Google Makes History with its First Self-Driving Car Accident

Many companies are developing self-driving cars. The latest example is VW’s TAP (Temporary Auto Pilot) that was recently demonstrated on video.

Another earlier model is Google’s automated/driverless fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids developed with the help of the military’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) 2007 Urban Challenge winner, Chris Urmson and Anthony Levandowski, the maker of the world’s first autonomous motorcycle (again, for DARPA) – oh, and an self-driving pizza-delivery vehicle.

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Two Guys, a Toyota FJ Cruiser and Twenty-One Minutes of Australian Outback

From Toyota’s Australian arm comes this documentary-style promo for the FJ Cruiser which has recently launched Down Under. It features two Aussie blokes dumped in the outback with nothing but each other – and an FJ Cruiser – for company.

With a GPS, limited supplies and more than a few hundred kilometres between checkpoints, it’s a race against time to get back to civilization.

Just keep in mind, its twenty-one freakin’ minutes long! That’s like half an episode of Top Gear, but without the boys to entertain us along the way... Gluttons for punishment if you can watch the whole video after the jump.

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Toyota Reveals Next-Gen Safety Systems [Video]

Toyota has revealed a host of both active and passive safety systems that it is developing for use in its future models. The Japanese company said that it concentrates on protecting both older drivers as well as pedestrians.

If you're wondering why, this is because of the statistics which show that in Japan, more than half of road traffic fatalities are of people aged 65 and above, while pedestrian now account for more fatalities than vehicle occupants.

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Ad Watch: Not All Toyota Prius Drivers Are Goody Two Shoes, So Sayeth Steve Nash

NBA basketball player and point guard for the Phoenix Suns Steve Nash doesn’t take himself very seriously. He has starred in a handful of TV ads - including a few for Vitamin Water - where he generally takes the piss out of himself and the typical over-the-top sporting personalities we see so very often.

Now he’s staring in a couple of TV commercials for the third generation Toyota Prius where he proves that you don’t have to be a planet-conscious all-around-good-guy to drive the Japanese brand’s popular hybrid hatch.

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Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 featured on Top Gear Back in the 1990s up for Sale

Even though we’re always on the lookout for rally-bred production cars from the 1980s and 1990s like the Lancia Delta Integrale, we must admit that this 1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 grabbed our attention mainly because it is the same car that was featured on an older episode of Top Gear. A young Jeremy Clarkson had then compared it against Ford's Escort RS Cosworth.

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Video: Man Hanging on the Window of a Speeding Toyota Paseo Caught on Tape

A very bizarre incident in Stockton, California, involving a red Toyota Passeo coupe and a man…hanging on the passenger side of the vehicle was caught on film by chance on Friday while the news crew from ABC was covering another story.

The man is seen on the video clinging to the open window and trying to jump in the vehicle while the car was on the move at an estimated speed of around 35 miles per hour.

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2012 Toyota Fortuner: SUV Version of Facelifted HiLux Makes Asian Debut

After last week’s presentation of the redesigned 2012 HiLux in Europe, Toyota went ahead and introduced the Asian market version of the pickup truck, called HiLux Vigo in Thailand, as well its SUV sibling, the seven-passenger Fortuner.

Both the HiLux Vigo and Fortuner sport the same styling revisions with their European counterpart including the new front end with the chromed out, razor edge grille, new alloy wheel options, and interior refinements such as the redesigned instrument panel plus trim and equipment updates.

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Double Standards, or how (Not) to Sell Cars to Women

In the 1950s, products for women were no doubt designed and marketed by men. Take for example the 1955 Dodge Le Femme, a truly absurd car (by today’s standards) that came with a matching purse, raincoat and umbrella as well as a bright pint interior with rose-patterned trim.

It’s the equivalent of offering a car today with a…tampon dispenser in the glovebox.

Across the pond there was the Daimler 104 Ladies’ Model with electric windows, a simplified gear change (no, I did not make that up), an umbrella and a vanity case under the dashboard.

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New Toyota Yaris Wears a Sport Kit for its Australian Debut at the Melbourne Motor Show

After its world premiere in Japan last December as the Vitz, Toyota is gradually introducing the new generation of the Yaris in other markets around the world. Now, with the European version out of the way, it’s time for the Yaris to make its first appearance in Melbourne at this week’s 2011 Australian International Motor Show (AIMS).

Revealed in show car form, the Yaris is fitted with a TRD-like sports kit comprising of a honeycomb grille, a restyled front bumper with larger openings and a chrome trim around the lower grille, side skirts, chunky alloy wheels and a new rear bumper with a diffuser plus a roof spoiler.

