Toyota Motor Corp. took the gloves off yesterday in a press conference where it used external expert sources the automaker hired to demonstrate that the test performed by Southern Illinois University professor David Gilbert on ABC News and described to a Congressional committee in testimony is a hoax. 

Matthew Schwall, an engineer with automotive specialist firm Exponent from Menlo Park, Calif., said at the webcast briefing, "Any circuit can be taken and re-engineered and rewired to perform what it is you want it to do."  Toyota stated emphatically that the wires that Gilbert used to short circuit the Toyota he tested cannot in any way become short circuited in its cars, adding that if there was such an occurrence, it would result from corrosion and there would be evidence of the corrosion.  Toyota said that it performed the same test that Gilbert performed on a BMW 3 Series vehicle and found the same result, unintended acceleration when the wires were shorted.

More over, Toyota provided a photograph of the vehicle used in the ABC News presentation of Gilbert's test narrated by Brian Ross.  In the newscast, Ross states that he is traveling at a low rate of speed in the Toyota Avalon used for the test and then appears to be very surprised when the wires are crossed and the vehicle accelerates.  In fact, the photo taken from the video shows the car was in Park and the speedometer is at zero.  ABC News said it had performed the test repeatedly in a moving car with the same results but it was easier to video tape the scene if the vehicle was stationary.