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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.
Lamborghini Huracan Successor Imagined With Lanzador Concept Styling Cues
Lamborghini Huracan Successor Imagined With Lanzador Concept Styling Cues

14 Mar 2024, 21:55 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / 2024 is the final year of the Huracan. The yet-unnamed successor – which is referred to as LB63x – is due in the second half of 2024 for the 2025 model year with a plug-in hybrid twin-turbo V8 setup, a Revuelto-derived chassis, and Revu...

 
Ford Recalls Nearly 10,000 Bronco Four-Door SUVs Over Malfunctioning Child Safety Lock
Ford Recalls Nearly 10,000 Bronco Four-Door SUVs Over Malfunctioning Child Safety Lock

14 Mar 2024, 21:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Four-door Bronco sport utility vehicles produced between November 28, 2023 and December 17, 2023 have been recalled for potentially malfunctioning child safety locks. Ford became aware of this condition at the tail end of last year. Back on Dece...

 
2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz Facelift Spied With Camouflaged Interior
2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz Facelift Spied With Camouflaged Interior

14 Mar 2024, 21:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Hyundai Motor America is currently testing what appears to be the 2025 Santa Cruz in series-production spec. The facelift should go live during the summer months, with first customer deliveries in the United States market expected in the fall. ...

 
Certain 2020 Ford Explorer SUVs Recalled for Rearview Camera Issue
Certain 2020 Ford Explorer SUVs Recalled for Rearview Camera Issue

14 Mar 2024, 19:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Just under 2,000 examples of the 2020 Ford Explorer have been produced with rearview cameras that may distort the rearview image or fail to display the image due to insufficient electrical conductivity within the printed circuit board. The sport ut...

 
Honda Recalls Passport and Ridgeline for Potential Loss of Steering Control
Honda Recalls Passport and Ridgeline for Potential Loss of Steering Control

14 Mar 2024, 18:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / American Honda Motor Co. identified a manufacturing issue affecting the 2023 model year Passport and Ridgeline. As it happens, the inner ball joint housing may have been fastened below the correct torque specification, which may result in detachmen...

 
Genesis Recalls 3.3L TT V6-Powered G90, G80, G70 for Increased Fire Risk From Oil Leak
Genesis Recalls 3.3L TT V6-Powered G90, G80, G70 for Increased Fire Risk From Oil Leak

14 Mar 2024, 16:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Hyundai Motor America issued a safety recall for 28,439 vehicles from the Genesis luxury brand, with said vehicles coming in the form of the full-size G90, mid-size G80, and sportier G70. Assembled in South Korea between June 2016 and September 202...

 
335-HP Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer Coming With ChatGPT Integration
335-HP Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer Coming With ChatGPT Integration

13 Mar 2024, 20:58 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / With 335 horsepower on deck from two electric drive units, the Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer is punchier than the 315-horsepower Golf R Variant and more powerful than the Passat Variant PHEV as well. The brand's most powerful wagon yet will not c...

 
Volkswagen ID.3 GTX Revealed, 322-HP Electric Hot Hatchback Is RWD Exclusively
Volkswagen ID.3 GTX Revealed, 322-HP Electric Hot Hatchback Is RWD Exclusively

13 Mar 2024, 19:39 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Cupra, the standalone brand that could replace Spanish automaker SEAT in the Volkswagen Group's portfolio after 2030, unleashed its first series-production electric hot hatchback in February 2024. The Cupra Born VZ now has a sibling with Volks...

 
New Volkswagen Phideon for Chinese Market Spied Testing in Northern Europe
New Volkswagen Phideon for Chinese Market Spied Testing in Northern Europe

13 Mar 2024, 18:23 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / During the Ferdinand Piech era, the Volkswagen lineup welcomed the poor-selling Phaeton. Twinned with the Audi A8 and Bentley Continental Flying Spur on the Volkswagen Group's D1 platform, the luxury sedan was discontinued in 2006 for the US a...

 
Jaguar Recalls Early I-Pace SUVs Over Battery Fire Risk, Fix Under Development
Jaguar Recalls Early I-Pace SUVs Over Battery Fire Risk, Fix Under Development

13 Mar 2024, 16:19 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Currently facing an existential crisis that could see Jaguar follow in the footsteps of Chinese-owned MG, the Leaping Cat of Coventry has issued yet another safety recall concerning the marque's first – and thus far only – electric...

