by Gabrielle DeSantis

Jay Leno is a standup comedian and Tonight Show host. James Bond is a surly secret agent with a license to kill. You might think they have nothing in common, but both of them love cars. Here are two classic sports cars that both James Bond and Jay Leno love–neither of which is an Aston Martin.

1966 Toyota 2000GT: The Most Collectible Japanese Car of All Time

In 1967’s You Only Live Twice, Sean Connery’s James Bond arrives in Tokyo and teams up with a Japanese agent named Aki. She picks him up in her Toyota 2000GT convertible. She even drives the fast car in nail-biting chases through the city’s streets. The only catch is that Toyota never made a 2000GT convertible.

When Eon Productions decided the fifth James Bond film would be set in Japan, they wanted to put the secret agent in a Japanese sports car. The production team contacted Toyota and the automaker was eager to offer a 2000GT for the movie. But they had a problem: At 6’2″ tall, Sean Connery had to hunch to sit in the low coupe. Because it would be unseemly for the world’s most recognizable secret agent to hunch, Toyota sliced the roof off two 2000GTs to make unique convertibles for the movie. After filming, Eon Productions brought one car back to England, but it disappeared and never resurfaced. In 1977, Toyota bought the other car from a private collector to display in their museum.

In 2012, Jay Leno visited Toyota’s Automobile Museum and the manufacturer offered him a drive in the only remaining 2000GT. Jay Leno was starstruck by James Bond’s sports car. He swooned over the nimble convertible and admitted, “I waited fifty years to drive this car!”

1977 Lotus Espirit S1: One of Jay Leno and James Bond’s Favorite Sports Cars

One of the most memorable moments of 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me came when James Bond is being chased by villainous Naomi in her helicopter. He drives his 1977 Lotus Espirit S1 off a dock, to the shock of his passenger–Major Anya Amasova–and it transforms into a submersible. 

In the movie, the vehicle was a Q-Branch invention named “Wet Nellie.” The futuristic Lotus Espirit was the perfect car for this flashy gadget. But without a push from Lotus, the Espirit would have never been James Bond’s car in the first place.

The Story Behind 007’s Submarine: Wet Nellie

According to James Bond lore, Eon Productions was struggling to get Roger Moore’s Bond out of Sean Connery’s shadow. They changed Bond’s drink of choice and favorite smoke. They shifted the writing to give him a different sense of humor and dressed him differently. Don McLauchlan, Lotus’s Head of Public Relations saw an opening. He knew James Bond drove Aston Martins–but that was Sean Connery’s bond.

McLauchlan had all the badges removed from a Lotus Espirit, then he parked it outside Eon Productions. He hid and waited for the produces and staff to notice the striking sports car. Once a crowd had gathered, trying to identify the vehicle, McLauchlan emerged to strike a deal.

Today, Elon Musk owns the Lotus Espirit submersible prop used in The Spy Who Loved Me. The Tesla founder loves the movie submarine and plans to make it into a functional aquatic car.

Jay Leno has a soft sport for James Bond’s famous sports car. When Jay Leno heard about a one-family Lotus Espirit, maintained and modify by Detlef and Jason Claudius, he asked the duo to bring their car onto his show. When Jay learned that Detlef had been a certified Lotus technician and updated nearly every aspect of his Series 1 Lotus Espirit, he was full of questions. The Claudius family had upgraded everything from later rims to a more powerful 2.2-liter turbo engine, even installing aftermarket air-conditioning. Jay was impressed and concluded, “Boy, you’ve really updated it.”

RELATED: Why Jay Leno Doesn’t Own A Single Ferrari

The post Jay Leno And James Bond Both Love These Classic Sports Cars appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Volkswagen and Argo AI have shared plans to test and commercially scale a fully electric, self-driving van over the next four years, according to TechCrunch. The end goal of this testing is to launch a self-driving ridepooling service.

Firstly, Argo AI is an autonomous driving technology company that is also working with Ford. Ford and Argo plan to launch over 1,000 self-driving vehicles on Lyft’s network over the next five years. The company is now working in partnership with Volkswagen Commerical Vehicles, the brand that exclusively develops and sells commercial vehicles. The pair of companies have teamed to create the ID Buzz test vehicle for autonomous driving.

ID Buzz test vehicle for autonomous driving

The two companies are working together on a fully electric self-driving van. Testing of the prototype has already begun at Argo’s development center in Neufahrn. Argo’s nine-hectare closed-course near the Munich airport and Argo’s test track in the United States are also testing sites.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles demonstrated at the Munich Auto Show event how ride-pooling with self-driving vehicles can help manage traffic flows.

“An environment recognition system from six lidar, eleven radar, and fourteen cameras, distributed over the entire vehicle, can capture much more than any human driver can from his seat,” said Christian Senger, head of autonomous driving at VCV.

According to a statement from VW, Argo AI’s system features sensors and software that allow it to “predict the actions of pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles, and direct the engine, braking, and steering systems so that the vehicle moves safely and naturally, like an experienced driver.”

The first ID Buzz concept, an electric version of the iconic Volkswagen microbus design, was revealed in 2017. Argo’s Lidar sits atop the roof and can detect objects from a distance of more than 1,300 feet. This equipment is so large is almost makes the bus completely unrecognizable. However, without it, the self-driving capability would not be nearly as efficient. The entire system contains software with sensors capable of giving the computer 360-degree awareness of the environment.

MOIA, a subsidiary of VW, will launch the ID Buzz in Hamburg as part of a self-driving ride-pool system. The service will relieve inner-city congestion with autonomy.

Will the ID Buzz noncommercial version have self-driving capabilities?

As for the non-commercial version of the ID Buzz, will it have full autonomous capabilities? As of now with all the information available about the ID Buzz concept, the answer is no. There has been no information to suggest the consumer version of the vehicle will feature self-driving capabilities. Some people will be disappointed to hear the noncommercial version of the ID Buzz may not feature full self-driving capability. However, would you rather have full autonomy and that giant thing on top of your car?

There is always a possibility that Volkswagen, and Argo, work on a scaled-down version of the autonomy. Like automakers with self-driving cars needing a pilot, a less hardware-heavy vehicle could perform the functions without such traffic efficiency. Needing a driver present at all times would be the result, which isn’t a deal-breaker for most. There haven’t been any announcements that suggest the noncommercial version of the ID Buzz will have autonomous driving capabilities.

Argo AI is a big name in driving automation. Outside of working with VCW and Ford, it received a Drivered AV pilot permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. This gives the company permission to expand beyond traditional testing on its autonomous vehicles. This means it can now test vehicles on California public roads.

After Volkswagen’s $2.6 billion investment in Argo AI, it received a $7.5 billion evaluation. Argo AI is a well-trusted autonomous driving technology company by automakers already. This testing is a big step in the right direction for providing automated travel to people everywhere.

RELATED: Back To Court: General Motors Sues Ford Over Hands-Free Driving Feature Name

The post Volkswagen and Argo AI Reveal ID Buzz Test Vehicle for Autonomous Driving appeared first on MotorBiscuit.