Aurel Niculescu
9,664 ARTICLES
There he understood anything is possible if you work hard and passionately strive to follow your imagination. This is how at the age of 16 he managed to fulfill the first dream – flying alone in a glider plane. He was no Tom Cruise, of course, so young adulthood brought him back to reality.
With every kick in the familiar *utt comes a chance to step forward, so a seemingly unimportant ad in one of his favorite automotive magazines brought a dilemma - follow through with the current job or dare to achieve greatness by deploying (previously) unknown literary skills.
Since 2006, he’s been perfecting them at Automondial, Supercar, Cox, Autoshow, Autopro, Auto Motor & Sport, and more magazines plus their online versions. After driving some of the best and worst cars in Europe and around the world, he’s part of the autoevolution team, where he aims to develop his best-ever form.
Lucid Shows How Automation Blends With Human Craftmanship to Create the Air EV
1 Apr 2021, 07:11 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Lucid Motors is shaping up as a worthy opponent for Tesla, with the startup getting ready to become a public company and also following in the footsteps of Elon Musk’s well-known tardiness with its own delays for the upcoming Air. Accord...
Mexican Ford F-150 “Lobo” Raptor Heads to Europe, Horse Approves Angry Sounds
31 Mar 2021, 13:42 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Ram’s 2021 1500 TRX might have won the cool names battle (along with the pony count, probably) against even the all-new third-generation 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor. But that doesn’t mean the Blue Oval’s predecessor doesn’t come ...
2022 Porsche 911 Costs at Least $101k in U.S., GT3 Bonanza Starts at $161,100
31 Mar 2021, 12:42 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / It was just last month when German sports car aficionados received official word on the introduction of the latest and greatest Porsche 911 GT3 of them all. Now it’s time for U.S. fans to find out about the damage a 2022 model year 911-s...
Ford Performance-Prepped 2021 Bronco Shows Its Custom Touches for Moab
31 Mar 2021, 11:42 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / When Ford crashed Jeep’s traditional Easter Safari party in Moab, Utah, it brought to our attention a total of five deeply customized Broncos (there’s a lonely Bronco Sport in there to keep company to the 4-Doors). The company announced...
Fast N' Loud 1980 Chevrolet El Camino “Gas Monkey” Has the Kaufman Touch and LS3
31 Mar 2021, 11:15 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Few automotive legends come greater than this; after all, fans can goof around that even Breaking Bad movies have been named after it. Actually, the Chevrolet El Camino is so much more, as the pickup/coupé utility vehicle has proven on count...
2JZ-Swapped Fox Body Mustang Nails Both the Save and Race Win After Big Wheelie
31 Mar 2021, 10:02 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / They say the fight between import and domestic quarter-mile glory is relentless, but every now and then comes a drag racer that will try to reconcile both parties, put on a show, and even nail the win at the end of the strip. So, here’s a spe...
Vintage Tri-Five Chevy Doesn't Look Pretty, Pulls SBC Surprise On Jeep Rival
31 Mar 2021, 09:14 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Given the Tri-Five Chevrolet series' huge popularity, probably no one is going to mistake a 1955 Chevrolet survivor for a beat-down American V8 car. After all, even though it doesn’t look pretty with its 50-year-old paint job and typical...
LS-Swapped Supercharged 1940 Ford DeLuxe Looks Serious but Loves to Wheelspin
31 Mar 2021, 07:54 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Anyone wanting a classic Blue Oval car that’s been the darling of popular culture (do "Grease" and "The Karate Kid" ring any bells?) will certainly hit the sweet spot with a Ford DeLuxe from before the Second World War. Na...
2022 C8 Chevrolet Corvette Global Presentation Scheduled for Early Q2, Says GMSV
31 Mar 2021, 07:11 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / After the rumor mill caught wind of the 2021 Chevrolet Corvette manufacturing coming to an end in the middle of July, it seems the facts about the next model year are being corroborated from an unlikely source: Australia and New Zealand’s GM ...
