Ciprian Florea
7,287 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough horsepower." - Mark Donohue
You'll never catch him drooling over the latest supercar but he could spend hours talking about why he loves 1940s windshield visors, Mopars, and Studebakers. Naturally, most of his stories are about barn finds and rare classics.
He can give you several reasons why speed and power are more about motorsport than silly street wandering, and Can-Am machinery tops his ridiculously fast all-time favorite car list. He claims he could die happy after a Rattlesnake Raceway ride in a Chaparral and a cup of coffee with Jim Hall on the other side of the table.
Before landing on these pages, Ciprian's work has been published on outlets like TopSpeed, AmericanMuscle, and ThisWeekInMotors.
McLaren P1 Tested to Extremes... On Ice
30 Apr 2013, 13:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / With just a few months left until the production McLaren P1s are shipped to their lucky customers, the British sportscar manufacturer is still out there testing their hybrid performance vehicle. To further test the P1’s durability, McLaren...
Nissan Recalls Over 120,000 2013 Altimas For... Spare Tire Inflation Issue
30 Apr 2013, 13:29 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Japanese automaker Nissan has issued a recall for 123,308 units of the 2013 Nissan Altima because of... over or under inflated spare tires. As weird as that may sound, Nissan North America says that a batch of cars manufactured from March 21, 20...
Weird Things are Happening: Ford Hotrod Spotted in Dubai
30 Apr 2013, 13:03 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / A 1930s built Ford Five-Window Coupe Hotrod was recently spotted in Dubai. Wait, what? Come on, say it, it starts with a “what the h” and ends with an “eck?”... It’s not a very late April Fools joke, honest! It just...
Seattle Villains Beware: There’s a Plymouth Satellite on Patrol
30 Apr 2013, 12:38 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Though no longer built as an official Police Interceptor since 2011, the Ford Crown Victorias are still in service across America, while new vehicles are being shipped nationwide. However, the Crown Victoria is not necessarily the oldest horse s...
Chrysler Profits Drop 65 Percent in First Quarter, CEO Says Company Is “On Track”
30 Apr 2013, 11:56 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Chrysler Group LLC posted a net income of $166 million and a revenue of $15.4 billion in the first quarter of 2013. Compared to the same period last year, Chrysler net income has dropped 65 percent (from $435 million in 2012), while revenue is ...
Toyota Wants to Build 10 Million Cars per Year
30 Apr 2013, 11:26 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Challenged by Volkswagen, who aims to become the world’s largest automaker by 2018, Japanese manufacturer Toyota is looking to increase its yearly production at 10 million vehicles. Speaking to Automotive News, Toyota president Akio Toyoda...
McLaren to Showcase 12C GT Can-Am Edition at Goodwood
30 Apr 2013, 10:03 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / British sportscar manufacturer McLaren will showcase a selection of legendary cars from the company’s heritage collection at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, as part of the automaker’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Besi...
Metallica’s James Hetfield Talks Cars and Art
30 Apr 2013, 09:38 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / It’s been five years since heavy metal band Metallica released a studio album, but the American group seems to be alive and kicking through other activities. Lead singer James Hetfield, for instance, has been busy with his custom cars lately....
2015 Mercedes C-Class to Get Diesel in the US
30 Apr 2013, 09:06 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The redesigned Mercedes-Benz C-Class four-door sedan, which is planned to arrive in 2015, will hit the US market with a twin-turbo 2.1-liter diesel engine. Already fitted on the brand-new GLK250 BlueTec compact crossover that went on sale today,...
Rolls-Royce Confirms Convertible Wraith, Denies SUV Plans
30 Apr 2013, 08:42 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Almost three weeks ago we were telling you about a report claiming that Rolls-Royce is mulling a convertible edition for their new Wraith fastback coupe. It looks like the Germans were right, as the British automaker recently confirmed plans for su...
Maserati Ghibli Coupe, Wagon Renderings
30 Apr 2013, 08:25 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Recently unveiled at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show, the all-new Maserati Ghibli four-door sedan has already been envisioned with a coupe and even a station wagon body. Since it’s no ugly car, the Ghibli would look great as a coupe, and, if y...
Volkswagen Planning 60 New Models by 2018
30 Apr 2013, 08:02 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Volkswagen has already announced its plans to take over the automotive world by 2018 and it looks like it wants to do so by releasing 60 all-new and updated models over the next five years. Despite the European market mess, the Germans reported ...
General Motors Trademarks LT5, LTX Engine Names
30 Apr 2013, 07:29 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / General Motors is planning to expand Chevrolet’s “LT” small-block V8 engine lineup and has started trademark procedure for the LT5 and LTX names. Although it may sound simple, it’s actually not. For the moment we don&rsqu...
The Most Expensive Cars Ever Auctioned
28 Apr 2013, 13:13 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The automobile has been around for more than 100 years. Gasoline powered vehicles showed up near the end of the 19th century, but it's enough to look back to when the Ford Model T started rolling off the Piquette Plant assembly line to realize...
Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse's World Record Run
27 Apr 2013, 08:59 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / French luxury car manufacturer Bugatti released the first official video featuring their new Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse WRC, the world's fastest production roadster. Introduced at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show, the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse ...
Alfa Romeo Pondering Luxury Coupe, Sedan Based on Ghibli
27 Apr 2013, 08:43 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Do you remember the stunning Alfa Romeo 6C Concept we showed you two months ago? It was designed by Alex Imnadze and looked like it could tackle any American musclecar. Well, the Italian brand is reportedly working on a luxury 6C model and we ca...
Fiat Working On Turbo-Diesel V8
27 Apr 2013, 08:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Italian giant Fiat is reportedly developing a turbocharged V8 diesel engine that will outgun the new 3.0-liter V6 mill fitted in the Maserati Ghibli, a luxury sedan which was unveiled at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show earlier this month. According ...
Volkswagen Announces High-Performance Diesel, 10-Speed DCT
27 Apr 2013, 07:49 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Volkswagen will introduce a high-performance diesel engine and a 10-speed dual clutch transmission, the German automaker announced on Friday. Speaking at the 34th International Vienna Motor Symposium, Volkswagen's CEO Dr. Martin Winterkorn ...
Porsche Considered Formula One Comeback
26 Apr 2013, 15:51 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / German automaker Porsche considered returning to Formula One before it decided to stage a Le Mans comeback in 2014, a company representative revealed at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show. According to R&D boss Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche could have rac...
Watch How the Ford Racing Coyote Aluminator Crate Engine Is Built
26 Apr 2013, 15:14 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Ford Racing’s 5.0-liter V8 Aluminator crate engine is quite popular among racing enthusiasts who’d rather purchase a race ready mill than prepare one themselves. Ideal for the 2011-2014 Mustangs, but suitable for other Michigan-built...