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.
Dennis Rodman Cruises Around Vatican in Popemobile
14 Mar 2013, 09:47 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Former NBA star Dennis Rodman was one of the main attractions in Vatican these days, where a new "Pontifex Maximus" was elected following Pope Benedict's sudden resignation. Rodman's trip to Vatican City had something to do w...
2014 Toyota Highlander Showcased Ahead of New York Debut
14 Mar 2013, 08:50 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Toyota has confirmed that the 2014 Highlander SUV will be showcased during the 2013 New York Auto Show later this month. Since the Japanese automaker issued a very brief release about it, the all-new Highlander is still somewhat of a mystery. Ho...
2014 Range Rover Sport Leaked
13 Mar 2013, 17:05 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / It's been just two days since the inaugural 2014 Range Rover Sport teasers have been released, and the first leaked photos with the SUV have surfaced the web. Thanks to AutoMonthly, who's quoting a different source that has already rem...
Rare Alfa Romeo Zagato Roadster Resurrected by Vilner
13 Mar 2013, 17:04 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / About two weeks ago, Bulgarian tuner Vilner was showing us a video teaser of its latest project: the restoration of a very rare 1992 Alfa Romeo Zagato Roadster. The European specialist didn't take too long to complete the car, and has now r...
Flat-Proof Tires to Enter Production in 2014
13 Mar 2013, 16:39 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Non-pneumatic tires, or airless tires if you will, might be put into production in a consumer version as soon as 2014. While the technology is not quite new, being showcased for the first time by Michelin back in 2005, the Non-Pneumatic Tires (N...
Fisker Resigns From Fisker
13 Mar 2013, 15:55 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Henrik Fisker, the man that founded the Fisker Automotive electric car company in August 2007 has resigned from his position as Executive Chairman. The shocking news came from Henrik Fisker himself, who said he has quit his job due to major disa...
2013 World Car Of The Year Top Finalists Announced
13 Mar 2013, 15:15 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The World Car of The Year Awards is preparing to announce its winners later this month, with the judges reducing the finalist lists to just three or four vehicles for all categories. Therefore, the World Car of the Year winner will be decided be...
Jeff Gordon Pranks Car Salesman in Pepsi "Test Drive" Ad
13 Mar 2013, 14:54 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Jeff Gordon won his last NASCAR Sprint Cup championship way back in 2001, but he hasn't lost his touch when it comes to power-packed rear-wheel-drive cars. Still a very popular figure, the 41-year-old driver was asked to show off his skills...
Global Recession Who? Lamborghini Sold More Cars in 2012
13 Mar 2013, 14:20 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The global recession has been affecting automotive sales for the past five years. However, some companies, especially supercar specialists, couldn't care less about the world crisis. Lamborghini is one of those automakers that manage to flo...
Audi Betting on SUVs to Take On BMW
13 Mar 2013, 13:49 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / German carmaker Audi is reportedly relying on its SUVs to become the number one brand in global luxury sales by 2020, a position currently held by BMW. With worldwide demand for premium SUVs rising fast, Audi, now the world's second-largest...
Porsche 911 GT3 R Receiving "Extensive Changes" for 2013
13 Mar 2013, 13:13 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / German manufacturer Porsche has revealed an updated 911 GTR R, which is based on the 997 model generation, for the 2013 motorsport season. Improved by a series of "extensive changes", the 2013 911 GT3 R is reportedly more agile, allowi...
Renault Ditches Mercedes-Based Luxury Sedan Plans
13 Mar 2013, 13:08 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / French automaker Renault has decided not to pursue its plans to build a large luxury sedan based on Mercedes-Benz E-Class' platform, in partnership with Daimler AG. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Renault's plans for a flags...
US Treasury Sold $489.9 Million of GM Stock
13 Mar 2013, 10:56 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / The US Treasury has taken another step to rid the Government of General Motors stock by selling at least 17.2 million of Detroit's shares, worth $489.9 million, in February. According to DetroitNews, the Treasury said it had raised $489.9 m...
2014 Audi A4 Diesel Officially Coming to US
13 Mar 2013, 10:52 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Audi made no secret of its plans to extend US diesel offerings, and we already told you about that last November, but the German company has finally approved a TDI engine for the A4 model. Speaking to Automotive News, Audi of America President S...
Honda Driver Walks Away From Terrible Rollover Crash
13 Mar 2013, 09:46 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / What are the chances for a driver to walk away from his car after flipping it seven times? Apparently pretty big, especially with the latest safety features available on almost all vehicles. And we didn't find that out from a NHTSA test, bu...
Is This the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta GTO?
13 Mar 2013, 09:09 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / While the LaFerrari still grabbing a lot of attention at the Geneva Motor Show, the Italian company seems to be busy testing a new version of the F12 Berlinetta. Recently spotted in Italy, a fully camouflaged test mule based on the F12, with a p...
US-spec 2015 Volkswagen Golf to Debut in New York
13 Mar 2013, 08:41 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Already introduced at the Geneva Motor Show last week, the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf will make its North-American debut at the New York Auto Show later this month. The US-spec version of 2013 European Car of the Year will be unveiled at...
Fesler-Modified 1963 Buick Riviera Looks Sinister
12 Mar 2013, 17:11 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / If Al Capone would have lived to see the 1960s, he would have ditched his 1928 Cadillac V8 Town Sedan for this 1963 Buick Riviera Custom. Capone died in 1947, but for some reason we can imagine him stepping out this car with a Tommy in his hands. ...
Say Goodbye to the V8 Lincoln Navigator
12 Mar 2013, 16:27 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Since this is an obvious "No soup for you!" situation, we thought we should start with the good news. Lincoln has confirmed that the full-size Navigator SUV will see another generation. But Ford's new strategy towards better econo...
2014 Hyundai Equus Revealed, Explained Ahead of New York Debut
12 Mar 2013, 16:12 UTC · By: Ciprian Florea / Following last week's teaser, Hyundai has revealed the 2014 Equus (Centennial) model ahead of its New York Auto Show debut. The newly refreshed Equus, now known as the Centennial, comes with a few subtle, yet effective changes, and several ...