autoevolution
 

Aurel Niculescu

9,662  ARTICLES

Staff Writer
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Once upon a time there was a little boy that didn't know his age but dreamed of reaching high in the sky alongside the absolute best aviators. He was passionate about reading books (action and Sci-Fi), grew up with many great authors and soon discovered the mirage of cinema.

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.
Custom 1983 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ45 Trained in Venezuela, Now Ready for America
Custom 1983 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ45 Trained in Venezuela, Now Ready for America

23 Mar 2021, 13:55 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / In case anyone has questions about Toyota’s naming convention for the legendary 40 series of the Land Cruiser, a quick look at this 1983 pickup truck example will settle the case. That’s because it carries the FJ45 moniker so that every...

 
Porsche Taycan RWD Autobahn Acceleration Test Proves It's Not Half the Turbo S
Porsche Taycan RWD Autobahn Acceleration Test Proves It's Not Half the Turbo S

23 Mar 2021, 13:32 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Things are heating up in the high-end electric vehicle segment, and it’s only natural for everyone to keep an eye on the latest developments. And, with the base Taycan RWD coming up for sale in the United States this spring, we’re all k...

 
2022 Kia K8 Shares Powertrain Secrets to Best Cadenza With More Power and AWD
2022 Kia K8 Shares Powertrain Secrets to Best Cadenza With More Power and AWD

23 Mar 2021, 12:25 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Just weeks after finding out that Kia will send both the U.S.-spec Cadenza and K900 to greener pastures, the South Korean carmaker softened the blow with the South Korean introduction of the K8 sedan. A direct replacement for the Cadenza, the K8 ha...

 
Hyundai Previews Seven-Seat Alcazar SUV, Promises Global Reveal Will Come Soon
Hyundai Previews Seven-Seat Alcazar SUV, Promises Global Reveal Will Come Soon

23 Mar 2021, 11:13 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Clearly, there is no such thing as too many crossovers, SUVs, and trucks In this day and age. Hyundai has the same opinion, obviously. You may recall that when they introduced the 2022 Tucson for the American market, the Koreans also promised 12 ne...

 
Widebody R32 Nissan GT-R “Super Cherry” Readies for Blossom With a CGI Twist
Widebody R32 Nissan GT-R “Super Cherry” Readies for Blossom With a CGI Twist

23 Mar 2021, 10:39 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / In the 1980s, Nissan lacked a hero model as the GT-R series was placed on hiatus. Mind you, the fans could always return their focus towards the Skyline nameplate, thanks to fierce appearances such as the FJ20-powered DR30 Skyline RS models. T...

 
Bugatti EB 110 With CGI Tribeca Face Is So Hilariously Outrageous We Fell for It
Bugatti EB 110 With CGI Tribeca Face Is So Hilariously Outrageous We Fell for It

23 Mar 2021, 09:38 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / With almost eight billion humans inhabiting The Blue Marble, it’s pretty obvious that opinions will be as diverse as there are grains of sand in the Sahara Desert. That applies to the automotive world as well, which is probably the main reaso...

 
Grandpa's “Bad Apple” Show-Quality 1948 Ford F1 Truck Blows Rivals at the Track
Grandpa's “Bad Apple” Show-Quality 1948 Ford F1 Truck Blows Rivals at the Track

23 Mar 2021, 08:50 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Some custom rides go overboard with the imagination and amaze the automotive show audience. Others prefer to stun their opponents with track and street qualities. And quite a few go for the custom attire just for the thrills and fun of it. But how ...

 
Lexus IS Wax Edition With Hidden Turntable Is the Ultimate DJ Car
Lexus IS Wax Edition With Hidden Turntable Is the Ultimate DJ Car

23 Mar 2021, 08:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / A well-known compact executive car, the Lexus IS has been around since the happy days when everyone was worried about the Millenium bug (a.k.a. Y2K) only to find out it was not that big of an issue. Generations have passed, and the car born in the ...

 
1988 Toyota MR2 Brings Supercharged Gran Turismo Thrills on the Cheap
1988 Toyota MR2 Brings Supercharged Gran Turismo Thrills on the Cheap

22 Mar 2021, 13:28 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Believe it or not, but Toyota’s MR2 is Japan’s first-ever attempt at a production-specification mid-engine sports car. The model had a fairly successful three-generation run from 1985 to 2007. Surely enough, it’s not the most famo...

 
Ford Commercial Vehicles Get a Connected Productivity Boost With FORDLiive
Ford Commercial Vehicles Get a Connected Productivity Boost With FORDLiive

22 Mar 2021, 12:20 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The Blue Oval diligently prepares for both the arrival of new products, such as the next-generation all-electric Transit Custom (scheduled for 2023), and enhancing the commercial vehicles it already has on the roads. In Europe, it even has a new &l...

