No April fooling this year

We have a long and (*cough*) illustrious tradition of rolling out April Fools jokes on the appropriate day each year.

It’s a tradition that has been going on for at least a decade, but it just didn’t seem right this year.

One senior staff member did run an idea up the flagpole – Toyota announces it will retrospectively rename its venerable ‘Corona’ nameplate something less offensive to the human condition in 2020. The punchline was that the new name for the Corona would be the Toyota Chlamydia.

But at some point, things turned serious. An April Fools joke concerning a disease killing people in the thousands around the world is just plain tone-deaf.

So we’re taking a break from April Fools this year. Instead, here’s a selection of stories we’ve run in the past. Less topical, but more of a distraction.

Normal transmission will be resumed in 2021.

2019: Rolls-Royce Cullinan Silver Surfer Rip Curl Edition revealed

2018: Left-hand drive initiative for Oz 

2017: SPY PICS: Fake Phantom caught testing and Leaked: ACCC shake-up for vehicle trim levels

2016: MINI gets Lambo-style scissor doors

2015: Autonomous car hijack warning

2014: UK announces drug-driving limits (not actually an April Fools joke)

2013: Aussie sports EV to be announced?

2012: BMW revives Riley

2011: Lexus to build heavy-duty hybrid commercial? and BMW’s paisley phase