Secret prototypes worth a billion sold as scrap

Selling a floating Lexus as a wreck on Facebook. This prototype had electromagnetic suspension and cost $1 billion.
– The cars would have been scrapped if I hadn't bought them, says Tom McVay.

Dr. Amar Bose is a legendary professor at MIT and founder of Bose Corporation. He died in 2013, but Dr. Boss' speakers and his associates are still alive.

Amar Bose became fascinated with loudspeakers in the mid-1950s. He became obsessed with the idea of ​​creating the perfect sound. In the early 1980s, he had the idea to transfer the technology from his stereos to cars. According to the eccentric professor, electromagnetism can be used instead of suspension. The result will be a vehicle that runs smoother than any other vehicle.

For the secret prototype, they used a Lexus LS400, the first car in Toyota's luxury car project. Dr. Bose and his colleagues developed electromagnetic actuators that were placed on each wheel, where the suspension would normally be positioned. The result was a car that could pass speed bumps without being noticed.

It was almost as if he was floating forward. Unfortunately, the system was very expensive to produce and also very heavy. So they put the three cars in the garage and forgot about the project. Dr. Ammar Bose also died in 2013 at the age of 83.

But Clearmotion has set its radar on Bose's magical suspension system. They bought the patent in 2017 and then acquired the three cars in the deal, one of which was equipped with the electromagnetic system while the other two had a regular suspension system.

But Clearmotion ran into financial problems and needed to free up finances. Therefore, they needed to get rid of the three cars quickly. A test engineer at the company heard about it and made an offer.
“If I hadn't bought the cars they might have been scrapped, and now they'll survive,” says buyer Tom McVay drive.

He uses one of his normally equipped Lexus LS400s every day. But the car, which was equipped with an electromagnetic suspension, became a spare parts warehouse. But one day, he thought it was taking up too much space and posted an ad on Facebook.

There was immediate hysteria. Many remembered Dr. Bose's magical Lexus and wanted to buy the car. The winning bidder is Michael Morgan. Therefore, Dr. Bose Lexus may not live in his actual body. But its components will give life to another car.
– It's a car with a lot of history. “I need it for a customer who needs to rebuild a 1995 Toyota 4Runner,” says Michael Morgan.
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Andreas Gehmen is a journalist and author.