autoevolution
 

Aurel Niculescu

9,659  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.
Ford Mustang GT Drags Challenger and Charger Hellcat, Someone Should Have Stayed Put
Ford Mustang GT Drags Challenger and Charger Hellcat, Someone Should Have Stayed Put

18 Jan 2024, 11:13 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Unlike the S650 seventh-generation Ford Mustang, GM's iconic Chevrolet Camaro, or even its Dodge Charger sibling, the fate of the Challenger is currently unknown. Let us take them one by one. The sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro ceased...

 
Hypothetical Subaru Forester 'Ute' Solves the Baja or BRAT Conundrum, Looks Spot On
Hypothetical Subaru Forester 'Ute' Solves the Baja or BRAT Conundrum, Looks Spot On

18 Jan 2024, 09:19 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Last year, the US automotive market's sales rebounded fully and registered the best performance since the pandemic – around 15.5 million vehicles, according to Reuters, citing data released by Wards Intelligence and figures from consulta...

 
All-New Chevrolet Camaro Tries a Virtual Change of Pace, Goes Back to 1980s Style
All-New Chevrolet Camaro Tries a Virtual Change of Pace, Goes Back to 1980s Style

18 Jan 2024, 08:33 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Unlike the rest of the American pony car pack, the Ford Mustang – in S650 seventh generation form – is still with us. Alone but not afraid, it's the undisputed leader of the segment, according to the sales tally from 2023. L...

 
Third-Gen Nissan Xterra Gets Revived With Hardbody Frontier's Digital Help
Third-Gen Nissan Xterra Gets Revived With Hardbody Frontier's Digital Help

18 Jan 2024, 07:56 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The US arm of the Nissan Group sold almost 899k vehicles last year in America, up more than 23% compared to the same period of 2022 – and it was all thanks to models like the Sentra, Kicks, Rogue, or Pathfinder. That's a nice mix,...

 
The Ford F-150 Lightning Switchgear Off-Roader, aka the Electric Raptor, Has Arrived
The Ford F-150 Lightning Switchgear Off-Roader, aka the Electric Raptor, Has Arrived

18 Jan 2024, 07:23 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Unfortunately, Ford Performance and RTR Vehicles have created this as "a groundbreaking electric demonstrator vehicle" only rather than something you can buy from the brand's online sales portal and get outfitted by Vaughn Gittin Jr....

 
All-New 2025 BMW M5 (G90) Shows Everything From Inside-Out, Though Solely Digitally
All-New 2025 BMW M5 (G90) Shows Everything From Inside-Out, Though Solely Digitally

17 Jan 2024, 21:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / BMW has been heavily testing the next-generation M5 for a while, both the sedan and the hotly anticipated station wagon (G90 and G99), and we have seen lots of spied prototypes along the way. That's only natural, considering that the Ba...

 
Meaty Dodge Hellcat Drags Hearty Camaro, Turbo Mustang, Crazy Impala, and It's Soo Close!
Meaty Dodge Hellcat Drags Hearty Camaro, Turbo Mustang, Crazy Impala, and It's Soo Close!

17 Jan 2024, 12:23 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Has anyone heard the news? The Chevrolet Camaro is no more because production of the sixth-generation Coupe and Convertible ceased in December 2023. In the same month, we also said goodbye to the Dodge Challenger coupe and Charger muscle sedan, by ...

 
All-New 2025 Volvo EV90 Cross Country Electric Wagon Feels Ready for Imagination Land
All-New 2025 Volvo EV90 Cross Country Electric Wagon Feels Ready for Imagination Land

17 Jan 2024, 10:59 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The Swedish automaker reported sales of 141,566 vehicles for its US and Canada activities for the entire 2023, with a rise of 26% overall compared to 2022 and an even stronger performance of its Recharge models. The latter, with a fully elec...

 
2026 Ram 2500 HD Steps Out of the CGI Shadows to Fight the Super Duty and GM HDs
2026 Ram 2500 HD Steps Out of the CGI Shadows to Fight the Super Duty and GM HDs

17 Jan 2024, 10:05 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / At the end of 2023, the American landscape was unchanged as far as the automotive market was concerned – the top three vehicular choices were the Ram pickup truck series, the Chevrolet Silverado nameplate, and the Ford F-Series. Genera...

 
Refreshed 2024 Ford Kuga Starts From €39,950, Active Is €45,550, PHEV Now Has 240 HP
Refreshed 2024 Ford Kuga Starts From €39,950, Active Is €45,550, PHEV Now Has 240 HP

17 Jan 2024, 09:30 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The Blue Oval Company recently announced the 2024 Ford Kuga with a comprehensive facelift, leaving out important technical details and prices. No worries, now the national online configurator tools have all the necessary updates. Just like t...

