Top five April fool's pranks by carmakers in 2021

Car manufacturers always try to lighten up people’s moods every year on April 1 with silly and sometimes brilliant pranks. This year was no different and while some pulled it off we saw one manufacturer being the talk of the town with their shenanigan gone wrong. What exactly happened? We take a look.

Porsche's Patina-To-Sample Paint

Well renowned for their customization options, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur debuted the Patina Paint-To-Sample​ scheme to the catalog for new cars to pay homage to their classic models. With the idea to provide customers a finish of rusty flake similar to old cars, they developed an oxidizing process that makes this ‘new old’ look possible. Porsche wants to make sure your new 911 looks like it's been neglected for years to get the desired finish which is often produced by oxidation over a long period of time. Head of Exclusive Manufaktur Vehicles department Boris Apenbrink says: “Our heritage is a big inspiration for new product offerings, especially with paint jobs. It has always been a very important part of the Porsche identification. Does this Patina PTS scheme tickles your fancy? Alas, it is just too good to be true.

Volkswagen’s brand name change

This is the one that went wrong. Earlier in the week, a press release was “accidentally” published on Volkswagen’s American media site announcing that the company would change its name in the US market to “Voltswagen”, in order to establish roots for their future electric plans.

The news was taken seriously as Volkswagen America announced it a full two days before April 1st and officials denied it to be phony or a prank, even to the auto journos. Later, it was made even more credible when “official” changes were made to the brands media sites and social networking pages which changed names from Volkswagen to Voltswagen. What was supposed to be a joke dramatically misfired for the company after they revealed their not-so-amusing intentions of the whole thing being a sham. The PR department was applauded for their silly efforts.

Alfa Romeo's filter windows

With the whole world missing to go out on holidays from the past year, Alfa Romeo teased holidaymakers after they claimed to have launched a new type of electrochromic glass for the Stelvio, called “Nuova Luce,” which it says can make the outside world look like an attractive Italian vista. Users can opt from the following five filters:-

• ‘Roma’ – sunset hues with soft yellows and reds

• ‘Milano’ – the bright, crisp light of the Duomo

• ‘Torino’ – a peachy palate, invoking the ancient architecture

• ‘Como’ – the rich blues and greens of sunlit water

• ‘Cinque Terre’ – the bold, high contrast colours of the Amalfi Coast

Alfa Romeo say that their "Ambient Lighting" has team spent three weeks at each beauty location using state-of-the-art lighting technology to ensure an accurate match between the filters and the colours.

Caterham’s Lube solution to ingress and egress problems

While Caterham cars are known for their frills and VFM performance they aren’t really renowned for in the comfort department. One thing that the Caterham owners find to be hard sometimes is getting in and out of their cars, vehicles like the Seven Roadster have high door sills and a small entry area which make the getting in and out task tricky. To solve this ridiculous problem Caterham launched an oil-based lubricant, which they say is “designed to grease the user lightly in order to aid a quick and satisfying entry to the Seven’s driver and passenger seats.”

Graham MacDonald says, “We hope that, with this new product which has been developed over the last 17 months by our world-class engineers we can make getting in and out of a Seven just as easy as any mainstream vehicle, and still easier than a Kamaz truck, which requires you to climb a ladder.”

Named the Seven Lube, the ointment is priced at seven pounds and seventy seven cents, get it?

Dacia's Space Venture

Dacia made a promise to launch an affordable space programme, dubbed the DUSTAR, the project’s first flight to outer space was scheduled for 9am on the morning of 1 April 2021. The event was also streamed live, just in case there were any doubts about its credibility because why would there be?

Project head Noel Armstrong proudly said, “We are all about delivering best-value-for-money without compromising on quality. We have achieved this on Earth, so launching a car into space is the obvious next step!

Going to space will now be just as easy as going to the local market, courtesy the robust Dacia Duster that will make this a piece of cake. To top it all Dacia also made an official launch video! Click here to see it.

evo India

There's no denying that the Volkswagen Polo is our country's favorite hatchback, it is the go-to car in its class for enthusiasts who seek the #ThrillOfDriving and therefore it has been a huge hit ever since it's launch in 2010. Fans of the Polo have always been hungry for updates, but Volkswagen hasn't given us the new sixth-generation Polo that it introduced worldwide in 2017.

So, we put up a phony post stating that the brand plans to launch the newest generation Polo in India, with a more powerful engine and manual transmission by the end of 2021. We also added that it will come in at a very attractive price and had a laugh while the enthusiasts celebrated! Mission accomplished as a lot of you actually fell for it. Apologies. In reality, it still remains to be seen if the brand has any plans to launch the new gen Polo in India