Aurelia Butler

Mitsubishi is in talks with Honda and Nissan about joining the partnership established by the two automakers earlier this year, Nikkei Asia reports.The alliance will focus on electric vehicles and automotive software, as the Japanese manufacturers look to catch up to EV leaders like Tesla and BYD.The partnership could also bring new models for each automaker as they build on each other’s strengths, such as Mitsubishi’s lineup of hybrids in Japan.Earlier this year Honda and Nissan signed a memorandum of understanding to begin weighing a partnership. The potential collaboration between the two large Japanese automakers is expected to focus on electric vehicles and automotive software platforms. Now Mitsubishi—which is 34 percent owned by Nissan—also looks set to get in on the deal, as reported by Nikkei Asia. According to the publication, Mitsubishi will join the Honda-Nissan alliance and has reportedly began discussions with the two automakers after signing a nondisclosure agreement. The partnership is supposed to help the three automakers catch up with Tesla and powerful Chinese EV companies like BYD and Geely, which have already invested far more resources into research and development for EVs, as well as scaling up the supply chain. Michael Simari|Car and DriverIn March, Honda and Nissan said it was “necessary to combine their strengths” and that the companies must “accelerate electrification and acceleration means investment and that requires achieving scale.” Honda’s CEO Toshihiro Mibe had suggested 2030 as a light deadline for Honda to be a “top runner” in the EV space.A main focus of the agreement, Nikkei Asia reports, will be to standardize the in-vehicle software used across the brands, with Honda and Nissan developing the underlying software. The companies will discuss using the software architecture in Mitsubishis as well. The alliance could also yield new models for the three brands, which can build on the strengths of each other’s lineups to plug gaps in their own arsenals. Mitsubishi sells plug-in hybrids and pickup trucks in Japan, two areas where Honda doesn’t compete in its home market. Mitsubishi could end up supplying vehicles for Honda, and the two companies may also collaborate on city cars, likely in Japan’s tiny kei car segment. With Mitsubishi set to join the partnership, the three brands combined will have more than 8 million global sales, with 4.1 million from Honda, 3.4 million from Nissan, and roughly 800,000 from Mitsubishi through the fiscal year that ended in March 2024. If all goes according to plan, the Japanese domestic market would then be split into two major conglomerates: Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi and Toyota, which has links to Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, Daihatsu, and Hino Motors. All told, the Toyota-led group has a combined sales volume of 16 million units. More Mitsubishi NewsCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

Though it existed for just over a decade, Allard produced some very competitive racing machines.With Cadillac V-8 power, this car was fast in its day and still is.It’s suitable for vintage sports car racing or just making a road drive feel like a lap of Le Mans.Short-lived automotive startup companies might seem like a current phenomenon, but trying to found your own car company is a tale as old as time. Many have tried, come close, and then failed at the end, and perhaps become more desirable for their rarity. So it is with the cars built by Londoner Sydney Allard. He fitted lightweight English chassis with thundering American V-8s, long before the Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. Allard only lasted a decade, just long enough to make its mark everywhere from Monte Carlo to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.This 1954 Allard J2X, up for sale on Bring A Trailer (which like Car and Driver is part of Hearst Autos), is one of the last such machines to wear Sydney’s name. The J2X was an extended and improved version of the Allard J2 racer, the latter campaigned by racers including Zora Arkus-Duntov (father of the Corvette) and Carroll Shelby.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerShelby probably had multiple inspirations for his AC Cobra, but you have to think an Allard was prominent among them. In 1950, the year that Jaguar first rolled up to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a J2 co-driven by Sydney Allard achieve a podium finish.He’d founded his eponymous company thanks to his family’s work during WWII, which largely involved managing Ford trucks for transporting troops and supplies. At the end of the war, he found himself with a surplus of Ford mechanical parts, and started building cars in various configurations. Even with post-war rationing, demand for cars in the UK was high, and business was brisk.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerBut Sydney was a racer at heart, and rather than build enclosed cars with broad appeal, he almost immediately began producing competition-oriented machines. Happily, a growing sports car market in the U.S. was hungry for performance, and Allard’s success at Le Mans was the best kind of advertising. The J2 proved up to the task, the cars putting drivers on the podium in roughly a third of the races in which they were entered.Bring a TrailerThe J2X was Allard’s counterattack against the likes of the Jaguar C-Type and D-Type, which in the early 1950s were the cars to beat at Le Mans. It was slightly longer than the J2, while riding on the same 100-inch wheelbase, with the engine shifted slightly forward and a reworked suspension setup.This example was sold new in Canada and was featured in-period on the cover of Track & Traffic, Canada’s premier motorsports publication at the time (think Road & Track but possibly in metric and also wearing a toque).Under that Art Deco meets Richard Scarry sheetmetal, however, is some pure Americana in the form of a 333-cubic-inch Cadillac V-8 breathing through a pair of four-barrel Holley carburetors. As a J2X tips the scales at something like 2100 pounds, this car was rocket-quick in its day and is still pretty fierce by modern standards. The transmission is a four-speed manual.This example reportedly was originally beige but now wears a fetching blue livery with a red leather interior. While a J2X is very rare, that well-understood Cadillac powerplant means this car is just itching to bring a little 1950s Le Mans to the streets. Allard sadly ended operations in 1957, but there’s still a chance to get behind the wheel of one.The auction ends on August 3.Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. More