Ciprian Florea
7,286 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.
Legendary Racing Driver Art Malone Dies at 76
1 Apr 2013, 12:52 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Former drag racing and USAC Championship driver Arthur "Art" Malone died Friday at the age of 76. Widely known for becoming the first driver to exceed 180 miles pe hour (290 km/h) at Daytona International Speedway and for driving the f...
Ford Recalls Taurus, Explorer and Lincoln MKS Models Over Fuel Tank Concerns
1 Apr 2013, 12:24 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Ford Motor Co. has issued a recall for certain 2012 Taurus, 2013 Explorer and 2012 Lincoln MKS models over fuel tank concerns. Manufactured between July 19, 2011, through March 12, 2012, the affected vehicles may have "a marginally sealed s...
Volvo Announces Car-Enveloping Airbag Technology
1 Apr 2013, 11:48 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Volvo, the automotive industry leader in terms of vehicle safety, has announced yet another revolutionary feature after launching the Pedestrian Airbag Technology. Called External Vehicle Protection (EnVeloP), the new safety system which contain...
Rare Bugatti EB110 Spotted in Japan
1 Apr 2013, 10:19 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Introduced in 1991, the Bugatti EB110 was the first car built in Molsheim after the company was revived by Romano Artioli. Although it's barely 22 years old, the EB110 is a rare sight nowadays with only about 126 examples built (95 GTs and 31 ...
New Peugeot 308 Will Look Very Different
1 Apr 2013, 10:18 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / After Volkswagen and Land Rover have bragged about designing distinct new Scirocco and Defender models, Peugeot also said they're planning on a "very different" 308 hatchback. We don't know what wrong with these companies, bu...
Alfa Romeo-based Dodge Barracuda Delayed
1 Apr 2013, 09:16 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Dodge's plans to replace the Challenger with a Barracuda, thus reviving the famous musclecar manufactured between 1964 and 1974, are official for quite a while, with the new model set to arrive in 2015. However, it looks like the Alfa Romeo...
Suzuki Authentics Teased Ahead of Shanghai
1 Apr 2013, 08:24 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The Suzuki Authentics concept, the Japanese automaker's preview for a new C-segment sedan to take on the Chinese market, has been teased ahead of the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show. What's the Authentics concept all about? There's not m...
Dodge Planning Camaro Z/28 Rival
1 Apr 2013, 08:06 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The 2014 Camaro Z/28 that Chevrolet had just unveiled at the 2013 New York Auto Show won't remain unchallenged, said Dodge, who are planning on a more powerful and lighter version of the Challenger SRT8. The news was revealed by SRT boss Ra...
2014 Toyota Corolla to Be Unveiled Before the Los Angeles Auto Show
1 Apr 2013, 07:36 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The highly anticipated 2014 Toyota Corolla will reportedly be unveiled before the 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show. Toyota executive Bob Carter has revealed that the redesigned Toyota Corolla will already be on sale by the time the Los Angeles Auto Sh...
Toyota Goes Van Racing: "Sky's the Limit!"
1 Apr 2013, 07:08 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Japanese automaker Toyota has announced that its new Proace van will compete in the British Touring Van Championship. British Touring what? Yep, it's a new series slated to debut this summer and it seems that three UK independent touring ca...
The Coolest Shooting Brakes Ever Made
31 Mar 2013, 16:43 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Initially designed "to take gentlemen on the hunt with their firearms and dogs", the shooting brake concept has become increasingly popular starting with the 1960s. However, the niche seems to have gotten a little shaky nowadays, as the s...
High Displacement Coffee Anyone?
30 Mar 2013, 11:59 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / There's nothing like waking up to a good coffee in the morning, right? Black, latte, decaf, you name it... Don't panic, we haven't given up writing about cars to take on food and beverages, but this might tickle more than just your t...
Next Land Rover Defender Will Be "Incredibly Distinctive"
30 Mar 2013, 11:24 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The next-generation Land Rover Defender, which is expected to arrive in 2015, will be designed to look "incredibly distinctive", British company design director Gerry McGovern said. "This thing, I can assure you, will be incredibl...
Fiat, Chrysler CEO Investigated for Violation of Workers' Rights
30 Mar 2013, 11:24 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is being probed over allegation of violation of workers' rights in what appears to be a long-running dispute at the Pomigliano plant near Naples, Italy. Sergio Marchionne and another Fiat group manager were report...
Christmas Already? Ferrari Employees Receive Substantial Bonus
30 Mar 2013, 10:48 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / It's been a cold month of March all over Europe. Probably cold enough for some to start thinking about putting the Christmas tree up again. While spring is finally back on track, Ferrari employees still have enough reasons to feel christmasy a...
Production Porsche 918 Spyder to Make LaFerrari and McLaren P1 "Look Mediocre"
29 Mar 2013, 17:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Porsche's very own "LaPorsche", the 918 Spyder, will be more powerful and much lighter in production form, a future Stuttgart-hybrid supercar owner said. A TeamSpeed forum member who claimed to have placed an order for the Porsche...
Daniel Craig Introduces the 2014 Range Rover Sport, Pockets $1 Million
29 Mar 2013, 16:06 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / We said it once, we'll say it again: It's good to be James Bond! Or Daniel Craig in this case. The actor who plays James Bond since 2006 pocketed $1 million, or 658,000 of her Majesty's pounds, to appear at the New York Auto Show alo...
Next-Generation Volvo XC90 Coming in 2014
29 Mar 2013, 15:17 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Swedish automaker Volvo will introduce a successor to the XC90 mid-size luxury crossover SUV in late 2014. The all-new Volvo XC90, slated to be the first vehicle launched by the company as part of China's Geely Holding Group, will be develo...
Rare Mercedes 300SL Gullwing Totaled by Mechanic in Germany
29 Mar 2013, 15:15 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / A classic Mercedes-Benz 300SL, also known as the Gullwing, was recently wrecked by a mechanic during a test drive in Baden-Wuttenberg, Germany. While we hate to break such awful news, an example of the famed Mercedes-Benz became damage goods wor...
Andrew Bynum's Novitec Ferrari For Sale at Half-Price
29 Mar 2013, 14:13 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Andrew Bynum's custom Novitec Ferrari F430 can now be yours for only $209,900. No need to raise that eyebrow, the car that was previously owned by NBA star Bynum boasts about $200,000 in Novitec upgrades alone. Given that the F430 has an or...