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.
Tesla Dealer License Rejected in Virginia
25 Apr 2013, 09:38 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Some say the State of Virginia isn’t that friendly when it comes to electric cars. Given the fact that EVs have arrived a little late in the “Old Dominion”, that might be true but for obvious reasons we wouldn’t want to wage...
Hyundai Teases 2013 Pikes Peak Race Car
25 Apr 2013, 09:08 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is about two months away and things are starting to heat up among competitors, especially where there’s a case of factory support. Hyundai Motorsports USA is one of the automakers that’s a...
2014 Toyota 4Runner Teased Again
25 Apr 2013, 08:48 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Set to be revealed at the 2013 Stagecoach Country Music Festival, the 2014 Toyota 4Runner was teased once again by the Japanese automaker. After showing us the SUVs head and tail lamps, Toyota has released an infographic that show the vehicle&rs...
Jaguar Dismisses Rumors of Old-School Styled XJ
25 Apr 2013, 08:23 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / British automaker Jaguar has dismissed rumors that the next-generation XJ sedan will be offered in two different body styles. Last week, Edmunds reported that Jaguar is planning to develop an old-school styled version for the next XJ in order to...
Volkswagen Groove Up!, Rock Up! Special Editions Announced
25 Apr 2013, 07:51 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / German automaker Volkswagen has announced that two new special editions of its Up! city car, Groove Up! and Rock Up!, will be released in the United Kingdom. The company claims that both vehicles are based on the top-specification High Up! and e...
Toyota Is The World’s Largest Automaker in First Quarter 2013
25 Apr 2013, 07:28 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Toyota Motor Corp. remains the world’s largest automaker after posting its first quarter 2013 sales numbers, outselling both General Motors and Volkswagen, who released their reports last week. The Japanese manufacturer announced it sold 2...
GM Pours Another €230 Million into Opel
24 Apr 2013, 16:25 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Just two weeks after announcing plans to invest €4 billion ($5.19 billion) in its Opel subsidiary over the next four years, General Motors has revealed that it will infuse another €230 million ($298.7 million) in the German-based automake...
Ford Posts Best North American Quarter Profit Since 2000
24 Apr 2013, 15:59 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Ford Motor Co. reported that its first quarter of 2013 brought a pretax profit of $2.4 billion on the North American market, rated as the company’s strongest result since 2000, when the Blue Oval began reflecting the region as a separate busi...
Electric smart fortwo Goes to China
24 Apr 2013, 15:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Microcar manufacturer smart has announced plans to launch the all-electric fortwo city car onto the Chinese market by the end of the year, after the local government has green-lighted the zero-local-emission runabout. By introducing its electri...
Mercedes AMG Petronas Relying on Tata for “World Class” Trackside Connectivity
24 Apr 2013, 15:01 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Formula One team Mercedes AMG Petronas and Tata Communications have reached an agreement based on which the global provider will deliver “world class” trackside connectivity for the German racing division. The Indian-based company wi...
SEAT Planning Four-Wheel Drive, RHD Leon ST
24 Apr 2013, 14:32 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Spanish automaker SEAT is developing a four-wheel drive RHD version of the Leon ST estate to be sold in the United Kingdom, a company representative has revealed. Speaking to Autocar, SEAT’s R&D chief Matthias Rabe said the new four-wh...
Jaguar F-Type, Damian Lewis "Desire" Short Film Launched
24 Apr 2013, 14:00 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The “Desire” short film, starring Golden Globe & Emmy Award winning actor Damian Lewis and the Jaguar F-Type sportscar, premiered today at a private screening at Sundance London film and music festival. Filmed in Chile’s At...
2014 Chevrolet SS Walkaround
24 Apr 2013, 13:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Revealed more than two months ago at the Daytona International Speedway, the 2014 Chevrolet SS was introduced to the public at last month’s New York Auto Show. Overshadowed by the Camaro Z/28 and the Corvette Stingray Convertible at the Ja...
Dragster’s Bodywork Blows Off, Flies Into Crowd
24 Apr 2013, 12:53 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Drag racing is one the most dangerous sports on four wheels... and that’s a fact. And while new safety regulations and advanced technologies have reduced the number of injuries among drivers and fans, such unfortunate accidents keep occurring...
Mercedes Citan Gets Mediocre 3 Star Euro NCAP Rating
24 Apr 2013, 12:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The Mercedes-Benz Citan Kombi scored a Euro NCAP safety rating of just three stars, the poorest result for the German company since 1997. Although the result might seem surprising to say the least given Mercedes’ strong reputation as far a...
Toyota Unveils “Anti-Crisis” ME.WE Concept
24 Apr 2013, 11:34 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Japanese automaker Toyota has revealed its latest concept car, the ME.WE. Developed together with French architect Jean-Marie Massaud since 2011, the ME.WE was created as an “anti-crisis” vehicle. Built to address “contemporary...
US Department of Energy Seizes $21 Million from Fisker
24 Apr 2013, 09:53 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The US Department of Energy recovered $21 million in cash from struggling electric car manufacturer Fisker Automotive, the agency announced earlier this week. "Given the obvious difficulties the company is facing, we are taking strong and a...
Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse WRC Introduced in Shanghai
24 Apr 2013, 09:18 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / French automaker Bugatti has debuted its latest world record car, the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show. Recently named the world’s fastest open-top production car, after reaching a top speed of 254.04 mph (408.84...
Tesla Shares Hit Record High
24 Apr 2013, 08:55 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / While Fisker Automotive in on the verge of bankruptcy, Tesla Motors seems to be doing just fine, with shares reaching a record high earlier this week. The company’s stock hit a record high Tuesday morning, when a share reached $52.92 in NA...
2013 Volkswagen Passat Gets Wolfsburg Edition
24 Apr 2013, 08:03 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Two months after announcing a Wolfsburg Edition for the exiting 2013 GTI, German automaker Volkswagen decided to offer a similar special edition trim for the 2013 Passat as well. Slotted between the base S and mid-level SE trim, the Wolfsburg Ed...