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Specifically, this Snoopy-themed Mitsubishi Pajero Mini, for sale right now on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). A tiny kei-jidōsha–class vehicle, the Pajero Mini is the fun-size version of Mitu's rugged SUV, the full-size versions of which took on challenges such as Paris-Dakar desert rally-raid racing. This one is more aimed at defeating Snoopy's long-time rival, the Red Baron.

You might not be able to get away with selling a Snoopy-themed CR-V in the U.S., but in the Japanese market in the early 2000s, special editions of all kinds were wildly popular. In fact, this Snoopy-branded Pajero Mini was so successful that it spawned a second edition with even more Snoopy decals and extras.

Here, you get Snoopy graphics on the mudflaps, sides, and rear spare tire cover, as well as embroidered on the seats. As Charlie Brown might say, good grief. But actually, it is pretty fun in a lighthearted way.

Plus, this is a proper 4x4, with a live rear axle and a dual-range transfer case. It'd be capable of squeezing down trails far too narrow for full-size SUVs, the same way Snoopy always seems to punch above his weight.

The odometer shows the equivalent of just 35K miles, so if you're a Peanuts obsessive looking for the ultimate collector item, then here you go. Further, unlike your Snoopy-themed snowglobe, stuffed animal, and tea towel, you can actually drive this thing around. For the ultimate Snoopy fans in the audience, don't let this one get away, like Lucy snatching the football from Charlie Brown.

The auction ends on July 8.

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. %!s()

The Blue Sharks flew into the capital city, Praia, on Sunday, having been knocked out of the tournament after a thrilling match against reigning champions Argentina.

Jubilant fans transformed the airport's grounds into a carnival of sorts, banging drums, dancing, chanting and waving the national flag.

Goalkeeper Vozinha, who drew global attention with his performances, told the BBC: "It is a very great moment for us to be here with our people.

"We wanted something bigger but we didn't go to the next stage. Now we just enjoy the moment and celebrate with our people," said Vozinha, real name Josimar José Évora Dias, while wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with his country's name.

One supporter told the BBC she attended the homecoming in order to show her gratitude to the Blue Sharks, who represented the World Cup's second-smallest nation and had never played in the tournament before, yet held their own against giants like Spain and Uruguay.

Fans at the airport screamed Vozinha's name, as well as those of other stars, such as centre-back Pico Lopes.

Amid the celebrations, the players took turns to sign fans' football tops.

The homecoming coincides with Cape Verde's independence day, on which the island is celebrating 51 years since the end of Portuguese colonial rule.

Cape Verde came into the World Cup ranked 67th in the world, but three group-stage draws - including holding European champions Spain 0-0 in their opening game - set up the monumental task of trying to cause one of the biggest upsets the World Cup has ever seen.

Against Argentina, they went behind to a Messi goal, but came back to level at 1-1 and take the game to extra time. Then they went behind again - before a stunning strike from Sidny Lopes Cabral levelled once more. It was not to be though, with a cruel deflection off Diney Borges from Cristian Romero's header seeing Argentina through.

Despite defeat, Cape Verde manager Pedro Leitão Brito, also known as Bubista, was proud of a team which came within 10 minutes of forcing Argentina into a penalty shootout.

"We showed that we may be a small country but we can play against the best teams in the world," he said. "That's a reason for pride.

"We made history for our country. They can be proud for representing our country."

Previous leaders Surrey were stunned by Essex, for whom Anneke Bosch scored her highest T20 score of 84 not out in a nine-wicket win.

Durham moved above Surrey into second after a five-wicket win over fourth-placed The Blaze, with Mady Villiers taking 4-14 and captain Hollie Armitage scoring 69.

And struggling Yorkshire made it back-to-back wins, beating Warwickshire by five wickets and ending the Bears' slim hopes of qualification for Finals Day on 17 July.

At the Utilita Bowl, a brilliant unbeaten 77 in 45 balls from Hampshire Hawks' Bouchier maintained her outstanding form, with her current run of high scores all coming after she was left out of England's T20 World Cup squad.

A stifled Lancashire Lightning were 44-3 at the halfway mark. Emma Lamb went on to top score with 30, while captain Ellie Threlkald hit 25 off 17 balls, but three wickets in the final over, including a run out, saw Lancashire bowled out for 131.

It was Nancy Harman who polished off the innings, ending with 3-9 in nine balls, after Poppy Tulloch had bowled her second no-ball and was withdrawn from the attack.

The score never looked enough as Bouchier hit nine fours and three sixes, and captain Georgia Adams joined her to score 37 off 25 balls to complete the victory.

At Chelmsford, Surrey made an imposing 184-4 in their 20 overs. Captain Bryony Smith made 53 off 43 at the top of the order and shared a third-wicket stand of 82 with Jemina Spence, who finished unbeaten on 69 from 41.

But Essex were quickly into their stride thanks to openers Bosch and Grace Scrivens, their partnership of 96 ending in the 10th over when skipper Scrivens was run out for 47.

Former South Africa Test star Bosch hit 13 fours and a six in her unbeaten 84, from 54 balls, ably supported by Jodi Grewcock's 47 off 32. They reached their target with five deliveries to spare.

At Chester-le-Street, Villiers' career-best T20 figures helped Durham restrict The Blaze to 147-9 in their innings, Marie Kelly top-scoring with 37.

Armitage then batted through the innings to secure a win that was sealed with four balls to spare.

