Make your car horn scream in pain, or play music

Car brands love April Fools Day, using it as a channel to let off some marketing steam even more ludicrous than some of their regular advertisements and merchandising. And we love it too, because no car idea is too ridiculous to consider.

Peugeot is one of the early contenders this year, with a program that allows you to personalise the sound of your car horn. You can make it scream in agony, set it up to play hipster tunes -- the pedestrians might not get out of your way, but they'll at least be dancing -- or have a simpering Marilyn 'boop-de-doop'.

"This is a hugely exciting development, made possible through the dedication of our team of product designers and sound engineers. And it’s destined to change the way we alert our fellow road users forever," Peugeot says.

Acknowledging the hordes of parents who strap their infants into cars for a drive to put them to sleep, BMW has announced the ZZZ Series Ultimate Sleeping Machine - smartphone-controlled cot guaranteed to make Junior nod off with four modes: city drive, open road, race track and offroad.

"Skilfully blending comfort and style, this innovative premium baby cot embodies the spirit of The Ultimate Driving Machine. A fusion of German engineering and advanced technology means your baby will sleep better, for longer, in safety and comfort," the blurb says.

BMW has also promised to 'change the face of motoring' with the launch of artificial G-force technology. The system is designed to morph your face into G-force distortions while you're tootling about at slow commuter speeds.  "The Force Injection Booster (FIB) works by extracting kinetic energy from the car’s engine and converting it into positive g-forces," BMW reckons, while reassuring that the face alteration is not permanent.

It comes with the BMW AirNet®, which will apparently blow your 'do' into a high-speed style. Professor Mika Notbetrü, Head of BMW Innovation, describes FIB technology as “Mind-blowingly unbelievable”.

The German brand's Mini arm has also got in on the fun, highlighting their British heritage with the Mini Cooper T -- an environmentally friendly vehicle that runs on a tea-leaf biofuel composite.

They've obviously been brewing this stunt up for some time, and promise the new model will be offered in a variety of colours including ‘Chamomile Yellow’, ‘Red Bush’ and ‘Earl Grey’.

"Capable of covering up to 40 miles on a single cup, Cooper T certainly isn’t what you’d call thirsty. It boasts all the standard features you would expect, such as VVT, ABS and DSC, but also benefits from DAT or Dunk Avoidance Technology. This ingenious filtration system stops peckish owners and opportunistic passersby from inserting biscuits into the MINI T’s fuel tank in order to moisten their snacks," Mini says.

Watch the desktop version of the make your car horn scream in pain, or play music video here.  

This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott