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Mircea Panait

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Personal motto:

"If in doubt, flat out." - Colin McRae

Senior Contributor
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Little did he knew back then, but a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO is what sparked Mircea’s interest for cars when he was just a kid. Despite studying mathematics and informatics in high school and economics in university, Mircea turned his passion for all things automotive into a job.
 
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.
1964 Jaguar MK2 With 3.8-Liter I6 and Coombs-Style Upgrades Ticks All the Right Boxes
1964 Jaguar MK2 With 3.8-Liter I6 and Coombs-Style Upgrades Ticks All the Right Boxes

1 May 2024, 17:17 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Long before BMW rolled out the 5 Series and Nissan introduced the PGC10 Skyline GT-R, the Leaping Cat of Coventry launched the superb-looking MK1. The sportiest sedan of that era was replaced by the even sportier MK2 in 1959, which Jaguar also sold...

 
Ford Recalls 242,669 Maverick Vehicles Over Rear Lights That May Deactivate
Ford Recalls 242,669 Maverick Vehicles Over Rear Lights That May Deactivate

1 May 2024, 16:05 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Ford Motor Company has issued a safety recall for a staggering number of Maverick pickup trucks. More specifically, the population comprises 242,669 vehicles manufactured in the period between February 3, 2021 and March 21, 2024. According t...

 
2025 Porsche 911 Spied With Minimal Camouflage, Will Debut Summer 2024
2025 Porsche 911 Spied With Minimal Camouflage, Will Debut Summer 2024

30 Apr 2024, 20:44 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Slowly but surely, camo is coming off 992.2 prototypes. Our spy photographers have captured a plethora of them doing hot laps at the Nurburgring, with said prototypes ranging from a Carrera Coupe to the Turbo S Coupe and Turbo S Convertible. As ...

 
The Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC Looks Primed for a Second Facelift
The Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC Looks Primed for a Second Facelift

30 Apr 2024, 20:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Facelifted in 2023 for the 2024 model year, the Mecedes-Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC has been spied testing in Germany with a bit of camouflage on the front end. This, in turn, suggests a second refresh in 2026 for the 2027 model year, which could be a b...

 
Nuova Lancia Ypsilon Goes on Sale With a Staring Price of €24,900 in Italy
Nuova Lancia Ypsilon Goes on Sale With a Staring Price of €24,900 in Italy

30 Apr 2024, 19:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The once-great Lancia was neutered by poor decisions under Fiat's yoke, and Lancia continues to hurt under the Stellantis group's umbrella. The all-new Ypsilon is the perfect case in point, starting with the PSA-sourced platform that we a...

 
Ferrari SF90 Widebody Kit From Zacoe Performance Looks Assertive
Ferrari SF90 Widebody Kit From Zacoe Performance Looks Assertive

30 Apr 2024, 18:16 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Named after the SF90 racing car, the SF90 road car isn't your usual Prancing Horse. A marvel of engineering, it combines a punchy twin-turbo V8 with three electric drive units for a grand total of 1,000 cavalli vapore or 986 mechanical ponies....

 
Audi Confirms Q6 e-tron Prices and Specs for the UK, More Powerful SQ6 e-tron Is £92,950
Audi Confirms Q6 e-tron Prices and Specs for the UK, More Powerful SQ6 e-tron Is £92,950

30 Apr 2024, 17:05 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / What do you call the second-generation Porsche Macan with Audi badging and styling? Q6 e-tron is the answer. Unleashed with much pomp in September 2023 at the IAA in Munich, the luxurious crossover prepares to hit showrooms in the United Kingdom, p...

 
2025 Ram 2500 Rebel Spied Testing With Revised Lights, New Grille, Updated Bumper
2025 Ram 2500 Rebel Spied Testing With Revised Lights, New Grille, Updated Bumper

30 Apr 2024, 15:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / In a similar fashion to the light-duty 1500, the heavy-duty series of Ram trucks will be updated for the 2025 model year. The carparazzi have recently spotted a Michigan-plated 2500 Rebel doing its thing on Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac all-terrain ru...

 
Hennessey Toyota Tundra TRD Off-Road Upgrade Pack Includes 35-Inch Tires, No Extra Muscle
Hennessey Toyota Tundra TRD Off-Road Upgrade Pack Includes 35-Inch Tires, No Extra Muscle

30 Apr 2024, 14:30 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The most capable Tundra off the beaten path is the stupidly expensive TRD Pro, which is exclusively i-FORCE MAX and CrewMax with the 5.5-foot bed. Retailing at $72,130 for the 2024 model year, the Toyota Tundra TRD Pro can be furthered by Texas-bas...

