Mircea Panait
20,328 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.
2015 Honda Odyssey Now On Sale, Starts from $28,975
4 Aug 2014, 07:55 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Designed in Los Angeles, engineered in Ohio and assembled in Lincoln, Alabama, the 2015 Honda Odyssey minivan has been developed from the get-go with the North American customer in mind. Already available for order, the new model year can be had fo...
BMW UKL Platform Could Underpin a Dozen Forthcoming Models
3 Aug 2014, 18:10 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / When the Bavarian carmaker told the automotive media that front-wheel drive is the way to go for the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, many fans of the breed were skeptical about this move. However, a recent report tells that even the next-gen 1 Series a...
RDB LA Squeezed 660 HP from this Wicked BMW M5
3 Aug 2014, 17:18 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Most tuning fans might not know about a garage located on Sunset Boulevard called RDB LA. While there are a lot of people out there wanting more notability from their M5s and a lot of tuning firms ready to deliver just that, the owner of this parti...
Ford Announces Best July Results in 8 Years
3 Aug 2014, 11:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Compared to July 2013, this year's July has seen the Ford Motor Company sell 212,236 vehicles in North America, an increase of 10 percent over the same period last year and the best July in 8 years. With retail sales up 7 percent to 162,028 ve...
GM Posts Best July Sales Since 2007, Total Sales Up 9 Percent
3 Aug 2014, 10:39 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Despite the apparently never-ending recall saga that numbers almost 30 million vehicles, General Motors is enjoying pretty good sales volumes. With crossovers up 26 percent, SUVs 32 percent as well as vans 65 percent, GM is on a roll with its best ...
Volvo S60, V60 Polestar US Pricing Announced
3 Aug 2014, 10:01 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Out of the 750 units that'll ever be produced, the United States will get only 120 Volvo S60 and V60 Polestar limited edition models. Considering the S60 sedan starts from $59,300 and the family oriented V60 wagon has a $60,990 sticker price, ...
Would You Pay $235k for a 1957 Flxible Starliner?
3 Aug 2014, 09:07 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / That's a lot of dough considering that this motorhome is 57 years old and was built when Eisenhower was in office. As if age wasn't enough of a problem, spare parts for this vintage RV are pretty hard to find considering Flxible is d...
Citroen DS3 Cabrio Gets the DStyle by Benefit Treatment
3 Aug 2014, 08:22 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Yet again, French manufacturer Citroen and British cosmetics company Benefit have made a girls-only special edition of the aging Citroen DS3. But be advised 'cause this DS3 comes as a Cabrio only, so it's very possible for the wind to mes...
Carburetors Explained
1 Aug 2014, 18:28 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Weber, Holley, SU, Carter and Q-Jet. Any gearhead heard at least once about one of those terms and for those who didn't, the previously mentioned are the best-known brands of carburetors in the history of internal combustion. Although this typ...
GM Milford Proving Ground Celebrates Its 90th Anniversary
1 Aug 2014, 15:49 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / When General Motors acquired the 2,300 acres of land in Michigan for the Milford Proving Ground back in 1923, nobody understood the importance of the industry's first dedicated automobile testing facility. Opened 90 years ago, the complex now ...
GM-built Baojun 730 Is a Chinese Minivan with Lotus-tuned Suspension
1 Aug 2014, 15:23 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / It may sound like a fisherman's tale, but it is for real - this box-shaped thing had its front McPherson struts and torsion beam rear suspension tuned by Lotus, the same company that makes the track-bred Elise and Exige sports cars. Unveiled i...
2015 Roush S550 Mustang Teased on Facebook
1 Aug 2014, 14:20 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / When push comes to shove, the big boys in the muscle car tuning world go all out in order to keep rivals at bay. After Saleen dropped a teaser of the S302 Mustang and a few exclusive details to autoevolution in July, Roush Performance follows up wi...
Chrysler Group Posts July 2014 Sales, Every Brand Reports Sales Increases
1 Aug 2014, 13:39 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / In its 52nd consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains, all of the Chrysler Group's brands posted good results in comparison to July 2013. Some highlight stats include seven nameplates that set sales records, best July sales since 2005 fo...
2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Spied Again, This Time in Europe
1 Aug 2014, 12:29 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Well, well, well, now what do we have here? Our spy photographers spotted the Mitsubishi Outlander facelift for the second time. On this occasion, the almost production-ready 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander was seen in Germany, but with a little bit less...
GM Targeted Yet Again By Collective Lawsuit
1 Aug 2014, 11:47 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After 60 recalls and almost 30 million faulty vehicles, General Motors finds itself at the firing end of a barrel of a gun, with numerous victims intending lawsuits for accidents linked to sub-standard cars. The latest representative action inv...
Tesla Model S Long-Term Test Exposes the Good and the Bad Sides of Owning the EV
1 Aug 2014, 10:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Back in February 2013, the guys over at Edmunds decided to spend $105,005 on a Tesla Model S of their own and see how the electric luxury sedan fares on the long run. 17 months or so after the moment of delivery, the team returned with an article t...
Tesla Delivered Almost 1,000 Model S Vehicles in China Since April
1 Aug 2014, 09:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / In the second quarter alone, Tesla Motors has managed to deliver 7,579 examples of the Model S and built 8,763 units of the EV. Based on the way things are going from very good to even better, the carmaker expects shipments to boost, especially in ...
Tesla Posts $62 Million Net Loss, Revenue Almost Doubles in Q2 2014
1 Aug 2014, 08:13 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Tesla Motors may be on a roll lately with the Model S sales success and the expansion of the Supercharger network, but its net loss has reached $61.9 million in the second quarter of 2014 because of research and development costs. That's somew...
2015 smart fortwo, forfour Pricing Announced, First Deliveries this November
31 Jul 2014, 17:25 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After lots of photo and video teasing, the veil finally dropped two weeks ago and the new smart generation of models made its world debut. In Germany, where first deliveries are programmed for November 22nd, the fortwo will carry a €10,895 ($1...
1950 Studebaker Champion Starlight Coupe Can Be Yours for $22,500
31 Jul 2014, 16:46 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / For the younger audience, Studebaker is one of America's greatest has-been car brands. Until 1967, the Indiana-based manufacturer has established itself as making some of the most reliable and high quality cars in the world. And this Champion ...