Razvan Calin
986 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
Don’t try. Be. Do. Live.
He’s been a field journalist, a TV producer, and a seafarer. Now he writes, finding this to be the closest to keeping wisely quiet.
Getting a degree in PR convinced him that trade job skills are more fun, but if all the schools Răzvan has been through taught him anything, it’s that he’ll never cease learning.
Ram Air Overkill: Naturally-Aspirated Turbo Engine Is One Scary Setup; Looks Are Deceiving
15 May 2024, 11:40 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / Forced induction is not new for internal combustion engines—it’s been around since the 1880s, believe it or not—and has served its purpose better and better over the years. There are two factions of this technology: mechanical and...
One-in-Six 1971 Buick GSX 455 Is Up for Grabs, but Why Should We Believe It's Real?
14 May 2024, 10:50 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / 1970 was the year when GM issued the ‘Fire at will!’ order across its entire four-strong piston legions, revoking the displacement ban for intermediates. That woeful ban on engine size was aimed at hot-headed wranglers who thought speed...
1974 AMC Matador Coupe Flexes AMX Vibes, Sports a Super Rare Option Featured in NASCAR
13 May 2024, 21:50 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / In the early 70s, America was going through a profound transformation that shook off some of its core values to the ground. A curious side-effect of the ample transformations of the rebellious new generation was the cancelation of a car model. More...
Black and Silver Is the New White and Blue for the 2024 Shelby Super Snake; Take or Pass?
12 May 2024, 21:14 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / Love it or hate it, the 2024 Shelby Super Snake derivative of the new Ford Mustang is anything but omissive, no matter where, how, and when it goes or in what company it’s in. Granted, it managed to divide the fanbase with its $150k base pric...
1,000-HP Blown 2024 Mustang Can Cyber-Eat Super Snakes, Hellcats All Day, Twice on Sundays
12 May 2024, 19:31 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / The seventh-generation Ford Mustang is anything but boring, but that’s not a reason for hardcore gearheads to not wish upon a star for even more extreme makeovers of their beloved pony. Sure, Shelby American Inc. quickly rose to the challenge...
1980 Rolls-Royce Used To Be a Texas Doghouse, Its Hidden GM Surprise Last Ran in 2000
12 May 2024, 16:58 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / In 1980, the Lincoln Continental Mark VI was the most expensive American-made automobile, with a base price of $21,424. It offered ample seating for five passengers, a 5.8-liter V8 with 140 net hp (the famous 351 Windsor small block Ford engine), a...
Ohio Man Buys New Special Corvette in 1982, Drives It Home, Forgets All About It Until Now
11 May 2024, 22:21 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / In 1981, when General Motors opened a new facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and began assembling Corvettes on its 7.3-mile-long conveyor-fed assembly line, car nuts raised an eyebrow. The C3 Corvette was very long in the tooth by then, and enthu...
1971 Road Runner Last Ran in 1989 Is So Original It Can Beep-Beep the Life out of a Coyote
11 May 2024, 15:30 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / The transitional year of 1971 is a foggy mix of ‘it all ended by then’ and ‘it was still good fun’ as far as car nuts segregate the muscle car age from the doomsday decades that followed. The cars from that particular year w...
Hennessey Venom F5 Drifts in the Snow and Tows a Special Skier Around the Track, but Why?
10 May 2024, 21:22 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / Name places a Hennessey F5 Revolution doesn’t belong – wrong answers only. Blacktop - great. Track – spot on! Speedway – absolutely. Off-road – debatable. Drag strip – definitely. One-foot-deep water – end ...
Crispy 1970 Challenger Is a Rare Plum Crazy Surprise, Gear Up for V8 Emotional Damage
10 May 2024, 16:45 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / When the Challenger hit showroom floors in the fall of 1969 as an all-new 1970 model, Chrysler expected to send 200,000 Dodge ponies to new homes. Mother Mopar offered its newborn broad access to its equipment, trim, and power wardrobes, from the t...
Flop to Fabulous: 1958 Edsel Corsair Is a Survivor Arizona Gem With Surprising Mileage
9 May 2024, 11:41 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / In the late 1940s, Ford Motor Company concluded that a mid-priced automobile void hindered sales and pushed a significant portion of the market into a mass migration to other manufacturers. Long story short, a quarter-billion-dollar effort and a de...
Russian Mechanics Reverse-Spin a Four-Stroke, Four-Cylinder Engine Because Why Not
8 May 2024, 21:15 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / Generally, combustion engines follow a standard principle of operation founded on the premise that the crankshaft spins clockwise (as seen from the driver’s seat). That’s how the powerplants are designed, engineered, built, and used. Bu...
Too Rare To Pass? 53k-Mile 1972 Trans Am Sports Expensive Factory Option
7 May 2024, 22:34 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / For many, the best-looking Pontiac is a Firebird – a particular Firebird, to be exact: the 1972 Trans Am, the car that almost wasn’t. Due to a GM workers’ strike, the corporation considered dropping the twin cousin pony cars from ...
Fake It 'Til You Make It: BMW Puts M Lipstick on the 5 Series Wagons – Pass or Take?
7 May 2024, 15:31 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / What makes a family wagon stand out from the overcrowded environment in which it dwells? Specific beauty marks borrowed from the athletic side of the family and a few upgrades to wheels and brakes. That’s what BMW thinks, and the company is n...
Ferrari 296 GTB Goes 218 MPH on Public Road, No One Bats an Eyelid
6 May 2024, 21:13 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / The Germans are the only true gearheads worthy of a medal from the order of the Wrench and Piston (that I just made up), mostly because they actually can drive fast cars. Their little dirty secret is the autobahn, the infamously liberal highway tha...
Restored 1970 Chevelle SS454 Convertible With Deceptive LS6 News Asks $500K, but Why?
6 May 2024, 19:29 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / With official records lost, the number of convertible SS454 LS6 Chevelles is uncertain, which makes all the examples left in the world treasure troves for collectors. However, with around two dozen ever made, the one-year-only 7.4-liter V8 Chevelle...
The 443-HP AMG CLE 53 Convertible Is Coming to a US Dealership Near You Later This Year
6 May 2024, 14:19 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / AMG stands for ‘Aufrecht, Melcher, and Grossaspach’—officially—. Still, it could very well be translated into something catchier, like All Money Gone with the Wind, courtesy of the latest CLE 53 Cabriolet. It’s Mercede...
17-Cylinder AWD Turbo Stick-Shift Drag Race: 700-HP Audi S2 vs. 600-HP VW Golf vs Audi S5
6 May 2024, 11:58 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / Old cars are better, and there is absolutely nothing anyone can say that will make me change my mind about it. I am, of course, talking about those cars made of iron and skill. Those cars require a set of proper old-school, high-end forged steel qu...
White Wizard: This Demon 170 Is So Bright, It Might Even Avoid Eternal Damnation
2 May 2024, 21:03 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / Typically, a car’s color scheme comes second to its other attributes (mostly related to the purpose for which it was built in the first place, namely to go from A to B). However, how is one Demon 170 owner supposed to stand out from the crowd...
All-New $225K Rezvani Arsenal Bulletproof SUV Comes Without the 1,000-HP 6.2-Liter HEMI
2 May 2024, 20:00 UTC · By: Razvan Calin / Typically, Rezvani Motors is associated with oversized, overkill-engineered all-wheel-drive zombie apocalypse daily drivers—and the company itself confirms the stereotypes. The California-based custom builder just announced that a new model i...