 
Four-Pot Genesis G70 Races BMW 330i, Winner Then Challenges Audi A4
Four-Pot Genesis G70 Races BMW 330i, Winner Then Challenges Audi A4

30 Apr 2024, 13:54 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Genesis G70, BMW 3 Series, and Audi A4 have plenty of things in common, starting with their target customers. All three vehicles featured in the video below also happen to be four-cylinder turbos optioned with all-wheel drive, and all three fur...

 
GM Produced Certain 2024 Corvette Z06 Vehicles With Incorrect Front Splitters
GM Produced Certain 2024 Corvette Z06 Vehicles With Incorrect Front Splitters

30 Apr 2024, 12:51 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / GM might be putting in the effort to improve quality control, but even so, mistakes can be made. According to service bulletin PIC6545, certain units of the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 may have left Bowling Green with the incorrect front splitter. ...

 
This Carbon-Bodied Jaguar XJS Restomod Packs Over 600 Supercharged Horses
This Carbon-Bodied Jaguar XJS Restomod Packs Over 600 Supercharged Horses

30 Apr 2024, 11:20 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The XJS luxury grand tourer splits opinion to this day, particularly because it was a different animal from the fabulous-looking feline it replaced in Jaguar's lineup. The successor of the William Lyons-era E-Type and the predecessor of the Fo...

 
Ferrari Opens F167 Order Banks, 812 Superfast-Replacing Super GT Debuts May 2
Ferrari Opens F167 Order Banks, 812 Superfast-Replacing Super GT Debuts May 2

30 Apr 2024, 02:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / As expected from the Prancing Horse of Maranello, the order banks for the F167 opened prior to the super grand tourer's debut on May 2 in Miami. A plethora of peeps on the Ferrari Chat forum have confirmed that Ferrari dealers are taking depos...

 
Certain 2023 to 2024 Corvette Vehicles Feature Improperly Torqued Transmission Fasteners
Certain 2023 to 2024 Corvette Vehicles Feature Improperly Torqued Transmission Fasteners

30 Apr 2024, 01:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / GM has recently issued a technical service bulletin referred to as Customer Satisfaction Program N232427051. As it happens, a number of 2023 and 2024 model year Corvette vehicles have been produced with improperly torqued transmission fasteners. Ge...

 
Hennessey Dyno Tests Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Hybrid V6 Truck Makes 365 Wheel Horsepower
Hennessey Dyno Tests Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Hybrid V6 Truck Makes 365 Wheel Horsepower

30 Apr 2024, 00:09 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Toyota redesigned the Tundra from the ground up in 2021 for the 2022 model year. Based on the TNGA-F platform of the all-new Tacoma and 4Runner, the full-size truck comes with V6 muscle exclusively. The punchiest version is called i-FORCE MAX, with...

 
2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee Reportedly Going Four-Cylinder Only
2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee Reportedly Going Four-Cylinder Only

29 Apr 2024, 23:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Care to guess which is the best-selling Jeep in the brand's domestic market? Given that you're reading a story about the Grand Cherokee, the answer is – of course – Grand Cherokee. No fewer than 244,594 examples of the breed w...

 
Ram 1500 Classic Discontinued in Canada, Production Continues for the US and Mexico
Ram 1500 Classic Discontinued in Canada, Production Continues for the US and Mexico

29 Apr 2024, 21:40 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Ram truck brand was promised a midsizer during the Capital Markets Day 2018. Be that as it may, the Dakota's long-awaited successor did not materialize. After Fiat Chrysler and PSA joined forces to create Stellantis, the Ram truck brand wa...

 
2024 Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupe Arriving Summer 2024 With Mild-Hybrid Turbo I6 Muscle
2024 Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupe Arriving Summer 2024 With Mild-Hybrid Turbo I6 Muscle

29 Apr 2024, 20:03 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The hard-topped sibling of the Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Convertible is coming to a dealership near you with standard active rear-axle steering and fully variable all-wheel drive. To arrive stateside this coming summer, the CLE 53 Coupe shares the conver...

 
Federal Watchdog Investigates Ford BlueCruise After Two Fatal Crashes
Federal Watchdog Investigates Ford BlueCruise After Two Fatal Crashes

29 Apr 2024, 19:11 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / BlueCruise is Ford's way of saying Level 2 semi-autonomous driving system. In a similar fashion to Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability from Tesla, it boasts automatic lane centering and lane changing. BlueCruise also monitors road marki...

 
BMW M8 Competition GC Races GT 63 S 4-Door and Panamera Turbo, It's Over in 10.9 Seconds
BMW M8 Competition GC Races GT 63 S 4-Door and Panamera Turbo, It's Over in 10.9 Seconds

29 Apr 2024, 18:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The M8 Competition Gran Coupe, GT 63 S 4-Door Coupe, and Panamera Turbo in the featured clip are not stock. All of them have been tuned by the folks at DMS Automotive in Southampton, which explains the RHD configuration of said vehicles. Present...

 

Stories by Mircea Panait