on this thing. It quite literally chopped off the roof at the pillars and admitted that it’s structurally unsound. When the image was officially released we actually argued that it might not be such a bad idea. It doesn’t exactly look cool, but Honda promises it’ll charge half price since you’re getting half a car. And, after all, if you actually think these things look good, or you’re dumb enough to actually buy a subcompact SUV convertible, perhaps we should let you fall victim to the natural selection process anyway, right?