autoevolution
 

Aurel Niculescu

9,657  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.
Digital Kia EVx Sports Car Started Its Life as an Unsuspecting Lotus Emira ICE Coupe
Digital Kia EVx Sports Car Started Its Life as an Unsuspecting Lotus Emira ICE Coupe

31 Jan 2024, 09:39 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Back in December 2020, Hyundai and Kia announced the modular, dedicated E-GMP architecture, and we were sure that the Ioniq genesis had finally begun. Well, as it turns out, there was also a significant amount of Kia EVs in the making. Time ...

 
GMC Jimmy Comes Back to Life, Virtually Shares the Goodies of the Sierra HD AT4X
GMC Jimmy Comes Back to Life, Virtually Shares the Goodies of the Sierra HD AT4X

31 Jan 2024, 08:56 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / General Motors comfortably led the American automotive market last year with 2.6 million sales against Toyota's 2.24 million and Ford's almost two million deliveries. The reason for GM's success is simple – it offers almost any...

 
BMW Announces i5 xDrive40, Eye Lane Change, 550e xDrive PHEV, and More for America
BMW Announces i5 xDrive40, Eye Lane Change, 550e xDrive PHEV, and More for America

31 Jan 2024, 08:11 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The Bavarian automaker was quite busy wrapping up the first month of 2024 with a lot of premium novelties - but I'm sure they won't escape controversy. This time around, it's not because of styling but due to a new tech feature intro...

 
Ford Pro Introduces First-Ever Transit Connect PHEV, Says It Can Go Electric For 68 Miles
Ford Pro Introduces First-Ever Transit Connect PHEV, Says It Can Go Electric For 68 Miles

31 Jan 2024, 07:31 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Ford Pro is the commercial vehicle division, and it's also one of the most prolific for the American company, with lots of launches and awards under its belt, like the International Van and Pickup of the Year accolades for the all-new Transit ...

 
Fresh Tesla Model 3 Highland Drags Tuned Diesel BMW and M340d, It's Hilarious
Fresh Tesla Model 3 Highland Drags Tuned Diesel BMW and M340d, It's Hilarious

30 Jan 2024, 21:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Mat Watson, Sam The Racing Driver, and Rory from the carwow channel on YouTube congregate on the unprepped tarmac of an airstrip to see if the Model 3 Highland is any good against the cars it basically replaced – family diesel models. ...

 
2024 Ford Mustang GT Drags and Rolls Honda Civic Type R, There's No Absolute Winner
2024 Ford Mustang GT Drags and Rolls Honda Civic Type R, There's No Absolute Winner

30 Jan 2024, 13:15 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The good folks over at The Fast Lane Car channel on YouTube have brought the iconic Ford Mustang GT in its latest S650 seventh-generation configuration to a quick fight against a lightweight hot hatchback – the popular Honda Civic Type R...

 
This Custom, Bagged 1978 GMC 3500 Dually Widebody May Not Be Just a Figment of Imagination
This Custom, Bagged 1978 GMC 3500 Dually Widebody May Not Be Just a Figment of Imagination

30 Jan 2024, 12:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The predecessor to the popular Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra lineups, Chevrolet and GMC's C/K trucks appeared in 1960 and became the go-to destination for GM enthusiasts for the next four decades (and a bit, as production ended in 2002). ...

 
Dacia Sandrider Is Brand's Most Powerful Vehicle, Packs a 355-HP V6 for Dakar
Dacia Sandrider Is Brand's Most Powerful Vehicle, Packs a 355-HP V6 for Dakar

30 Jan 2024, 10:57 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / When the Dacia car brand was born in 1966, named after the historic name of the region where Romania is located today, no one would have imagined how far they would go – up to the distant whereabouts of the iconic Dakar Rally. After 33...

 
2025 Kia Tasman, the Company's First Pickup Truck, Arrives From Behind the CGI Curtain
2025 Kia Tasman, the Company's First Pickup Truck, Arrives From Behind the CGI Curtain

30 Jan 2024, 09:29 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Just like Hyundai, Kia is riding the wave of success after an excellent sales performance last year. Naturally, the South Korean company is pushing forward with developments in key sectors. Everyone knows about Kia's ambitions across th...

 
Toyota Posts Record Sales for 2023, Lexus Hits Incredible Figures, VW AG Will Be Awestruck
Toyota Posts Record Sales for 2023, Lexus Hits Incredible Figures, VW AG Will Be Awestruck

30 Jan 2024, 08:46 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The Japanese automaker handily beat its closest competitor, Volkswagen AG, after posting some pretty incredible record sales results for 2023 – especially its namesake brand, Toyota, and the Lexus premium division. Not long ago, Volksw...

