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Roger Moore dies at 89; a look back at his automotive moments

According to Reuters, actor Roger Moore passed away this morning. The news source reports he died of cancer at age 89. Moore has a place in automotive enthusiasts' hearts thanks to his connection to some of the most famous onscreen cars in history. He portrayed James Bond in multiple films, perhaps most famously in The Spy Who Loved Me, in which his Bond piloted an amphibious Lotus Esprit. That car inspired many, even Elon Musk, who purchased the submarine version of the car. He also included it as an Easter egg in the Tesla Model S. That wasn't the only memorable Moore automotive moment. In two other Bond films, his character was involved in some remarkable stunts. In The Man with the Golden Gun, Moore's Bond drives an AMC Hornet over a ramp and does a barrel roll. Although cheesy, the stunt did happen. According to The Telegraph, a Cornell University aeronautical computer ran a simulation of the stunt and calculated the variables (such as the proper speed: 40 mph). Then British stuntman Loren "Bumps" Willard executed the roll on the first take, earning a GBP30,000 bonus. Which is a lot of money for a scene that uses a slide whistle as a sound effect. You can see the jump below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Moore is also associated with a great car thanks to his other famous role on the TV show The Saint. In that series, he drove the beautiful and unusual Volvo P1800 coupe. The car was enough of an icon that Jay Leno featured it on his Jay Leno's Garage series. Related Video:

Lotus hops into Extreme E with Jenson Button ahead of first race weekend

The Extreme E racing series is filling out with a host of interesting names, and Lotus is the latest manufacturer to join the fray. Lotus is hopping in as technical partner to the Jenson Button Extreme E team, making it quite the British powerhouse. A single photo of the rally vehicle is above with a simple JBXE and Lotus livery. Seeing Lotus hop into electric racing makes sense given that it will be pushing the Evija hypercar out the door soon. The company says it will be leveraging the experience it gained in development of that car to help it succeed on the motorsports side. “We are on the cusp of an exciting new era of electrified motorsport, and weÂ’re delighted to support the JBXE team as Technical Partner,” says Matt Windle, managing director of Lotus Cars. “The complex technicalities of EV racing present a fascinating challenge, and using our learnings from more than a decade of electrifying sports cars – most recently with the Lotus Evija hypercar – we can bring valuable knowledge to the team.” Jenson Button is acting as both the team owner and driver of the car in the Extreme E series. Other notable car companies hopping into the series include GMC (a Hummer partnership), Fisker, Hispano Suiza and Cupra. Other racing outfits are also hopping on without the support of major car manufacturers. The field has just nine teams right now, but the slow trickle continues with promising entries. This latest development with Lotus and Jenson Button is just another feather in the seriesÂ’ cap. "Lotus is a great British brand that is inextricably linked to motorsport, so we are delighted to welcome Lotus Engineering to JBXE,” Button says. “Extreme E is a unique and exciting formula, full of 'world firsts' and challenges, and to announce that a brand such as Lotus Engineering is coming on this journey with us is a proud moment for myself and the team. We are very excited about our new technical partnership and canÂ’t wait to show what we can do in the first race this weekend.” That first race — termed the “Desert X Prix” — will take place in Saudi Arabia this weekend. ItÂ’s airing on Fox Sports in the U.S. The second race is nearly two months after this upcoming one and will take place in Senegal.

2015 Ram ProMaster City Tradesman First Drive [w/video]

From the perspective of a reviewer, there's a refreshing clarity to be hand when approaching a vehicle like a small commercial van. Where the inherent value equation for most vehicles is composed of both objective facts (price, fuel economy), and subjective opinions (looks, emotional response while driving), the reckoning of something like the new Ram ProMaster City is more straightforward. The light commercial van segment in the US has seen a remodel over the last half-decade, moving from paneled-over minivans to the versatile, economical, European-style boxes on wheels you see with increasing frequency today. Ford, Nissan and Chevrolet are all players here (though Chevy's City Express is essentially a rebadged version of Nissan's NV200), and though Ram's entry could be seen as late to the party, it also matches up very nicely in many of those straightforward areas of measure. Kindly, Ram brought along both the Nissan and the Ford for us to test alongside its new product, so we could get firsthand comparative impressions. The 2015 ProMaster City is roomier, more powerful and more maneuverable than its competition, though it trades those advantages for a higher price and a thirstier engine around town. We headed down to Texas where, between breaks for tacos and Topo Chicos, our goal was to see if Ram had created the new best box van in the US. Based on the already successful Fiat Doblo van from Europe, the baby ProMaster's visual transformation after its continental hop isn't radical. Ram has fitted a crosshair grille, new headlights and taillights, but largely the curvaceous, nose-forward styling remains the same. As we mentioned at the top: style is going to be very low on this list of priorities for a buyer of light commercial vans. Still, we'd rate the City as mid-pack for the options in the US; more attractive than the Nissan/Chevy twins and less so than the crisp Ford Transit Connect. (Though the optional five-spoke wheels of our test vehicle make it seem downright sporty in this group). Open the driver's side door and slide into the almost totally flat front seat, and any notion of "style" goes right out the window. Surfaces are almost exclusively black and gray, with workaday textures and frustratingly easy-to-scratch-plastics. This is a functional space though; trays, cubbies, cupholders and bins are far more numerous than you'd expect from a compact, two-seat cabin.