2005 Mini Cooper Automatic on 2040-cars

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Automotive April Fools' joke roundup [w/videos]

Happy April, everyone. And we all know what this first day of the month means: April Fools' Day. Today is a national holiday for pranksters with the Internet acting as a serious enabler, and it's always fun to see what kind of vivid imaginations exist out there in the automotive world. The abundance of fake news gets a little old as the day rolls on, but we did manage to get in a few chuckles thanks to a handful of major automakers and automotive news outlets that got into the pranking spirit this year
Some of our favorites this year includes Subaru showing what happens when you combine a bunch of rumors, a Corvette some may have already thought was a joke or Honda providing some in-car innovation circa the late 1980s. Honestly, we're still waiting for official confirmation from Mitsubishi that the recently introduced 2014 Mirage is an elaborate April Fools' joke using a failed design intended for the 1995 Geo Metro. We dug up as much "official" OEM foolishness we could find, as well as some of our other favorites, and posted them all below.

Mini John Cooper Works gets ready to rumble

Mini gave us our first taste of its next-generation John Cooper Works Hardtop in concept form at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. And in fact, we already know that the production version will make its debut at the 2015 Detroit show in January. Fitting, then, that this most recent round of spy shots shows a JCW that's pretty much ready to roll - peel back that yellow swirly paper, and you've pretty much got the final deal.
It's easy to make out the final design for the revised front and rear fascias, and we can clearly see a more robust brake package nestled behind those alloy wheels. Speaking of, we must admit, the wheels here look rather pedestrian for a JCW model, but they could just be prototype rollers and not indicative of the final rolling stock. We expect the flashy red decals of the concept to be offered on the production model, as well, though they could be optional kit.
As reported earlier, power is expected to come from a 230-horsepower turbo-four - a modest increase over the 208 hp from the outgoing Mini JCW. Expect that to route through a six-speed manual transmission, sending turbocharged oomph to the front wheels.

Mini adding new driver assist systems to future models

With all the recent news about automated vehicle technology (from Ford, Nissan and Toyota, among others), Mini is bringing some not-so-groundbreaking tech into its products to better keep the driver connected to the car. Other than stating that these new technologies will roll out in future models, there is no telling when we could see them starting to show up, although our best guess is the 2015 Mini Cooper.
Two of the more notable technologies that Mini will introduce include a head-up display system (shown above) and the "city braking" system to work in conjunction with collision warning and passenger detection. The automated braking system is made possible with the forward-mounted camera, which is also used for adaptive cruise control, auto-dimming headlights and a street sign detection system (to relay speed limit and traffic sign info to the driver). A new parking assist feature helps drivers find a properly sized parking spot, and then drivers can take advantage of the backup camera.
Mini obviously isn't the first to introduce these technologies, but it might be among the first to bring such a large number of advanced safety features into a car priced under $30,000 - though there is no telling how much these options will cost. The automaker has issued a brief press release for its upcoming driver assist systems, which is posted below.