Diesel World Roundup: The 5 Best April Fools’ Pranks of 2018

If there’s one thing automakers love besides profit, it’s April Fools’ Day. Each year, the 1^st of April allows everyone from overstressed engineers to PR hacks to loosen their collective ties and indulge in whimsical flights of fancy.

Here are our top prank picks this year:

1. The Honda CR-V “Roadster”

Tired of being cocooned in copious amounts of truck sheet metal? Honda has just the thing for you!

Following in the footsteps of the notorious Nissan Murano and Range Rover Evoque, Honda’s CR-V Roadster concept has upped the convertible ante by completely removing the top. The lightweight SUV boasts faster acceleration and improved mileage by doing away with pesky things like structural reinforcements and complicated drop-top mechanisms.

This un-convertible was painstakingly designed by Honda’s crack R&D department PR team with the help of a Sawzall, resulting in 0% structural rigidity and 100% fun.

2. Aston Martin’s Monster Truck

As luxury marques like Lamborghini and Porsche branch out into the booming SUV business, Aston Martin was determined not to get left behind. In fact, the British carmaker went all-in by unveiling Project Sparta, AM’s very own monster truck program.

Aston Martin says the truck will use the same 6.5-liter V12 engine found in the Valkyrie AMR Pro to produce 1,100 hp and enable it to crush the competition. Oh, and its hybrid too.

3. MG’s Alpaca-powered SUV

We at Diesel World love our diesels, but MG Motor wants to change all that. The Birmingham-based motor company believes the future lies in alpacas – specifically, alpaca waste. Its new MG ZS SUV will be powered by alpaca droppings.

According to Daniel Gregorious, Head of Sales & Marketing at MG Motor UK, “We have launched a pilot program 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.”

What a load of alpaca waste!

4. Porsche’s Mission E Tractor

Everyone knows how Lamborghini had its modest origins from agricultural tractors. Porsche wants to do reverse: go from high-performance cars to humble farm equipment.

Following on the heels of an all-electric coupe and wagon, the latest addition to the Mission E family will be a tractor. Porsche says the upcoming Mission E Tractor will produce over 700hp, making it the “fastest accelerating agricultural vehicle in the world” and capable of “pretty good lap time” in the Nürburgring.

We look forward to featuring the Mission E Tractor in our Tractor Talk column!

5. Banks Power under investigation by Homeland Security

While strictly not a carmaker, we can’t help but include this on the list. Known for its diesel aftermarket parts, Banks Power claims to be under federal investigation thanks to its iDash 1.8 Super Gauge.

The gauge is allegedly an exact duplicate of the top-secret primary control interface used by NASA’s “command center”, as well as the Space Shuttle. Acting on a complaint by NASA, agents from the Department of Homeland Security swooped down on founder Gale Banks and brought him in for questioning.

Banks Power has released an official statement, claiming that while Gale was involved in the development of NASA technology, the statute of limitations has expired and that Gale is free to use the iDash for commercial applications, together with his ex-NASA partner, Dr. Emmett Brown.