The Drive

Automakers have long counted on parts-sharing to keep costs down—not just across individual lineups, but even across brands and market segments. Volkswagen Group’s MQB platform became the poster child for modern parts-sharing architectures in the 2010s, and many other automakers have since consolidated their lineups to the bare minimum of fundamental platforms to make manufacturing cheaper and more consistent. But there are downsides.

Raise your hand if you saw this collab coming. Aston Martin has invented a fantasy concept military SUV for Call of Duty. It’s called the Dreadnought, and it’s a surprising turn for a brand that has never historically courted the Ineos or Land Rover crowd, much less signaled a desire to join the military-industrial complex.

Ford is about to do something sick in the World Endurance Championship: Race a naturally aspirated, 5.4-liter, Coyote-based V8 in the top-level Hypercar class. Whereas the Blue Oval manufacturer has most recently raced (and won) at Le Mans with a twin-turbo, 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, it’s taking a more traditional route for 2027. And if that’s not enough to get you excited, maybe hearing the engine’s first fire will do the trick.

A Ford owner in San Diego has given voice to a question many have asked since the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in February that the administration’s imposition of tariffs under the IEEPA was unconstitutional: Who actually deserves a refund? Those tariffs cost automakers (both foreign and domestic) a fortune.

The Jensen Interceptor was a long and low British touring car in the 1950s. But most of you probably remember it with the funky shooting-brake design it had in the ’60s and ’70s, if you remember it at all. At the beginning of this year, a Jensen Interceptor comeback was announced. Today, it looks like it’s made some progress, promising to debut its design as an analog (yay!), V8 (yay!), track-only (boo.) model.

As some lawmakers have proposed measures to completely lock Chinese automakers out of the U.S. market, and automotive industry lobbyists have supported those efforts, Ford executive chairman Bill Ford is singing a different tune: It’s time for U.S. automakers to rise to the challenge. “We have to go toe-to-toe with China,” Ford said at an Axios event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, per the Wall Street Journal.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup, bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe. The Downshift sums up stories in short blurbs with links to the source for the full report. Here’s the news worth catching up on for Thursday, July 16, 2026. 🎓 A driving school (normal driving, not racing) is using VR headsets to better train its trainers, blurring the line between classroom and in-car training.

Paranoia is growing as cars become more connected, and not for no reason. Whether we’re talking about government surveillance or hacking thieves who steal vehicles in 30 seconds or less, the average driver has far more to worry about now than they did even five years ago. With craftier-than-ever crooks, people need more defense, and Ford has a simple-yet-effective tool for owners: A remote engine start inhibitor inside the Ford Pass app.

Remember concept cars from your childhood? The long hoods, the low fenders, the crazy angles. What happened to concept cars? The faltering business of concept cars could have huge implications for the future of cars. The futuristic one-off cars were used to market-test new ideas, flex design capabilities, experiment with new technology, and simply get people excited about what’s next. They showcased what a company could do without budget restraints and regulatory issues. Will they disappear entirely?

The Morgan Supersport, a compact sporty car with a sleek and delightful new take on the British company’s ye olde motorcar aesthetic, has been confirmed for the US market. It will have a smaller engine than it ships with in Europe, but on the plus side, it has a much cooler-looking shifter than the one we’d seen before. The Supersport debuted last March. It has a fresh look without straying from Morgan’s distinctively anachronistic signature design (long hood, round lights, you get it).