2009 Toyota Prius on 2040-cars

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All of the Bond cars of 'No Time To Die' (caution for spoilers)

Note: The following overview of the cars in No Time To Die contains spoilers. Read at your own risk, or come back after seeing the film to make sure you caught everything.   No Time To Die picks up right around where Spectre leaves us. James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) are driving along in Bond’s restored and iconic DB5 in Matera, Italy. Things donÂ’t stay all that cheery for long in picturesque Matera, though. As is tradition in Bond films, the first car chase hits us with an explosion of action in what's a super-long opening scene. Fourth-gen Maserati Quattroporte: The baddies in the beginning are driving a Maserati and chasing after Bond in the DB5. Specifically, theyÂ’re in a fourth-gen Quattroporte, which feels right for a chase scene in Italy. Its squared-off looks are mean enough, and its Italian growl is a good background soundtrack to the DB5Â’s inline-six. In addition to the Quattroporte, the chase scene in Matera is home to a couple of the best stunts of the entire movie, including the arch jump done with a Triumph motorcycle seen in trailers — Matera is extremely hilly. Eventually, Bond and Swann find themselves in the DB5 again together, which is where the famous gatling gun scene from the trailer commences, but not before the bulletproof windows and body of the DB5 are thoroughly tested. RIP to the first-gen Range Rover Classics and Jaguar XFs that joined the Maserati in pursuit of Bond (here's a list of other Bond cars over the years). As the DB5 escape scene concludes, we catch a glimpse of what appears to be a Ferrari from the 1970s. However, the view was far enough away that weÂ’ll need a second look to be sure of the exact model. Land Rover Series III: Next time we see Bond, heÂ’s fishing in Jamaica and driving around a blue Land Rover Series III. ItÂ’s yet another of the many Land Rover products featured throughout the film, and unlike most of BondÂ’s Aston Martins, this one doesnÂ’t seem to have any unique features. The other intriguing vehicle out of Jamaica? An old Chevrolet Bel-Air expertly and effectively piloted by Bond newcomer, Ana de Armas. Next up, we get a few shots of the new and still-not-for-sale Aston Martin Valhalla mid-engine supercar (also seen in trailers). BondÂ’s old boss M is in the scene which appears to have been shot in some secret wind tunnel of sorts. Much to our dismay, nobody ends up driving the Valhalla in the film. Could it be a teaser for what the next 007Â’s car is?

Toyota's Psy-style Waku-Doki ad inherits Japan's bizarre ad crown

A new Japanese Toyota ad featuring crisply suited businessmen driving into the jungle only to segue into a Psy-style music-video dance-off with a gorilla and natives is the latest car commercial to go viral. Jungle Wakudoki is the newest installment in a grand tradition of bizarre ads from the island nation that are by turns hilarious, head-scratching and occasionally even frightening.
Let's face it: My people are weird.
I'm half-Japanese and take suitable pride in my Asian roots, but even I can't figure out what's been slipped into the water coolers of the country's ad agencies much of the time - or the nation at large, for that matter. From Japan's ubiquitous obsession with all things adorable (kawaii) to its offbeat sense of humor and its bizarrely perverse and violent tentacle porn, it's clear there's a lot going on in the culture, and only some of it bubbles up to the surface in its marketing efforts. Much of the strangest and most amazing ads are for non-transportation products (e.g. laundry soap, snacks, energy drinks), but the automotive space has its fair share. This latest Toyota ad had me trawling YouTube for a common theme, trying to make sense of why these spots are the way they are. Scroll down to watch the Toyota ad in question as well as a bunch of other examples of Japan's most bizarre car-related ads and see if you can't find the thread that runs between them. Is it just that something's being lost in translation? Have your say in Comments.

Sunday Drive: Subaru Ascends up to the hottest market segment in America

Utility vehicles – in other words, crossovers and SUVs – are so hot right now. Two of our top stories from last week revolve around the utilitarian vehicle, but besides their jacked-up, five-door bodystyles, they couldn't be more different. The 2019 Subaru Ascent is headed into an extremely crowded and competitive segment, where it'll have to go up against industry stalwarts like the Toyota Highlander and Honda Pilot, not to mention upstart contenders like the Volkswagen Atlas. The Mercedes-AMG G63, on the other hand, has very little competition – there simply aren't very many ultra-luxurious, off-road-ready SUVs in the world vying to attract the dollars of the wellest-to-do customers across these United States. Moving on from crossovers and SUVs, our readers remain attracted to classic front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sportscars. The Toyota Supra's upcoming rebirth earns two places on our list of stories worth highlighting from the week that was; one with leaked information from a Japanese magazine, and another with rumors indicating that maybe we shouldn't be quite so excited. And finally, there's the strange case of the long-lost 2009 Chevy Corvette Z06 that one lucky individual happened to find squirreled away in a storage container with just 720 original miles. A high-horsepower head scratcher if we've ever seen one. As always, stay tuned to Autoblog this week for all the latest automotive news that's fit to print. 2019 Subaru Ascent vs Honda Pilot vs Toyota Highlander: How they compare on paper 2019 Mercedes-AMG G63 set to bare its 577-horsepower heart in Geneva Toyota Supra leaks in Japanese magazine ahead of Geneva debut Toyota Supra to be little more than a rebodied BMW Z4? Forgotten 720-mile 2009 Corvette Z06 emerges from storage Chevrolet Mercedes-Benz Subaru Toyota Coupe Crossover SUV Luxury Off-Road Vehicles Performance barn find sunday drive subaru ascent mercedes-amg g63