 
New Ford Crown Victoria Revives Lincoln's Continental as a V8-Powered Digital Land Yacht
New Ford Crown Victoria Revives Lincoln's Continental as a V8-Powered Digital Land Yacht

30 Jan 2024, 07:49 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Trucks, SUVs, and crossovers may dominate the US automotive market, but that doesn't mean passenger cars are going down without a fight. Let's take their 2023 performance as an example. Last year, the sales tally showed the first s...

 
Hypothetical 2025 Toyota RAV4 GR Sport Would Look Great in the American Lineup, Right?
Hypothetical 2025 Toyota RAV4 GR Sport Would Look Great in the American Lineup, Right?

29 Jan 2024, 21:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The Japanese automaker Toyota had a great run last year in America – mostly thanks to the iconic RAV4 compact crossover SUV and the legendary Camry, plus the rugged Tacoma and the eternal Corolla series. More precisely, out of the 25 best...

 
Choose Your Big-Wheeled Custom SUV - 'Hellstar' G700 or a Widebody Range Rover?
Choose Your Big-Wheeled Custom SUV - 'Hellstar' G700 or a Widebody Range Rover?

29 Jan 2024, 15:39 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Oddly enough, while these two shouldn't be compared due to Range's unibody construction and G's body-on-frame chassis, they were made by the same LA-based aftermarket outlet and also have some identical features – including the...

 
Cheap and Compact 2025 Tesla 'Redwood' EV Gets Imagined as a Model Y Crossover Sibling
Cheap and Compact 2025 Tesla 'Redwood' EV Gets Imagined as a Model Y Crossover Sibling

29 Jan 2024, 10:25 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The American automaker and energy company Tesla had a field year in 2023 – they launched the international version of the Tesla Model 3 sedan, conquered the world with the Model Y crossover, and finally introduced the eagerly awaited Cybertru...

 
All-New 2025 Chevy Equinox RS Ads Extra Pizzaz to Become a Virtual Urban Adventurer
All-New 2025 Chevy Equinox RS Ads Extra Pizzaz to Become a Virtual Urban Adventurer

29 Jan 2024, 09:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Chevrolet was GM's backbone for last year's sales performance – the largest US automaker was also crowned with the best-selling title in 2023 with 2.6 million units against Toyota's 2.24 million and Ford's almost two milli...

 
G80 BMW M3 Drags Tesla Model 3 and Y EVs, Someone Gets Stomped, Badly
G80 BMW M3 Drags Tesla Model 3 and Y EVs, Someone Gets Stomped, Badly

29 Jan 2024, 08:29 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Current BMW products are known for their tendency to break design rules and sometimes even abandon common sense. However, that doesn't make them any less feisty, especially when the M division reworks them. For example, it takes a lot o...

 
Mitsubishi Really Needs a Hero Like This CGI Lancer Evo XI Concept to Rise From the Grave
Mitsubishi Really Needs a Hero Like This CGI Lancer Evo XI Concept to Rise From the Grave

29 Jan 2024, 07:48 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Toyota sold 2.24 million vehicles last year across the all-important US market. Honda delivered around 1.3 million units, and Nissan reached almost 899k. Even Mazda reached over 363k total full-year sales in 2023. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi was happy to...

 
2025 Kia Sportage Gets the Digital Treatment, Exposes Its Potential Facelift Early On
2025 Kia Sportage Gets the Digital Treatment, Exposes Its Potential Facelift Early On

28 Jan 2024, 22:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Just like its group partner, Hyundai, Kia America reported an all-time best annual sales result for 2023. Rising 12%, Kia was hot on the trail of Hyundai after it sold 782,451 vehicles compared to the latter's 801k-unit performance. Tog...

 
The Auto Industry Is So Diverse That EVs Became Winter Kings and Caddys Got Blackwings
The Auto Industry Is So Diverse That EVs Became Winter Kings and Caddys Got Blackwings

28 Jan 2024, 16:00 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / It's difficutl to summarize this past week's novelties across the automotive industry because the ongoing winter isn't stopping carmakers from unleashing lots of goodies, which is great, indeed. For example, we should start by...

 
What If Next-Gen Toyota RAV4 Went 'Trailhunter' and Stole Land Cruiser's Rugged Looks?
What If Next-Gen Toyota RAV4 Went 'Trailhunter' and Stole Land Cruiser's Rugged Looks?

28 Jan 2024, 02:00 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Last year, Toyota didn't attain its objective of dethroning General Motors from the number one place in terms of sales across the US market. Despite the barrage of novelties, it didn't even come close to it. At the end of 2023, the...

 

Stories by Aurel Niculescu