 
2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe EV Says Cheese, AMG.EA Model Rumored With 1,000 HP
2026 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe EV Says Cheese, AMG.EA Model Rumored With 1,000 HP

13 Mar 2024, 02:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Internally referred to as C295, the first-ever AMG electric vehicle has been spied testing in winter conditions. The yet-unnamed liftback will effectively replace Merc's curiously named GT 4-Door Coupe, which launched for model year 2019. S...

 
Tesla Model S Plaid Races Ford Mustang GT and Cadillac CTS-V, Electrons Assert Dominance
Tesla Model S Plaid Races Ford Mustang GT and Cadillac CTS-V, Electrons Assert Dominance

13 Mar 2024, 00:20 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Heavy though it may be, Tesla's ridiculously quick Model S Plaid has very few competitors in the quarter mile. Pictured at Island Dragway, the S197 II-generation Mustang GT and Cadillac CTS-V in the video below can hardly keep up with it. ...

 
2026 Mercedes-AMG GLC 53 EV Makes Spy Photo Debut, Packs Dual-Motor AWD
2026 Mercedes-AMG GLC 53 EV Makes Spy Photo Debut, Packs Dual-Motor AWD

12 Mar 2024, 23:09 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Although Mercedes-Benz AG produces an electric version of the GLC, the poor-selling EQC never made it stateside. Its abysmal driving range and high starting price would have rendered it uncompetitive against similar crossovers, but Merc will make a...

 
Pixel Artist Redesigns 2025 Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid, Looks Much Better Than Real Thing
Pixel Artist Redesigns 2025 Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid, Looks Much Better Than Real Thing

12 Mar 2024, 21:54 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / AMG's electrifying journey continues with the all-new E 53 Hybrid, which comes in four-door sedan and five-door wagon choices. The biggest problem of the first plug-in hybrid E 53 is the six-cylinder powerplant, which isn't a bonafide AMG...

 
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N US Pricing Revealed, Costs Way More Than Tesla Model Y Performance
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N US Pricing Revealed, Costs Way More Than Tesla Model Y Performance

12 Mar 2024, 20:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Tesla isn't synonymous with build quality. But even so, Tesla's electric vehicles are in a league of their own as far as consumer demand is concerned. Be it the T-shaped badge or the ridiculous performance of the Performance and Plaid spe...

 
Upcoming Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer Spied Without Camo, Will Debut March 13
Upcoming Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer Spied Without Camo, Will Debut March 13

12 Mar 2024, 19:11 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The final internal combustion-engined Passat comes exclusively as a wagon. The sedan was indirectly replaced by the zero-emission ID.7, which received a long-roofed sibling on February 19. Come March 13, the ID.7 Tourer will spice things up with mo...

 
2024 Kia Sorento X-Line and X-Pro Feel at Home on Colorado Roads and Off Them Too
2024 Kia Sorento X-Line and X-Pro Feel at Home on Colorado Roads and Off Them Too

12 Mar 2024, 17:59 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The most capable specifications of the refreshed Sorento are currently being demonstrated to the media on the alpine roads of Colorado. There's no better place to prove a point for a crossover, with the Sorento X-Line and slightly more rugged ...

 
Hennessey Mammoth 1000 Ram 1500 TRX Makes Last Stand With 200-Unit Special Edition
Hennessey Mammoth 1000 Ram 1500 TRX Makes Last Stand With 200-Unit Special Edition

12 Mar 2024, 16:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / 2024 is the final year of the Hellcat-powered Ram 1500 TRX, which develops a massive 702 horses and 650 pound-feet (881 Nm) of torque. Hennessey Performance Engineering has a thing for cranking it up to eleven, which is why the Hennessey Mammoth 10...

 
2024 Ford Maverick Recalled Over Potential Fuel Tank Open Pinch Joint
2024 Ford Maverick Recalled Over Potential Fuel Tank Open Pinch Joint

12 Mar 2024, 15:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / A handful of Maverick pickup trucks produced by FoMoCo for model year 2024 have been recalled due to an increased risk of fire. As it happens, the fuel tank supplier's mold shuttle experienced a temporary stoppage, resulting in a misalignment ...

 
Isuzu Recalls Commercial Cab-Over Trucks for Increased Fire Risk From Wiring Damage
Isuzu Recalls Commercial Cab-Over Trucks for Increased Fire Risk From Wiring Damage

12 Mar 2024, 14:17 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Isuzu quickly came to prominence in the automotive world for its excellent diesel engines and stout cab-over trucks. Unfortunately, quite a few of the Japanese manufacturer's commercial vehicles have been hit with a recall in the United States...

 

Stories by Mircea Panait