Time was that you could always rely on BMW, for example – as if to prove that the Germans do have a sense of humour – to produce a rib-tickling prank for 1st April. When the Channel Tunnel first opened, for example, BMW placed full-page ads in all of the main UK national newspapers to explain the benefits of its steering control change device, which automatically shifted the BMW’s steering wheel, instrumentation and foot pedals from the RHD position to LHD once the car was halfway through the Tunnel France-bound.
In 2010, just a few weeks ahead of that’s year’s inconclusive General Election, BMW ran another April Fool’s prank ad campaign, informing would-be BMW buyers that they could choose the colour of their BMW two-tone badge roundel according to their political preferences, so red and white (for Labour), yellow and white (for the Liberals) or the traditional BMW blue and white (for the Tories) could be specified. BMW hadn’t anticipated the hung Parliament that year, however, by offering a coalition badge in blue, yellow and white!
More recently, BMW predicted the latest trends for ‘posh pick-ups’ early on by announcing its 414 bhp M3 pickup model, set for a 1st April release, bettered only by its Magnetic Tow Technology presentation, which enabled BMW drivers to use a magnetic field to secretly creep-up behind other road user’s vehicles and cling on closely to save fuel, something that some might argue already happens with a handful of drivers! This April’s BMW spoof was an i8-shaped ‘dDrive’ dog basket accessory for a wind-in-the-fur motoring sensation, aided by a Twin Power turbofan.