autoevolution
 

Dan Mihalascu

302  ARTICLES

Personal motto:

"When you're racing, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting." (Steve McQueen's character from the Le Mans movie, 1971)

editor photo
Fascinated by automobiles since he could barely walk, Dan quickly started dismantling toy cars only to reassemble them (eventually), much to his mother’s despair. After learning how to read, he began collecting piles of car magazines, again driving his mom mad.

Finally, something good came out of his passion as he decided to turn it into a career. Since he was better at writing than changing spark plugs, he chose to study journalism instead of becoming a mechanic - thank God for that! And while most of his college colleagues fantasized about winning the Pulitzer prize, all he wanted was to drive cars and write about them. He started doing that right after graduation when he landed his first job as a car magazine writer.

When his mom thought he finally got settled, Dan started racing and entered his first hill climb event at 26 in a Peugeot 205 GTi. The debut went pretty good but the second race ended with a totaled car. Of course, he blamed that on the poor choice of tires in the wet. Being too fired up and inexperienced to keep a cool head on a damp course never crossed his mind as actually being the problem. While the racing bug never really went out of his system, Dan ended his racing career after two seasons amid financial difficulties and his family’s persistence that motorsport was not worth the risk of dying. Tragically, two of his colleagues lost their lives in crashes during that period.

He never really stopped writing, though. After a long hiatus that saw him work as a writer and editor for several international car news websites, Dan has returned to autoevolution, the place that kick-started his writing career for a global audience more than a decade ago. He has taken up a new role as a coordinating editor, and his obsessive attention to detail and quest for factual accuracy should serve him well in his daily tasks. Unless he spends too much time to find the perfect choice of words, that is.
4-Door Fiat 500 to Come to the U.S.
4-Door Fiat 500 to Come to the U.S.

19 Apr 2010, 13:13 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Fiat will bring a four-door version of the 500 city car to the U.S., according to three company sources quoted by the Automotive News. According to these unnamed sources, the car will appear first in Europe, at the end of 2011, but the exact date f...

 
All-New SEAT Alhambra Revealed
All-New SEAT Alhambra Revealed

19 Apr 2010, 12:37 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Shortly after the launch of the sister model Volkswagen Sharan, SEAT has released today the first information and images of its all-new Alhambra MPV. The second-generation model is bigger than its predecessor, at 4,85 meters in length (22 centimete...

 
BMW's Fleet Orders Drive Up UK Sales
BMW's Fleet Orders Drive Up UK Sales

19 Apr 2010, 09:54 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Even if Britain could lose the status of the world’s third largest BMW market to China, sales in the UK are on the up, as local sales director Sean Green announced at the British media launch of the new BMW 320d EfficientDynamics saloon. &...

 
Suzuki Kizashi Coming to Germany this October
Suzuki Kizashi Coming to Germany this October

19 Apr 2010, 09:03 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The Suzuki Kizashi mid-size sedan, already on sale in Japan and the U.S., will come to Germany this fall, the Japanese company has announced. The completely new medium-size sedan is scheduled to arrive at dealerships across the country in October t...

 
Citroen Reveals Chinese Designed Metropolis Concept
Citroen Reveals Chinese Designed Metropolis Concept

19 Apr 2010, 08:02 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Citroen has revealed the first photos of its Metropolis concept, a big luxury saloon that will be officially unveiled at the Shanghai Expo next month, Autocar reports. Bigger than a long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz S-Class at 5.3 meters long and wid...

 
Vorsteiner Releases Exclusive GTRS3 Kit for BMW M3
Vorsteiner Releases Exclusive GTRS3 Kit for BMW M3

19 Apr 2010, 07:14 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / California-based aftermarket specialist Vorsteiner has unveiled its latest creation, the GTRS3 Aero Package for the BMW M3 Coupe. Built upon the famous German sports car, the tuning kit gives it a more aggressive look but doesn’t touch the te...

 
BMW Hopes X1 and 5 Series Will Keep Up German Sales
BMW Hopes X1 and 5 Series Will Keep Up German Sales

18 Apr 2010, 16:10 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / BMW hopes new models such as the X1 compact Sports Activity Vehicle and the new 5 Series will protect it against a strong decrease in car sales in Germany, which is still the company’s biggest market. German car sales dropped 22.8 percent in ...

 
Toyota Canada Recalls Tundra and Highlander Due to Floor Mats
Toyota Canada Recalls Tundra and Highlander Due to Floor Mats

18 Apr 2010, 16:06 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / After the recent Sienna minivan recall announcement, Toyota issued another recall, this time exclusive for the Canadian market due to the floor mats sold in the country. These are optional accessories for the 2007-2010 model year Toyota Tundra, as...