The victory strengthens Durham's chances of reaching Finals Day at The Oval while The Blaze missed the chance to pull clear of fifth-placed Somerset.

Warwickshire Bears are definitely eliminated after defeat by Yorkshire, who tasted victory for the second time in three days after no previous wins in the competition all season.

With Yorkshire 14-2 and chasing 162, Jess Jonassen's 65 and Lauren Winfield-Hill's 42 took the game away from the Bears, who had posted a competitive target thanks to contributions from Abigail Freeborn, who hit 65 from 49 balls, and Georgia Redmayne, who scored 52 not out from 36 balls. %!s()

The fridge-sized Hayabusa2 was due to fly within 800 meters (0.5 miles) of asteroid Torifune, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) scientists said earlier, a trial run to see whether such a probe could deflect a potentially dangerous space rock away from Earth.

The mission comes after NASA deliberately smashed a spacecraft into the 160-meter-wide (525-foot-wide) Dimorphos asteroid in 2022, successfully altering its orbit around a larger space rock.

Moving at a speed of more than 18,000 kilometers (11,185 miles) per hour, Hayabusa2 was not intended to collide with Torifune.

Instead, scientists wanted to assess whether they could precisely control the trajectory of the probe, should it ever need to perform a deflection.

"At 6:35 p.m. (0935 GMT)... Hayabusa2 conducted a flyby of Torifune and the spacecraft is working normally," a JAXA spokeswoman told AFP, declining to give her name.

Online footage supplied by JAXA showed scientists applauding in a control room.

"I was nervous, I felt on edge the whole time... But I'm really glad we were able to see it through to the end," one of the scientists told the JAXA broadcast.

If it is confirmed that the space probe indeed came within 800 meters of Torifune, the mission would be one of the closest flybys of a near-Earth asteroid ever.

"It's as difficult as trying to shoot through a one-yen coin somewhere within the area stretching from Okinawa to Hokkaido," Yuya Mimasu of JAXA said earlier, referring to Japan's southernmost and northernmost islands.

Bare rock or sand?

Cameras on board Hayabusa2 are also recording data from the asteroid's surface, including geographical features, its texture and temperature—vital information for a potential planetary defense mission.

"Is the surface consisting of bare rock, or cover(ed) by boulder fields or sand beaches? Only images taken by a spacecraft can reveal this information," Patrick Michel, project scientist at the European Space Agency, told AFP before the flyby.

"If we want to deflect an asteroid by an impact, the response is not the same if the asteroid is behaving like a sponge or if it behaves like a very solid material," he said.

The space probe's mission is not based on any actual threat to Earth from an asteroid.

Launched in 2014, Hayabusa2 has already thrilled scientists by landing on and gathering material from the asteroid Ryugu, some 300 million kilometers (185 million miles) from our planet.

Six years later, it returned to Earth precious samples from Ryugu—"dragon palace" in Japanese—providing scientists with clues about what the solar system was like at its birth some 4.6 billion years ago.

After the Torifune mission, the space probe is expected to attempt in 2031 a "rendezvous"—a maneuver in which it flies alongside or touches down on a space rock to gather detailed data—with another asteroid, called 1998KY26.

Even after the success of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), Sunday's ambitious flyby is hugely worthwhile, European Space Agency scientist Michel said.

"Given the diversity of near-Earth asteroids in terms of size, shape, surface and internal properties, each new image makes us better prepared."

Who's behind this story?

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

© 2026 AFP

Citation: Japan space probe skims asteroid in test for planetary defense (2026, July 5) retrieved 17 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-japan-space-probe-skims-asteroid.html

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These are the cars that make your blood boil once setting eyes on them. You might say some uncouth things about said monstrosity when encountered on the road. The sensation lasts for maybe 20 minutes, or long enough to tell someone about the unfortunate sighting at a later time. But it stays with you. It haunts you. This might also tell you that my relationship with cars may be a tad on the unhealthy side.

But there's no doubt that as an automotive enthusiast, there are cars we simply love and absolutely hate to see for whatever reason that may be. And I'm here to ask you about the ones you are just sick of seeing on the road.

And you thought my answer would be Tesla Cybertruck

A couple of decades ago I would have told you that car was a Toyota Prius for nothing more than their ubiquity on the road. They seemed like they were everywhere, taunting me, and at one point I did have a nightmare that I owned one (way before the latest gen which I would honestly drive today). As one of the premier hybrids to come onto the market in the late '90s and early aughts, it offered something few companies did, successfully. It wasn't nor is it by any means a bad car. There was just so many of them everywhere.

To say I'm sick of seeing the Tesla Cybertruck would be too easy. Despite the meme-truck being an on-road version that represents everything that has and is going wrong with our country, I feel as though fellow Jalops will flood the comments with that exact answer. So, I challenged myself to dig deeper and opted to name the Chevrolet Equinox. It's not that I hate the crossover. Actually, the latest generation is probably the best styling and design it has ever had, despite being a GMC. But this is a vehicle that remains anything but interesting. The very first iteration was that minivan with a weird-ass front end, which truly looked like something half baked from Chevrolet. Then there was the previous decade to this latest iteration that appears to be a toaster oven on wheels. It does well existing as a cheap car for families that need a little more space, but not much more than that. It is the "settling" version of the American dream.

What car brings you those similar vibes? Name the car you're sick of seeing on the roads in the comments below. I look forward to reading your disappointment and ire after the holiday weekend. %!s()