Ben Hsu

Honda is reportedly planning to revive the Element after what will be, by the time it debuts, an 18-year absence on the market. Details are sparse, but the resurrected Element nameplate will go on a hybrid crossover that will split the difference, size-wise, between an HR-V and CR-V. Like the original, it should have a rugged appearance, as Honda is positioning it to go against cars like the Ford Bronco Sport.

A Mazda North America PR person once told us that every car in the collection is expendable, except for the 787B. “That one is priceless because there will only ever be one Le Mans winner,” he said. Given that, if we were Mazda, we'd hesitate to fly the car around the world for a demo lap, but that's exactly what the company is doing to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the 787B's historic win.

Keisuke Kuwata's latest music video “Hitotarashi” is a carspotter's dream. It takes place in a Tokyo traffic jam where almost every single car is a standout from the 70s, 80s, or 90s. Prior to the gridlock Kuwata himself, a known car enthusiast, begins the video tearing along the expressway in a red Mazda RX-7 Convertible.

Today, June 29, is Real-Time Used Car Auction Day in Japan. It commemorates the anniversary of the first time dealers across the country could bid on a car live. The inaugural auction took place long before the world wide web was available for public use, on June 29, 1985 and was conducted via Laserdisc. Prior to the 29th, the auction company mailed out Laserdiscs to participating dealers. On auction day, dealers inserted the Laserdisc into a specialized terminal connected to a telephone line. As a specific cars came up for bidding, the central system would send a data command via the phone line telling the dealer's Laserdisc player exactly which frame to pull up on the screen. It was a crude system, and at the time bidding without seeing the car in person was a novel idea. Four decades later, it's the norm.

Honda and Nissan broached a merger in 2024, but the talks blew up spectacularly before any sort of agreement could take place. A lot has happened in the two years since and now Honda's CEO is hinting that a collaboration is close. It may not be an all-out merger, but there could be cooperation in some areas of business like sharing components.

The original Mille Miglia was one of the most storied and dangerous road races in automotive history. Covering 1000 miles through beautiful Italian cities, it was the crucible that helped make legends out of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lancia, and more. Until this year no Japanese car had ever participated, but Toyota became the first by entering a Crown, Sports 800, 2000GT, A80 Supra, and Lexus LFA.

When Toyota debuted its supercharged MR2 for 1988, it was a revelation. While several automakers experimented with supercharging in the 1950s, it hadn't really been used in a production car for decades. Sure, there were Lancias and Japanese-market Toyotas that experimented with crank-driven compression in the early 80s, but as far as the US market goes, the AW11 was a modern pioneer.

There's no question that Akio Toyoda is one of the most impressive auto executives in the world. He's one of us, an enthusiast, who drives race cars, but take that bias out of it for a minute. He oversees one of the largest corporations the world has ever seen, a brand that

WardsAuto . It's been rumored to be on the chopping block since 2024 and now that time has come.