 
Volkswagen Group Reports a 24.6 Increase in Worldwide Sales
Volkswagen Group Reports a 24.6 Increase in Worldwide Sales

18 Apr 2010, 10:22 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The Volkswagen Group reported sales of 1.73 million vehicles worldwide in the first three months of 2010, up 24.6 percent compared with the same period last year. "There are clear signs of a revival on the overall passenger car market in ...

 
Toyota Recalls 870,000 Sienna Minivans in North America
Toyota Recalls 870,000 Sienna Minivans in North America

18 Apr 2010, 10:19 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The recall nightmare isn’t over for Toyota. The Japanese company announced it would recall 870,000 Sienna minivans sold in the United States and Canada since the 1998 model year because of a risk that the spare tire could drop onto the road. ...

 
Dacia, EU's Fastest Growing Brand in March
Dacia, EU's Fastest Growing Brand in March

16 Apr 2010, 14:54 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / New car registrations in the European Union rose 10.8 percent in March, representing the month’s biggest growth in years, helped by demand in the four largest markets excepting Germany. According to statistics from industry group ACEA, new re...

 
Toyota UK Reports Processing 80 Percent of Recalls
Toyota UK Reports Processing 80 Percent of Recalls

16 Apr 2010, 13:56 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Two months after the launch of Toyota’s recall programme, the UK branch of the Japanese company announced it had successfully processed 80 percent of the cars that needed adjustment to their acceleration pedal. Although the numbers involve...

 
Chrysler Finished Sourcing for US Fiat 500 Assembly
Chrysler Finished Sourcing for US Fiat 500 Assembly

16 Apr 2010, 12:50 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Chrysler Group has finished sourcing the parts it needs in order to build the American version of the Fiat 500 city car, which it plans to put on sale at the end of this year. Chrysler’s plans to build and sell the “Cinquecento”, ...

 
Vauxhall Announces UK Debut for All-New Meriva MPV
Vauxhall Announces UK Debut for All-New Meriva MPV

16 Apr 2010, 11:48 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / On June 19, Vauxhall will start selling its new Meriva small MPV on the UK market. The first MPV of the segment to sport backward-opening rear doors (more popularly called suicide-doors), the Meriva replaces the first-generation model, launched in ...

 
Saab CEO Reveals GM Forced Them to Pay for BLS Development
Saab CEO Reveals GM Forced Them to Pay for BLS Development

16 Apr 2010, 10:19 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The fact that the Cadillac’s European special model, the BLS, didn’t enjoy much success on the old continent is well-known among the car enthusiasts out there reading this article. Less-known is that Saab paid for the development of thi...

 
Hyundai i30 Reaches 500,000 Units Sold Worldwide
Hyundai i30 Reaches 500,000 Units Sold Worldwide

16 Apr 2010, 09:22 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The i30 compact car from Hyundai has passed global sales of 500,000 units, as it continues to enjoy an ascending trend worldwide. The milestone has been reached three years after the commercial launch of the car, in 2007. “The i30 delivers...

 
Race-spec Mustang to Enter the FIA GT3 European Championship
Race-spec Mustang to Enter the FIA GT3 European Championship

16 Apr 2010, 08:13 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Ford Mustang is the newest addition to the FIA-sanctioned GT3 European Championship. The competition-spec Mustang will be run by Marc VDS Racing Team, a Belgian racing enterprise that also races two Ford GTs in the GT1 championship and has teams in...

 
Ferrari's 599 GTO Already Sold Out
Ferrari's 599 GTO Already Sold Out

16 Apr 2010, 07:14 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Ferrari’s limited edition model 599 GTO is already sold out, according to reports cited by autoblog.com. The car has been officially presented yesterday at Modena’s Ducal Palace military academy, the same location where Maserati chose t...

 
Ford Stands Against Opel and Vauxhall State Aid
Ford Stands Against Opel and Vauxhall State Aid

15 Apr 2010, 15:00 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Ford Motor Company announced it is against state aids for General Motors’ European brands Opel and Vauxhall. "We believe companies should pay for restructuring themselves," said Wolfgang Schneider, head of legal, governmental enviro...

 
VW to Showcase Eco Technologies at the 2010 Hannover Messe
VW to Showcase Eco Technologies at the 2010 Hannover Messe

15 Apr 2010, 14:02 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Volkswagen will showcase at the Hannover Messe, beginning on Monday, over 30 exhibits under the “Think Blue” slogan, representing the systematic implementation of its sustainability strategy. The Volkswagen stand will include low-consum...

 

Stories by Dan Mihalascu