Mircea Panait
20,321 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"If in doubt, flat out." - Colin McRae
Interning for Top Gear was his first foray in automotive journalism, and not long after that, a full-time position was opened for Mircea to seal the deal. Just about three years later, autoevolution became his new home.
Especially interested in American ponies and muscle cars, Mircea also finds the Japanese domestic market appealing thanks to the quirkiness of kei cars. Full-size pickups like the Ram 1500 and off-roaders such as the Ford Ranger Raptor and Jeep Gladiator Rubicon are much to his liking as well.
A self-described master of pasta and an avid CCG player, Mircea’s past-time activities include playing his Epiphone Les Paul Special Vintage Edition electric guitar, discovering the wonders of the Carpathian mountains by foot, and driving to the Black Sea to get a well-deserved tan.
Fancy a Volkswagen Golf GTI W12 650 Concept Replica?
25 Apr 2014, 15:21 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Remember the 2007 Golf GTI W12 650 Concept? It's a one-off Volkswagen design study with cool looks and a 641 horsepower engine in the middle. Unfortunately, it never made it into production. However, that didn't stop a certain Brit to mod...
Rolls-Royce Corniche Chassis No. 001 Up for Auction
25 Apr 2014, 13:27 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / As usual, Silverstone Auctions' next sale will be packed with gorgeous, exquisite and expensive automobiles. If you're in the market for a drop-top Roller, then look no further. At the 24 May Sale taking place in The Wing building on the ...
Ford Posts First Quarter 2014 Financial Results
25 Apr 2014, 11:58 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Ford Motor Company reported today its 19th profitable consecutive quarter, with a Q1 2014 pre-tax profit of $1.4 billion. As for income, the Blue Oval netted no less than $989 million or 24 cents per share, which represents a 39 percent fall fr...
"Pothole Killer" Can Repair a Pothole in Two Minutes
25 Apr 2014, 10:54 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Manufactured by a Pennsylvania-based company, the "Pothole Killer" is the wonder machine motorists have been waiting for lots of years now. This gravel-blasting utility truck patches an average size pothole 30 times faster than a team of ...
Mitsubishi Announces Record 2013 Profit
25 Apr 2014, 09:27 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Japan-based Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) recently reported a global operating profit of $1.2 billion for the '13 fiscal year ending in March, an 83 percent increase over the former fiscal year. Since April 1, 2013 through March 31, 2...
Ayrton Senna's 1991 Race Suit Up for Auction
25 Apr 2014, 08:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / It's 1991, the Brazilian is fighting for its third F1 world champion title at the wheel of a McLaren-Honda racing car while Alain Prost jumps ship to Ferrari with the hope that this change will give him a chance to beat Senna. Many Formula ...
Kia UK Reveals Picanto Quantum Special Edition
24 Apr 2014, 17:36 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Simply put, the Kia Picanto Quantum special edition is just a high-spec three-door version of the A-Segment model. It's already on sale in the UK, holding a price tag of £11,895 (€14,453) for the five-speed manual box model or &poun...
Volvo Torslanda Plant Celebrates 50th Anniversary, Innaugurates TA3 Body Shop
24 Apr 2014, 15:58 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Half a century after the opening of the Gothenburg-based Torslanda plant, Swedish automaker Volvo inaugurated today the opening of its new TA3 body plant. The facility will be used to manufacture the all-new second generation XC90 SUV, which will b...
General Motors Announces First Quarter 2014 Results
24 Apr 2014, 14:30 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Detroit-based auto giant GM reported today its first quarter net income attributable to common stockholders of $0.1 billion, which is dramatically worse than the same period last year. More exactly, nine times worse. Amusingly, CEO Mary Barra de...
Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid Now Available In R-Design Guise
24 Apr 2014, 12:54 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Scandinavian automobile manufacturer Volvo announced today that customers can now customize the V60 Plug-in Hybrid with the special R-Design exterior and interior trim package. Accounting as one of the best-selling hybrid-electrified vehicles in...
Custom-Fit Fabric Covers Protect GM Vehicles
24 Apr 2014, 11:41 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Taking inspiration from high quality tailored suits, cars such as the Corvette Stingray, Cadillac ELR, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra are fitted with custom-made fabric covers before they leave the factory, replacing the plastic wrap common to ...
Cadillac Will Give You $100 For a Test Drive
24 Apr 2014, 10:01 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Until April 30, Cadillac dealers will be offering $100 prepaid Visa gift card to those who simply take a 30-minute test drive with one of the automaker's models. Sounds great, but there's a catch… For a couple of months now, Gen...
Ford Recalls 43,000 Vehicles Over Sub-Standard Seat Welds
24 Apr 2014, 08:48 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Ford Motor Company recently announced that a number of vehicles wearing the Blue Oval and Lincoln logos are subjected to a new recall operation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pointed out that about 42,972 units of the Linco...
Jose Mourinho Is the First UK Customer of the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
24 Apr 2014, 07:50 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Even if you're not a big fan of football (also known as soccer in the U.S.), you must've heard at least once the following name: Jose Mourinho. He's a Portuguese former football player and the current manager of Chelsea FC, also fill...
GM Starts Shipping Revised Ignition Switches To Dealers
23 Apr 2014, 18:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Detroit auto giant announced today that the first few thousands of kits containing redesigned ignition switches are currently being transported to General Motors dealerships Stateside. About 1.4 million owners of 2003-2007 models included in...
TVR to Launch All-New Model in 2-3 Years
23 Apr 2014, 17:09 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Few car manufacturers have the prestige and pedigree of TVR. The British marque had a lot of ups and downs since it was founded in 1947, but all is not lost. A recent Autocar report suggests the Blackpool-based company will be back in business w...
Meet the 2014 Callaway Corvette
23 Apr 2014, 16:16 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The American tuner's latest creation will be officially unveiled tomorrow at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. With the addition of Callaway's third generation supercharger system, the all-new model's 6.2-liter...
Fiat Ducato Facelift Gets More of Everything · Video
23 Apr 2014, 14:43 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Featuring the best gross vehicle weight in the single wheels category (up to 4.4 tonnes), the Italian company's best selling LCV takes a further step forwards in terms of driving dynamics, comfort and running costs. Fiat's Professional...
Facelifted Citroen Jumper Breaks Cover · Video
23 Apr 2014, 13:32 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / As we've mentioned yesterday, the first platform brother of the Peugeot Boxer already breaked cover. Only minor visual details differentiate the two PSA Group light commercial vehicles. Just like the facelifted Boxer, the revised Citroen Ju...
2015 Ford Mustang Option Prices Surface Out
23 Apr 2014, 12:05 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Somewhere in the digital abyss also known as the World Wide Web, somebody released a fair bit of pricing and options information for the 2015 Ford Mustang. Even though production of the most anticipated car in the U.S. hasn't yet begun, it loo...