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.
Citroen C4 Cactus UK Pricing and Specifications
2 Jul 2014, 14:51 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After Citroen revealed it in production guise earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show, the funky C4 Cactus is finally available for order in Great Britain. The French manufacturer announced that the base model starts from £12,990 OTR and d...
Ferrari 312PB Was An Unstoppable Flat-12 Prototype-Sportscar
2 Jul 2014, 13:48 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Before the Prancing Horse channeled all its racing know-how to Formula 1, Ferrari was one of the toughest names in sportscar racing. The last hurrah in a glorious line of prototype racers was the car we're talking about today - the glorious 19...
General Motors Marion Plant Explosion Kills Worker, Injures Eight Other
2 Jul 2014, 12:53 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / GM's stamping plant from Marion, Indiana was the scene of an unfortunate accident on Tuesday, when a chemical explosion fatally wounded a contractor and injured eight other people. Out of the latter, five people have been rushed to Marion Gene...
Only 50 Cars & 4 Bikes Sold In Cuba In 6 Months
2 Jul 2014, 11:51 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After the Cuban government lifted the ban on buying automobiles built after 1959, the results of this action are borderline shameful - a mere 50 cars and just 4 motorbikes have been purchased between January and June 2014 in a country that numbered...
Graco Child Seats Recall Tally Edges to 6.1 Million
2 Jul 2014, 09:48 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urged Graco to recall the first 3.8 million toddler and booster seats back in February, that figure hiked to 6.1 million after further investigations. The Graco safety campaign involving defe...
Ferrari 250 GTO to Be Auctioned At No Reserve
2 Jul 2014, 09:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / August 15th, 2014. Mark that day in your calendars, Ferrari enthusiasts, 'cause an ultra rare 250 GTO will be auctioned by Bonhams at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering event. Considering chassis #3851GT will be offered without reserve and a 2...
Spyshots: 2015 Chrysler 300
2 Jul 2014, 08:11 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Three years after the second generation of 300 was introduced, Chrysler is preparing to give its full-size luxury sedan a much needed mid-cycle facelift. Although fans of the nameplate were expecting more, this is a minor update aimed to give the 2...
Ford Sales Fell 5.8 Percent In June 2014, Lincoln Drops 2.7 Percent
1 Jul 2014, 18:02 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Oh dear, now that's a shocker. After the Chrysler Group reported 9 percent better sales over June 2013 and General Motors sales were up by a mere 1 percent, here comes the Blue Oval with more than disappointing results. However, this fall wasn...
General Motors Moved 267,461 Vehicles In June
1 Jul 2014, 17:20 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Compared to the same month a year ago, General Motors' total U.S. sales were up by just 1 percent, with retail sales up 1 percent and fleet sales by a mere 2 percentage points. Despite analysts forecasting a 6.3 percent drop over the negative ...
OnStar Commercial Exposes 2015 Cadillac CTS
1 Jul 2014, 16:15 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After bidding the outgoing Cadillac CTS farewell with 500 special edition units of the CTS-V Coupe, the automaker paves the way for the all-new model year of the luxury sedan… sort of. A recent OnStar commercial depicting what 4G LTE connect...
Chrysler Group Reports Best June Sales Since 2007
1 Jul 2014, 14:57 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Good times for the Chrysler Group these days - the manufacturer managed to increase June 2014 sales 9 percent over the same month last year (roughly 15,000 more vehicles sold), while the Jeep, Dodge, Ram Trucks and Fiat brands each posted year-over...
Lincoln Would've Been Axed Without Support From New Ford CEO Mark Fields
1 Jul 2014, 13:57 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Starting today, the Blue Oval's harnesses are in the hands of Mark Fields, who replaces Alan Mulally as the Ford Motor Company's chief executive officer and elected member of the directors board. Mark is also the man responsible for savin...
2015 Ford Focus ST Sedan, Wagon Rendered
1 Jul 2014, 12:45 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / A few days after the facelifted Ford Focus ST has made its world debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Photoshop wizard from Hungary known under the X-Tomi Design moniker imagined how the sedan and wagon versions of the Focus ST would look l...
Chevrolet SS Gets Thumbs Up From Consumer Reports
1 Jul 2014, 11:52 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / It's easy to diss the 2014 Chevrolet SS as being just a rebadged Holden Commodore from the Land Down Under. And you're mostly right, but the V8-powered four-door sleeper recipe is still a pretty enticing proposition. Who says no to a Corv...
Tesla Model E to Be Priced Against BMW 3 Series, Insider Says
1 Jul 2014, 09:53 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The green automotive scene is heavily anticipating Tesla Motors' upcoming Model X crossover, which has been confirmed to come in the first months of 2015 with trick Falcon wing doors, two electric motors and four-wheel drive. However, eco-frie...
Chrysler Expands Ignition Switch Recall, 700k Cars Affected
1 Jul 2014, 09:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Amidst the recent announcement that saw the General Motors recall tally pass the 25 million vehicles mark, rival manufacturer Chrysler reports that almost 700,000 vehicles are called back over inadvertent ignition turn-off. This is actually an expa...
8.4 Million GM Vehicles Recalled, 7.6 Million Over Unintended Ignition Key Rotation
1 Jul 2014, 08:26 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / With this latest set of 6 call back operations, General Motors has broken the 25 million vehicles mark and is steadily heading even higher than that. If you're still keeping count, the carmaker has announced no less than 54 different safety ca...
Porsche Boxster Nurburgring Crash Is a Quick Performance Driving Lesson
30 Jun 2014, 19:26 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / A Green Hell the Nurburgring may be, but if you watch other people go though the experience before you gather enough info to go out there on your own, the German track can turn into one of the best driving instructors in the world. Today we are her...
Dodge Ram 1500 Investigated Over Drivetrain Failure
30 Jun 2014, 18:23 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / This just in from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - following multiple complaints from frustrated owners, the agency started investigating the 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck over a mechanical defect that might end up in a scary...
Citroen DS3 DSign Noire by Benefit Priced From £14,995 · Video
30 Jun 2014, 17:33 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Four days after the French carmaker celebrated the 300,000th DS3 produced at Citroen's plant in Poissy, the manufacturer's U.K. branch revealed a girls only edition of the cheeky supermini. Baptized DS3 DSign Noire by Benefit, this specia...