April Fools Day 2019: the car industry's best jokes

New Fiat Panda Hawaii edition is perfect for a trip to Warwick or the Caravan Club

From Inbetweeners-inspired limited editions to pointless charging points, these are the most unbelievable press releases

It’s been a busy few weeks for motoring news, what with the Geneva motor show, the VW Group yearly round-ups, the unveiling of two shock new Ferraris and plenty more taking place in March. 

What better way for automotive PR teams to wind down from the madness than to attempt to wind us up this April Fools day?

We look through the best efforts of the industry's attempts to explore its mischievous side.

Scot to be a joke…

Land Rover claimed to have installed the UK’s “most remote charging point” on the Isle of Skye, off the coast of Scotland. 

The fast-charging point, 15 miles from the nearest tarmac, was to allow drivers of the firm’s new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport P400e plug-in hybrids to take a “mid-adventure top-up charge” on their off-road jaunt across the island.

The conveniently named Max Watts, head of vehicle charging at Land Rover, said the company had “ohm-mitted nothing in [its] quest to ensure that eco-minded Land Rover owners are able to adventure in zero emissions comfort”. 

They nearly had us, too, until the environmentally conscious Ted Lightly, CEO of Skye High Club, was quoted as saying “this new charging post is so discreet that it’s almost as if it’s not even there at all”. 

Beats Jay’s mum’s Micra

Fiat appealed to the sixth former in all of us when it announced the new Panda Hawaii edition, inspired by hit sitcom The Inbetweeners. 

Featuring a pre-dented red passenger door, a 1995-style registration plate, a cassette player and the 38bhp 899cc petrol unit from Simon Cooper’s ill-fated Cinquecento, the special edition was expected to sell out on its first day of sale - 1 April. 

The company was offering discounts to parents so they could buy their child “the most valuable present they’ll ever get”, and had waterproofed the engine to avoid irreparable damage should the Panda end up in a pond. 

Further incentive came in the form of free tickets to Thorpe Park, alongside the all-important queue-jump passes for the front seats of Nemesis Inferno. Can’t really call that ‘inconsiderate’, can you Will? 

Very good, Fiat, but in the immortal words of Mr Mackenzie himself: “You have to get up pretty early to fool Autocar”.

'Simply Never'

Skoda’s April Fools’ prank was a tongue-in-cheek parody of the overwhelming amount of personalisation options available with new cars. 

The new ProjectaPal lighting system was the latest addition to the Czech brand’s ‘Simply Clever’ range of design features, and would allow drivers to use their car as a sort of mobile diary. 

High-intensity LED lights fitted to the bottom of the doors would project a chosen image (a bin day or birthday reminder) onto the ground at the start and end of every journey. 

Head of Skoda infotainment Ivor Tüchskreen (presumed successor to Agáta Fächsmacheen) said ProjectaPal could also be used to display images of a familiar face.

“Maybe you are missing someone you really love like your dog, your cat, your favourite football player or your wife”, he suggested.

“With ProjectaPal, you can see their faces the moment you open the door.”

Maybe a good idea, but reminders to have a shower could get a touch embarrassing in the office car park. 

Read more

April Fools’ Day 2018: the best jokes from the car industry​