 
Refreshed 2024 Ford Kuga Brings Active Series, Escape-Like Design, 5G Connectivity
Refreshed 2024 Ford Kuga Brings Active Series, Escape-Like Design, 5G Connectivity

17 Jan 2024, 08:16 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / At home in America, Ford is producing and selling two crossovers of the same size, and yet they're still doing great – the rugged Bronco Sport is actually hot on the heels of the fourth-generation Escape. The latter, which received a nea...

 
Imagined Acura TLX Type S Sport Wagon Might Be Better Than Any High-Performance CUV
Imagined Acura TLX Type S Sport Wagon Might Be Better Than Any High-Performance CUV

17 Jan 2024, 07:35 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / At the end of 2023, American Honda reported sales of more than 1.3 million units, jumping no less than 33% compared to the same period of 2022. However, Acura was only a tiny portion of the performance factor. The namesake Honda brand led th...

 
Refreshed 2025 Honda CR-V Crossover Spills CGI Beans in a Mix of Ritzy Colors
Refreshed 2025 Honda CR-V Crossover Spills CGI Beans in a Mix of Ritzy Colors

16 Jan 2024, 21:04 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / If we look at America's 2023 mix of best-selling cars, crossovers, SUVs, and trucks, we will find many compact crossover nameplates in the top 25 deliveries. For example, according to Car and Driver, the 25th is Ford's Escape, foll...

 
Rolls-Royce Spectre Rides Cleaner on 26s, But Do You Want It White or Black and Silver?
Rolls-Royce Spectre Rides Cleaner on 26s, But Do You Want It White or Black and Silver?

16 Jan 2024, 13:50 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Rolls-Royce happily acknowledges that it "enjoyed a highly successful year in 2023, with strong sales and demand for its products in markets worldwide, and Bespoke commissions at record levels." That's a great way to start 2024...

 
What If the Second-Gen Renault Alaskan Was a Rebadged Nissan Frontier or a Duster Truck?
What If the Second-Gen Renault Alaskan Was a Rebadged Nissan Frontier or a Duster Truck?

16 Jan 2024, 10:00 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Thanks to their continued involvement in the Alliance, the competing automakers Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi can always share components and designs as they please. There are numerous examples of their collaboration, but on this particula...

 
Virtual 2026 Chevrolet Corvette RS Electric Sedan Feels Promisingly Quick and Fresh
Virtual 2026 Chevrolet Corvette RS Electric Sedan Feels Promisingly Quick and Fresh

16 Jan 2024, 08:36 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / After December 2023, everything is different in the field of American pony and muscle cars. That's because the Dodge Charger sedan, Challenger coupe, and the Chevy Camaro coupe and Convertible are no more – and the S650 seventh-generatio...

 
Lamborghini Huracan STO Drags Menacingly Dark-Tuned Tesla, Someone Gets Destroyed
Lamborghini Huracan STO Drags Menacingly Dark-Tuned Tesla, Someone Gets Destroyed

16 Jan 2024, 08:07 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Lamborghini just switched gears into V12 PHEV mode for its flagship supercar, and now the all-new Revuelto has more power than the original Bugatti Veyron – 1,015 ps versus 1,001 ps, which equates to 1,001 horsepower versus 987 ponies. ...

 
Imagined 3-Door Toyota 4Runner SR 4x4 With Retro-Style Removable Hard Top Looks Glorious
Imagined 3-Door Toyota 4Runner SR 4x4 With Retro-Style Removable Hard Top Looks Glorious

16 Jan 2024, 07:18 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / It was December (2023), and Toyota was tallying the number of mid-size pickup trucks sold in America. The figures looked comfortable, but the corner office head honchos knew one important thing – the show must go on. Last year, the Jap...

 
All-New, Second-Gen Porsche Macan EV Finally Slated to Officially Arrive on January 25
All-New, Second-Gen Porsche Macan EV Finally Slated to Officially Arrive on January 25

15 Jan 2024, 14:11 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The Porsche brand already has a pretty decent EV in its stable, the Tesla Model S-fighting Taycan sedan, but now it wants to attack the world's best-selling nameplate - Model Y, with the all-new second-generation Macan EV crossover SUV. ...

 
Mercedes-AMG Coupe Drags Lambo Huracan and Ferrari 458, Someone Takes a Beating
Mercedes-AMG Coupe Drags Lambo Huracan and Ferrari 458, Someone Takes a Beating

15 Jan 2024, 13:30 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / The landscape across the American pony and muscle car sector is feeling a bit deserted these days. Luckily, we can always entertain ourselves with some high-performance European sports car quarrels in the meantime. Currently, the S650 sevent...

 

Stories by Aurel Niculescu