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.
NHTSA Is Investigating Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse for Faulty Airbags
NHTSA Is Investigating Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse for Faulty Airbags

19 May 2010, 08:57 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Mercedes E-Klasse cars after it has received complaints about faulty airbags, Bloomberg informs. US regulators have launched an investigation since they fear airbags may...

 
Dacia Duster Could Be Badged as a Nissan
Dacia Duster Could Be Badged as a Nissan

19 May 2010, 08:10 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The new Dacia Duster SUV could be marketed as a Nissan, according to a Renault insider quoted by Autocar. The car is mainly sold with the Dacia logo, but on certain markets it will wear the Renault badge. A Nissan-badged Duster could also be pos...

 
Toyota to Recall 11,500 Lexus LS Sedans
Toyota to Recall 11,500 Lexus LS Sedans

19 May 2010, 07:12 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Toyota Motor Corporation is preparing to recall 11,500 Lexus vehicles sold worldwide for problems related to steering. The company plans to recall 7,000 vehicles overseas (including 3,800 in the U.S.) and 4,500 units in Japan, according to Miek...

 
Mercedes GP Gives Up Schumacher Appeal
Mercedes GP Gives Up Schumacher Appeal

18 May 2010, 15:27 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Mercedes Grand Prix issued a press release on Tuesday in which it announced it had decided not to submit an appeal following Michael Schumacher’s penalty. “On the final lap of the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes GP Petronas instruct...

 
Button’s Absent-Minded Mechanic Not Fired
Button’s Absent-Minded Mechanic Not Fired

18 May 2010, 14:26 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The McLaren mechanic who was responsible for Jenson’s Button retirement at the Monaco Grand Prix will keep his job, according to team boss Martin Whitmarsh. The mechanic forgot to remove a cooling cover from one of his car’s sidepods...

 
BMW 5 Series Orders Exceed "Considerably" the Company's Expectations
BMW 5 Series Orders Exceed "Considerably" the Company's Expectations

18 May 2010, 13:07 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Orders for the new-generation BMW 5 Series have considerably exceeded the German automaker own targets, said the company's CEO, Norbert Reithofer. BMW Group is targeting sales of more than 1.3 million cars in 2010, a “sound” sin...

 
Damon Hill Received "Hate Mails" after Schumacher's Monaco Penalty
Damon Hill Received "Hate Mails" after Schumacher's Monaco Penalty

18 May 2010, 10:47 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Damon Hill is having second thoughts about the relevance of former drivers acting as FIA stewards at Formula 1 races. The 1996 F1 champion was himself a steward at the recent Monaco Grand Prix and declared he has been receiving “hate mails&rd...

 
Red Bull Boss Denies Webber Contract Talks
Red Bull Boss Denies Webber Contract Talks

18 May 2010, 09:38 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner has stated that negotiations to extend Mark Webber’s contract haven't yet started. The two recent F1 victories of the Australian (the Spanish and the Monaco Grand Prix) have determined ...

 
Toyota Has No Intention of Returning to Formula 1
Toyota Has No Intention of Returning to Formula 1

18 May 2010, 08:40 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / After dropping out of Formula 1 last year, Toyota has no intention of returning to the sport because it considers it out of touch with the automaker’s customer base, says the head of Toyota’s global racing program. According to the A...

 
VW Group Sales Up 21 Percent in the First Four Months of 2010
VW Group Sales Up 21 Percent in the First Four Months of 2010

18 May 2010, 07:34 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The Volkswagen Group posted its sales results for the first four months of 2010. Europe’s largest automaker recorded a 20.9 percent growth compared to the similar period of 2009, selling 2.34 million cars worldwide, compared to 1.93 million. ...

 
5 Millionth Car Produced in Fiat's SATA Plant
5 Millionth Car Produced in Fiat's SATA Plant

18 May 2010, 06:42 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Fiat Group’s SATA plant in San Nicola di Melfi (Potenza, Italy) celebrated on Monday the production of its 5 millionth vehicle. The vehicle is a red five-door Fiat Punto Evo 1.4 Emotion, 105 horsepower, a model which evolved from the Grande P...

 
Barrichello Says He Threw the Steering Wheel to Quickly Get Out of the Car
Barrichello Says He Threw the Steering Wheel to Quickly Get Out of the Car

17 May 2010, 14:52 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Rubens Barrichello has talked about the aftermath of his accident in the Monaco GP, when he threw the steering wheel onto the track before exiting the car. The Brazilian has denied claims that he put his F1 rivals in danger by throwing the steering...

 
Skoda Fabia vRS Launches in the UK
Skoda Fabia vRS Launches in the UK

17 May 2010, 14:09 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Skoda has announced that the new Fabia vRS range will be officially launched in the UK on Thursday 29 July 2010, with prices and specification having already been confirmed. The fastest production Fabia ever built, the new vRS is available as a ...

 
Red Bull Admits it Wants to Renew Webber's Contract
Red Bull Admits it Wants to Renew Webber's Contract

17 May 2010, 13:20 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Red Bull revealed it would want to keep Mark Webber at the team for next season. The Australian’s contract expires at the end of this year and Red Bull would like to extend it. The Australian’s younger team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, i...

 
Nissan Leaf Pricing in Europe Announced
Nissan Leaf Pricing in Europe Announced

17 May 2010, 12:35 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Nissan revealed that its all-electric Leaf model will be priced in Europe at under EUR30,000 ($38,000) after incentives are applied in most of its launch markets. Nissan says the price is about the same as a comparably-equipped diesel or hybrid veh...

 
VW Scirocco, the Fastest Front-Wheel Drive Car at the Nurburgring 24 Hours
VW Scirocco, the Fastest Front-Wheel Drive Car at the Nurburgring 24 Hours

17 May 2010, 10:53 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Volkswagen managed a one-two-three podium at the Nurburgring 24 Hour race in the class for cars with alternative power, with its three Sciroccos powered by bio natural gas. Volkswagen also obtained an excellent 16th place overall with the Sciro...

 
Michelin and Pirelli Battle for F1 Supplier Role
Michelin and Pirelli Battle for F1 Supplier Role

17 May 2010, 09:59 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali hinted on Sunday that Avon-Cooper and Bridgestone are out of the race to supply Formula 1 tires next season. Domenicali had a meeting with the media at Monaco this weekend. A decision about next year’s...

 
Nissan Plans to Lower Cost of Leaf's Battery Pack
Nissan Plans to Lower Cost of Leaf's Battery Pack

17 May 2010, 09:12 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Nissan is trying to cut the cost of the battery pack that equips its Leaf electric vehicle in order to make the car more competitive when it goes on sale this year. Nissan aims to bring down the cost of the lithium-ion battery pack to less than ...

 
Schumacher’s Team-mates Defend the German’s Overtaking Move
Schumacher’s Team-mates Defend the German’s Overtaking Move

17 May 2010, 07:52 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Michael Schumacher received support from his team mates after the 20-second penalty announcement. The German’s overtaking move is considered legal by Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and also by team boss Ross Brawn and reserve driver Nick Hei...

 
BMW M3 GT2 Wins Nurburgring 24 Hours with Factory Support
BMW M3 GT2 Wins Nurburgring 24 Hours with Factory Support

17 May 2010, 06:54 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / BMW’s factory team won the 38th edition of the Nurburgring 24 Hours race, on the company’s return to the classic endurance race. BMW entered two M3’s GT2 to the “Green Hell”, one driven by Jorg Muller, Augusto Farfu...

 

Stories by Dan Mihalascu