The reveal of the Nissan Z Proto is easily the most significant event for Nissan this year, but another of its long-running nameplates is reaching a big milestone, too. The Nissan Maxima full-size flagship sedan is turning 40 years old. To celebrate, there's a 2021 Nissan Maxima 40th Anniversary Edition, complete with all the bells and whistles and some unique trimmings.

On the outside, the special edition Maxima gets an exclusive two-tone gray and black paint job. The 19-inch wheels as well as all the trim and badges are finished in black, too. Even the exhaust tips are painted back.

LE MANS, France — Toyota Gazoo's No. 8 car comfortably won the 24 Hours Le Mans by five laps from Rebellion No. 1 on Sunday to secure a third straight victory in the prestigious endurance race.

It was also a third consecutive win for Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi and Japan's Kazuki Nakajima driving. Brendon Hartley was the other driver, having replaced two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso.

Remember that pristine 1999 Acura NSX Zanardi Edition we showed you earlier this week? Well, as suspected, it managed to drop quite a few jaws with the winning bid at Bring A Trailer being a lofty $277,017.

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and News Editor Joel Stocksdale. In the news this week, Ford has teased some sort of high-performance Bronco, Nissan unveiled the Z Proto, Hyundai revealed the next-gen Tucson and GMC teased the Hummer EV's "Crab Mode." Our editors break that all down for you, and share some insights and opinions before they turn to the cars in their own driveways. This week, they've been spending time with the 2020 Mercedes-AMG G 63, as well as the 2020 BMW Alpina B7.

The 2021 Mazda CX-30 is one of those cars that can be considered an alternative to a variety of segments. It provides a higher seating position than compact hatchbacks like the Mazda3, with which it's nearly identical under the skin. It's smaller than bigger, pricier compact SUVs like Mazda's CX-5 or the Honda CR-V, yet it's also more spacious and refined than subcompact models like the Hyundai Kona. Meanwhile, its ritzy interior, sleek styling and budget-Porsche driving dynamics mean you can legitimately cross-shop it with luxury models like the Audi Q3, BMW X2 and Mercedes GLA.

Actually, not only can you cross-shop it with those, we think it's a much smarter purchase. The CX-30 was one of the most compelling new cars introduced last year, and it gets even better for 2021 thanks to the introduction of the new 2.5 Turbo model. It's still not vice free, though: The tech interface isn't ideal for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and we aren't alone in thinking that the huge plastic wheel arches look cheap rather than evoking some sort of Subaru-like off-road cred. Yet taken as a whole, this in-betweener alternative should make sense for a lot of buyers, no matter which type of car or SUV they initially started looking for.

Kamui Kobayashi put Toyota's No. 7 car on pole position on Friday for a condensed and rescheduled Le Mans 24 Hour race being held without spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Japanese veteran made sure of the champions' fourth successive pole on a sunny morning at the Sarthe circuit but fell short of his 2017 record of 3 minutes 14.791 seconds in the TS050 hybrid car.

After 11 years in production and over 80,000 units sold in the U.S. and Europe, Nissan is about to retire the 370Z and replace it with a brand new sports car, previewed by the Z Proto and possibly named 400Z.

Mitsubishi's long-promised new models are right around the corner. It released a dark image to preview the 2022 Eclipse Cross, which will boast comprehensive visual updates when it arrives in the first quarter of 2021.

Although the photo keeps the full design under wraps, we can tell the Eclipse Cross falls in line with the rest of the Mitsubishi range by adopting new-look headlights with swept-back LED accents and thick pieces of C-shaped trim. Few would qualify these changes as revolutionary, but bigger modifications are found out back. The preview image suggests — and earlier spy shots confirm — that stylists have smoothed out the crossover's rear end, which some have likened to the unfortunate Pontiac Aztek. The end result is a sleeker, less hunchback-like design.

BERLIN, Ohio — If horsepower is good, then more horsepower must be better. And in the case of the 2021 Subaru Crosstrek, more horsepower comes courtesy of an optional 2.5-liter engine that provides potential buyers with a long-desired alternative to the meager 2.0-liter four-cylinder that remains standard equipment.

Of course, there's more to the 2021 Crosstrek story than more displacement. There's a nip here, a tuck there, and the addition of a new Sport trim level. It all adds up to what we think is the best buy in its segment. And that's saying something, considering that the number of subcompact crossover choices has grown exponentially since the Crosstrek went on sale for the 2013 model year.

Well, the rumors were true. The 2021 Mazda CX-30 subcompact crossover will be offered with a 227-horsepower turbocharged engine producing 310 pound-feet of torque. Dubbed the 2.5 Turbo, the new entry will come with standard all-wheel drive when it goes on sale later this year. 

Following in the footsteps of the lower-slung Mazda3 sedan and hatchback, the CX-30 gets the 2.5-liter turbocharged engine that was previously reserved for the company's larger offerings. Capable of producing 250 hp and 320 lb-ft with 93 octane gas, the grunty four-cylinder has revived some of the old "Zoom-Zoom" that many felt the company's lineup was lacking after the demise of Mazda's 2.3-liter turbocharged engine and Ford-sourced V6. 

The Fast and Furious franchise has featured some amazing cars, and the bright pink Honda S2000 from 2 Fast 2 Furious is one of the most iconic. Doug DeMuro recently had the opportunity to check it out.

The Nissan Z Proto is chock full of retro design elements, so let's take a tour through our five favorite (plus one bonus) retro touches. If you want a full breakdown of the Z Proto, check out our reveal post here. We go over the powertrain, tech and many other aspects of the Z Proto that make it tick. With that, we'll dive into the list.

With the Nissan Z Proto officially revealed, a lot of questions have been answered. We know what it looks like, and it looks quite good. We know it will have a twin-turbo V6 and manual and automatic transmission options, which also sounds good. But it also raises many questions, since the company didn't give many specifics. One of those is, what is it going to be called? Yes, it will have a Z in the name, but there are numbers and maybe even an extra letter to determine! We don't have a final answer to that, but we have some ideas for what it could or perhaps should be called.

Whatever the Z Proto is called, it will almost certainly derive its numbers from its engine. Ever since its introduction, the engine displacement has dictated the name of the Z. The 240Z had a 2.4-liter engine, the 260Z a 2.6 and even up to today, the 370Z has a 3.7-liter engine. While Nissan hasn't given specifics about the twin-turbo engine, we have a good feeling it's probably a version of the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 used in the Infiniti Q50. As such, the new Z would logically have 300 in the name.

Nissan could send off the aging R35-generation GT-R with a limited-edition model with upwards of 710 hp.