 
Electric Wrangler Magneto Concept Is the Star of 2021 Easter Jeep Safari
Electric Wrangler Magneto Concept Is the Star of 2021 Easter Jeep Safari

22 Mar 2021, 11:29 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / As promised just a few days ago, Stellantis’ hero brand Jeep has prepared something electrifying for the 2021 Easter Jeep Safari event. It’s called the Magneto, and it’s a Wrangler through and through—with a twist. And no on...

 
1990 Toyota Land Cruiser From the 70 Series Is a Rare Off-Road Sight in America
1990 Toyota Land Cruiser From the 70 Series Is a Rare Off-Road Sight in America

22 Mar 2021, 10:41 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Still in production since 1984, Toyota’s Land Cruiser 70 series was developed as the off-road successor to the legendary FJ40. And, unlike its contemporary comfort-oriented 60 series that has since evolved into the 200, it’s still going...

 
Lexus LX570 and Escalade Luxury Family Hauler SUVs Have Old vs. New School Brawl
Lexus LX570 and Escalade Luxury Family Hauler SUVs Have Old vs. New School Brawl

22 Mar 2021, 09:49 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The last time we met the TFL guys, they were busy doing a walkaround of the newly arrived on the test lot Lexus LX570 and Cadillac Escalade. These behemoths command huge sticker prices, both easily going over the $100k threshold in the tested confi...

 
Avoid the C2 Chevy Corvette Drama With a More Affordable L88 Option From 1968
Avoid the C2 Chevy Corvette Drama With a More Affordable L88 Option From 1968

22 Mar 2021, 09:02 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Before the retirement to greener pastures of the second generation of “America’s sports car,” there was one C2 Chevy Corvette to rule them all—the 1967 L88 option. But there were just 20 examples of the series, so they&rsquo...

 
Red Mist 2021 Chevy Corvette Reveals Its Secrets, Reviewer Even Tries the Frunk
Red Mist 2021 Chevy Corvette Reveals Its Secrets, Reviewer Even Tries the Frunk

22 Mar 2021, 08:10 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The mid-engine C8 Corvette has entered its second model year, and while the changes aren’t exactly overwhelming, it’s always cool to see all the little quirks and features of the popular sports car revealed on camera. Besides, we’...

 
Simple Ideation Sketch or Ahead-of-Its-Time Teaser for EV Luxury Sedan From GM?
Simple Ideation Sketch or Ahead-of-Its-Time Teaser for EV Luxury Sedan From GM?

21 Mar 2021, 09:35 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / General Motors has pledged to fully transform itself from a traditional ICE automaker into a sustainable company that will even achieve total carbon neutrality come 2040. But first, it has to unleash a barrage of zero-emission models upon the world...

 
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Backstory Shows the Passion Behind Collector Restorations
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Backstory Shows the Passion Behind Collector Restorations

21 Mar 2021, 08:35 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Sometimes just seeing a beautifully restored car is not enough without knowing a little bit of its history and how it came to look even better than the day it left the factory gates. This stunning 1957 Bel Air hardtop is already enticing thanks to ...

 
Bentley Honors World Poetry Day 2021 With Car-Related Rhymes From Rising Talent
Bentley Honors World Poetry Day 2021 With Car-Related Rhymes From Rising Talent

20 Mar 2021, 09:35 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Most automakers rushed to give us all sorts of green reminders about this year’s Feast of Saint Patrick, but there’s one British manufacturer that focuses on a different celebration. Bentley has decided to honor World Poetry Day 2021 th...

 
Mesmerizing 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Could Easily Prompt a Bidding War
Mesmerizing 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Could Easily Prompt a Bidding War

20 Mar 2021, 08:35 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Once owned by personalities such as Elton John or turned into flamboyant one-offs, the vintage series from the Prancing Horse stable has a U.S.-flavored unofficial name because the company delivered a stunning 1-2-3 finish back in 1967 at the 24 Ho...

 
Unique Torch Red Pandem Widebody C8 Chevy Corvette Up for Grabs at No Reserve
Unique Torch Red Pandem Widebody C8 Chevy Corvette Up for Grabs at No Reserve

20 Mar 2021, 07:35 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Simply calling the 2020 C8 Chevrolet Corvette a popular car is like saying Lady Gaga or Usher are mere singers. So, if one needs to stand out in a crowd full of “America’s sports cars,” there’s no other way than resorting to...

 

Stories by Aurel Niculescu