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VIDEO: Toyota FT-86 Freshly Spied at the Nurburgring Race Track

If anything else, spy photographers have their work cut out with the new Toyota FT-86 sports coupe. As we are nearing closer to the launch of the production model, the Japanese automaker has increased its presence at the Nordschleife circuit in Germany to fine tune the chassis and mechanical hardware, with this latest scoop video showing a camouflaged prototype in action. Read more »

Gutsy Toyota Supra Driver Drifts Around $2 Million Bugatti Veyron

No matter how talented you are, it takes a lot of guts and an extra dose of craziness to attempt what you are about to see in the video clip after the break, because it’s one thing going around a Ford Pinto in circles and another when the car in question is a Bugatti Veyron priced close to $2 million.

The man behind this feat (if you can call it that) is 25-year-old pro drifter Derek "Buttsy" Butler from Ireland. Buttsy performed the…gutsy drift stunt around the exotic 1,001-horsepower supercar in a heavily modified Toyota Supra during this year’s Gumball 3000.

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New Toyota FT-86 / Scion FR-S Sports Coupe Scooped on Video

By now, you have probably already seen our spy shots of the kitted-out Toyota FT-86 prototype with the Supra-like rear wing, which was snagged during testing in Germany, but one scoopster managed to film the sports car on the road as well.

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Toyota Corolla vs Ferrari F430: Can You Guess Who Wins this Race?

Pitting a puny stock Toyota Corolla against a Ferrari F430 and asking which car would win in a straight line race sounds like a joke, right? Well, under any other circumstances, you would be right to take this as a shaggy dog story but this comparo, which was made for a Japanese TV show, has a peculiar twist to it: the race was run in reverse gear… So, now that you know, can you pick the winner? Enjoy the quirky drag race between the Corolla sedan and Maranello’s supercar in the video clip after the break.

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Toyota FT-86 Sports Concept II: New Pictures and Video from Brussels Photo Shoot

We’ve already seen and gone over all the juicy bits of the near-production Toyota FT-86 II sports coupe, but the Japanese automaker’s social media crew went over to the firm’s European headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, for a new photo shoot last week offering us a fresh batch of pictures as well as a behind-the-scenes video.

The second iteration of the FT-86 study made its first public outing at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month. Its main purpose is to preview actual production model that will go on sale in late 2012. The well-received styling of the original concept model evolved gaining new front and rear ends, more pronounced surfaces and a host of other fresh details, with Toyota claiming that the design changes were made for safety regulations as well as for practical reasons.

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New 300HP Toyota Avensis BTCC Racer Revealed in the Flesh [with Video]

The two new Toyota Avensis “Next Generation Touring Cars” (NGTC) received their public debut on Thursday at the Silverstone circuit today, a week before the start of the British Touring Car Championship. The Avensis racers went on display wearing the liveries of privateer teams Dynojet Racing and Hughes Motorsport/Speedworks.

The Avensis race cars will be driven by Frank Wrathall Jr. and Tony Hughes. “The Toyota looks amazing and we are all delighted with it," said Wrathall. "Yes, it is frustrating not to have done more testing, but the first few rounds were always going to be tough for us, so we will just get on with it and do the best, most competitive job that we can."

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Toyota FT-86 II Concept in the Flesh and on GT5-like Video Footage

Toyota has published two brand new videos of its FT-86 II concept car that broke cover at this week's 81st Geneva International Motor Show. The first video is a real-life 'walk-around' of the actual concept model while the second clip shows the FT-86 II in some virtual racing action in what appears to be -but is not mentioned-the Gran Turismo 5 game (if we're wrong on this one, let us know in the comments section).

The FT-86 II is the final concept version of Toyota's upcoming rear-wheel drive sports coupe before the production model comes to life next year. For the details on the styling changes over the original study, read our previous article here.

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VIDEO: What if Toyota Made a Cute Darth Vader Commercial?

Everyone seemed to love Volkswagen's Darth Vader Super Bowl commercial. In fact, some people out there liked it so much that they wanted to see what it would be like had Toyota made the ad. Well now we know (which is half the battle). Needless to say, the Toyota version isn't as heartwarming. It is quite entertaining, though. Check out the clip below for 1:08 of dark-sided hilarity.

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VIDEO: 2012 Toyota Prius V Minivan Presentation and Driving Footage

In a move that was more expected than surprising given the success of the Prius over the years, Toyota launched the first addition to the Prius family, the V-branded minivan, and announced an upcoming compact hatchback, previewed by the Prius C concept study, at the 2011 Detroit Motor Show. The two models will join the regular Prius hatchback and its forthcoming plug-in version in the North American market.

The production Prius V seen in the videos after the jump, is a practical five-seat minivan based off the hatchback version of Toyota's popular hybrid model. It uses the same 1.8-litre petrol engine and Hybrid Synergy Drive tech offering 50% more luggage space than its smaller counterpart, while returning an estimated 42 mpg city, 38 mpg highway and 40 mpg combined. The Prius V will go on sale in North America in late summer 2011 as a 2012 model year.

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