Aurel Niculescu
9,156 ARTICLES
There he understood anything is possible if you work hard and passionately strive to follow your imagination. This is how at the age of 16 he managed to fulfill the first dream – flying alone in a glider plane. He was no Tom Cruise, of course, so young adulthood brought him back to reality.
With every kick in the familiar *utt comes a chance to step forward, so a seemingly unimportant ad in one of his favorite automotive magazines brought a dilemma - follow through with the current job or dare to achieve greatness by deploying (previously) unknown literary skills.
Since 2006, he’s been perfecting them at Automondial, Supercar, Cox, Autoshow, Autopro, Auto Motor & Sport, and more magazines plus their online versions. After driving some of the best and worst cars in Europe and around the world, he’s part of the autoevolution team, where he aims to develop his best-ever form.
Virtual G82 BMW M4 Competition Facelift Axes Divisive Grille in Favor of M8 DNA
7 Oct 2021, 12:24 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Times are hard for automotive fans with Bavarian white-and-blue blood in their veins, as BMW seems intent on seeing its styling polemics through the very end. But if they don’t seem to care about the public’s opinion, there are always s...
2023 Kia Stinger GT Tries to Virtually Drift Its Way Into an All-New Generation
7 Oct 2021, 11:16 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / On the edge of the EV precipice as it undergoes its major reinvention, Kia is one of those sprawling automakers that doesn’t care about the state of the automotive world as it continues to thrive. But, eventually, it will have to cut on the c...
Unofficial BMW M3 Touring Is Accurately Portrayed as Nurburgring Grocery Hero
7 Oct 2021, 10:26 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Just recently, the upcoming sixth-generation M3 Touring (G81) was again teased by the Bavarian automaker sporting its full camouflage attire. But, compared to recent spy shots of prototypes, there was a twist. Not a major one, although it doe...
Laid-Out, Matte Nissan Skyline ER34 Has Subtle Tommykaira GT-R Digital Vibes
7 Oct 2021, 09:59 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Nissan's Skyline nameplate has such a massive heritage (including under the original Prince parent) that it’s probably now beyond the pursuit of financial success. But how about owner happiness? Well, that is an entirely different ...
Unofficial 2023 BMW M2 Active Tourer Manages the Unthinkable, Grille Looks OK
7 Oct 2021, 09:22 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Because there aren’t that many novelties with the second-generation (U06) 2 Series Active Tourer, BMW again opted for a controversial design. Yes, the mega-grille is of course on point. No matter the backlash surrounding the double-coff...
Video: Already Scarce, Brand-New Trailered C8 Corvettes Now Going Out in Blaze of Fire
7 Oct 2021, 08:41 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Ever since it was first announced with a game-changing powertrain configuration, the mid-engined C8 Chevrolet Corvette has been one of the hottest subjects around the automotive world. Well, that’s a sad pun right there... Anyone tracki...
808-HP Hennessey Mustang GT Does Glorious Supercharged Donuts Ahead of Delivery
7 Oct 2021, 07:46 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / A lot of the recent work performed by Hennessey Performance Engineering has revolved around America’s coolest trucks, such as the 2021 Ram 1500 TRX and 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor. But muscle cars are still important in Texas. The Lone Star ...
Nitrous Chevy Malibu Drags Wheelstanding Olds G-Body, Dents Have the Upper Hand
7 Oct 2021, 06:56 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / General Motors’ G architecture – aka the G-body – made its first appearance at the sunset of the 1960s and reappeared to live a fruitful life during the 1980s. The cool thing is that it continues to have a massive presence even no...
1970 Dodge Super Bee Six-Pack 440 Hides Something Fishy Under Original Hemi Color
6 Oct 2021, 13:50 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / When something sounds – or in this case looks – too good to be true, be wary of the tell-tale signs. That could be exemplified with a 1970 Dodge Super Bee, although it also needs further investigation before nailing a final verdict. ...
Blake Snell's Unique Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 Looks Befittingly Matte on 24s
6 Oct 2021, 12:50 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / After a quick music intermezzo to depict Nelly’s custom black-on-black Rolls-Royce Dawn, the good folks over at Champion Motoring are back in the athlete world. Fortunately, without another murdered-out example. Even Floyd Mayweather op...
2023 Acura Integra Revival Accurately Portrayed Based on Recent Teaser Shots
6 Oct 2021, 12:01 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Acura probably chose the most appropriate venue to surprise everyone with the news that it’s bringing back the Integra nameplate. After the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance shock, things are now on the usual teaser track. After in...
Original Volkswagen Scirocco Seeks to Lead a Contemporary Widebody Digital Life
6 Oct 2021, 11:27 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Back when Volkswagen was making glorious cars with cool monikers, its sporty Scirocco was named after a Mediterranean breeze (with hurricane-level moments). So, it was quite akin to its wind namesake. Usually, the VW Scirocco was a three-door...
Fast, Furious Widebody Mazda RX-7 Meets NFS Art in Digital Split-Wing Tribute
6 Oct 2021, 10:29 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Sometimes one doesn’t need a quirky design to make itself noticed in the automotive world. For Mazda, it suffices to stuff inside the engine bay a lightweight Wankel rotary engine. The Japanese company’s RX-7 will forever go down ...
2022 Toyota Tundra Forgets Sequoia Exists, Morphs Into Hulking Three-Row SUV
6 Oct 2021, 09:51 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Building on Toyota’s global truck heritage, rather than just its two previous incarnations, the 2022 Tundra came out as a possible contender for the full-size pickup truck crown. But it might want even more, at least digitally. So, after...
Mud-Playing CGI Ram TRX Dresses As Dodge T-Rex 6x6, Reminds of Unfulfilled Glory
6 Oct 2021, 08:45 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Sometimes, the wacky childhood memories have a way of resurfacing to present a long and quirky line of thought. But it’s all for the sake of creating new – albeit virtual – souvenirs. Timothy Adry Emmanuel, the virtual artis...
Cadillac STS-V Almost Became a Digital Wagon, Turned Out Sporty Coupe In the End
6 Oct 2021, 07:53 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / With all things going crossover, SUV, and truck around us, it’s normal to imagine that nothing else will cut it. But that’s not the way automotive pixel masters seem to think, and act accordingly. In the truly diverse scenery...
Menacing 650-HP 1966 Mustang Looks Supercharged-Ready for Street and Drags
6 Oct 2021, 07:12 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Shawn Davis, the affable and knowledgeable host of the AutotopiaLA channel on YouTube, has us accustomed to a lot of custom GMs and Mopars. But now and then a Blue Oval pops up to make an impression. Just about anything goes for Davis an...
Ford Explorer ST Drags Dodge Durango Hellcat and the Unthinkable Happens, Twice
6 Oct 2021, 06:14 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / According to reports, the Ford Explorer range is the best-selling SUV series of all time in America. Meanwhile, the Durango is the only SUV in the current performance-oriented Dodge family. And they’re both models that shouldn’t be trif...
Mustang RTR Series 1 Limited Edition Pack Comes Back for 2021MY, Costs $7,495
5 Oct 2021, 15:18 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / It’s been a while since we last heard of the Ford Performance – RTR Vehicles collaboration for the Mustang Series 1 limited edition kit. But fortunately, the conversion pack is making an affordable comeback. Although one could sho...
1956 Chevy Corvette Shows a 385-HP Nassau Blue Case of Best of Both Worlds
5 Oct 2021, 13:52 UTC · By: Aurel Niculescu / Few automobiles are readily available to offer the timeless looks of a classic icon combined with the modern technological advancements of the past decades. But this Nassau Blue over white 1956 C1 Corvette might fit the bill. Almost perfectly...