65-Mile 2019 Chevy Corvette Has the ZR1 Motherload With ZTK and 7-Speed Manual
30 Mar 2021, 13:53 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The C8 mid-engine iteration is highly popular among aficionados for many good reasons but having the most powerful Chevrolet Corvette ever made isn’t one of them. That honor, in factory condition, resides with the 2019 C7 ZR1. With the C...
UPDATE: EVs Wearing “Voltswagen” Branding in America Really Is an Ill-Timed Hoax
30 Mar 2021, 13:10 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Today started as a seemingly mundane Tuesday, until we caught wind of a seemingly unbelievable report citing a leaked press release announcing Volkswagen of America’s plans to change its name to “Voltswagen.” Given the impending A...
Move Over Moab Jeep Concepts, Says an Official Posse of Custom 2021 Ford Broncos
30 Mar 2021, 11:52 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / As previously anticipated, the Blue Oval has managed to crash the Moab Easter Safari party with a major 2021 Ford Bronco showcase. Only time will tell if that was enough to divert fans' attention from the traditional roster of Jeep introductio...
Lexus LF-Z Electrified Signals a Daring Beginning For the Zero-Emissions Age
30 Mar 2021, 11:10 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The premium Japanese automaker is gunning for “a new brand vision” and the global introduction of the LF-Z Electrified concept shows it's properly getting behind the electrification revolution. Of course, that doesn’t necessa...
Dodge Hellcat Charger Hits ET and MPH Perfection While Thumping Fox Body Mustang
30 Mar 2021, 10:07 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Dodge’s long-running Charger nameplate has been in its seventh generation for no less than a decade. That, along with the time it spent as a two-door coupe before upgrading to a four-door configuration, should be enough to establish a good re...
2022 Kia EV6 Wraps 800V Charging, 317-Mile Range, and 577 HP in Fastback Design
30 Mar 2021, 09:29 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Hyundai and Kia are both taking advantage of their all-new, dedicated E-GMP BEV architecture. While the former presented the retro flavored Ioniq 5, now it’s time for the official global reveal of its Kia sibling, the EV6. Basically, we alrea...
Maxlider Prices 2021 Midnite Edition Ford Bronco From $25k, F-150 Also Available
30 Mar 2021, 08:43 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Maxlider Motors probably doesn’t ring a bell to many people, unless they’re part of a very special category that craves exotic four-door classic Bronco restomods. It’s a pretty small niche, understandably. So, the company decided ...
BMW E30 Goes for Unexpected M3 Face Swap With Toyota AE86 in the Virtual World
30 Mar 2021, 07:55 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Just about anything is possible in the virtual realm. One could see the 2021 Ford F-150 go for some Rocket League fun with proper neon looks and booster. Or you could stumble upon some of the oddest face swaps ever. Some of them are so uncanny...
Toyota GR Yaris Goes Rallying After All, but There's an Australian AP4 Catch
30 Mar 2021, 07:09 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / One of the coolest machines created in recent times by Toyota, the GR Yaris has been developed as a high-performance variant of the fourth generation Yaris. It’s also a homologation special for the company’s FIA World Rally Championship...
2021 Subaru Outback Finally Lands in Europe, Forgets How to Speak Turbo
29 Mar 2021, 13:52 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / By the time it reaches Old Continent showrooms, the “all-new” Outback is actually going to be a couple of years old since the model debuted in April 2019 in North America. Better late than never, some will say, but what’s up with ...
1972 Ford F-100 Ranger Has Unexpected Ford GT Connection and a 460ci Big Block
29 Mar 2021, 12:59 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Today it’s all about sticking a Coyote V8 or even a Predator under the hood of the F-Series for Blue Oval fans. But there are some diehard aficionados who very much prefer their fifth-generation F-100 Ranger to be as relevant to BBF (Big Bloc...