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.
Kids Rate Moms as Better Drivers than Dads
Kids Rate Moms as Better Drivers than Dads

28 Apr 2010, 13:37 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / They say kids don't lie. So here's what they answered when asked which of their parents was a better driver. Six out of ten children aged five to sixteen claim they are happier and more relaxed when their mother is behind the wheel than w...

 
Dacia Exported 80,000 Cars in Q1
Dacia Exported 80,000 Cars in Q1

28 Apr 2010, 12:11 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The Romanian automobile manufacturer exported 80,000 units in the first quarter of 2010, according to Dacia General Manager Jerome Olive. He told journalists who attended a press conference on Tuesday that 33,000 of the exported cars went to France...

 
Renault Group's Q1 Revenues Grow by 28.4 Percent
Renault Group's Q1 Revenues Grow by 28.4 Percent

28 Apr 2010, 10:06 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Renault reported better than expected first-quarter sales and expects a positive free cash flow in the year as a whole, although it warns of a difficult economic environment, following the end of government scrappage schemes across Europe. Renau...

 
Toyota Highlander Fatal Crash Investigated by the NHTSA
Toyota Highlander Fatal Crash Investigated by the NHTSA

28 Apr 2010, 09:01 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / There's no such thing as bad publicity, right? Well, Toyota might not approve of that, considering the wave of bad news the Japanese company had to endure in the past few months. And now, once again, it enters the limelight for another (possib...

 
Mitsubishi ASX to Spawn Two PSA Sister SUVs
Mitsubishi ASX to Spawn Two PSA Sister SUVs

28 Apr 2010, 08:00 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / After the collaboration on the mid-size SUVs Mitsubishi Outlander/Peugeot 4007/Citroen C-Crosser, the French group PSA wants to extend the deal with Mitsubishi to a smaller SUV as well. PSA Peugeot-Citroen wants to build two compact SUVs based ...

 
Spyshots: 2011 Audi A7 Spotted on the Nurburgring
Spyshots: 2011 Audi A7 Spotted on the Nurburgring

28 Apr 2010, 06:54 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Audi’s planned rival for the Mercedes-Benz CLS, the A7, has been spotted on the Nurburgring for the first time. Although heavily disguised, the car’s design is based on the A7 Sportback Concept, shown for the first time at the 2009 edit...

 
Mahindra Reportedly Bidding for SsangYong Motor
Mahindra Reportedly Bidding for SsangYong Motor

27 Apr 2010, 14:44 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Mahindra & Mahindra, the Indian SUV and tractor maker, is interested in buying controlling shares in the troubled South Korean sports utility manufacturer SsangYong Motor Company. According to the Korea Economic Daily newspaper, Mahindra rec...

 
Porsche Recalls All 11,324 Panameras Produced So Far
Porsche Recalls All 11,324 Panameras Produced So Far

27 Apr 2010, 14:08 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Porsche announced on Tuesday that it would recall all 11,324 Panameras sold worldwide so far because of a safety issue related to the seatbelts. Porsche said all 11,324 Panameras would be brought to the mechanic to fix possible faulty seatbelt tens...

 
Ford Posts Q1 Net Profit of $2.1 Billion
Ford Posts Q1 Net Profit of $2.1 Billion

27 Apr 2010, 13:05 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Ford has today reported strong financial results for the first quarter of the year, fueled by higher sales, particularly in North America. The company reported a net income of $2.1 billion for the first three months of 2010 and subsequently raised ...

 
Binz Stretches the Mercedes E-Klasse Sedan
Binz Stretches the Mercedes E-Klasse Sedan

27 Apr 2010, 10:58 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Mercedes-Benz revealed the first official photos of the E Klasse Limousine, a stretch limo built by partner Binz. Binz is a company specialized in modifying cars for special services such as ambulances, hearses or fire-fighting vehicles. The co...

 
Mitsubishi Posts Net Profit for Fiscal Year 2009
Mitsubishi Posts Net Profit for Fiscal Year 2009

27 Apr 2010, 09:46 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Mitsubishi Motors has posted a net profit of $51.8 million for 2009, the company selling 960,000 vehicles in fiscal year 2009, a 10 percent decrease on fiscal 2008 (-106,000 units). In Japan, the automaker sold 171,000 vehicles in the same perio...

 
GM Agrees to Pay Compensation to Russia's Sberbank
GM Agrees to Pay Compensation to Russia's Sberbank

27 Apr 2010, 09:09 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / General Motors agreed to pay a compensation to Russian bank Sberbank, after the automaker withdrew at the last minute from negotiations to sell its Opel/Vauxhall European unit. Sberbank, Russia’s largest retail bank, and Magna Internation...

 
GM to Invest $850 Million in Five North American Plants
GM to Invest $850 Million in Five North American Plants

27 Apr 2010, 08:04 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / General Motors will announce tomorrow that it will invest more than $850 million in retooling five North American factories, three unnamed sources told Automotive News. The investment will preserve 1,600 jobs at the five plants which build engines,...

 
900 Potential Customers for the Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid
900 Potential Customers for the Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid

27 Apr 2010, 07:08 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Porsche revealed it had almost 900 potential buyers for its 918 Spyder hybrid concept car. Porsche unveiled the 918 Spyder at the Geneva Auto Show last month and said at the time that it would consider building the car if it had enough requests to...

 
Spyshots: Opel Astra GSI
Spyshots: Opel Astra GSI

26 Apr 2010, 14:49 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The sporty GSI variant of the Opel Astra range is currently undergoing testing, preparing for the commercial launch which will probably take place this autumn, at the Paris Auto Show. The GSI will be available with both gasoline and diesel engines,...

 
Fisker Gets $529 Million Loan from U.S. Government
Fisker Gets $529 Million Loan from U.S. Government

26 Apr 2010, 14:06 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a deal to provide Fisker Automotive with a $529 million loan (EUR396 million) to develop plug-in hybrids and to retool a former General Motors assembly plant in Wilmington, Delaware. Fisker Automotive,...

 
Bentley Continental Supersports Turns Ultrasports
Bentley Continental Supersports Turns Ultrasports

26 Apr 2010, 13:01 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / German tuner Wheelsandmore, specialized in sports and supersports cars, has come up with a stunning tuning package for the already impressive Bentley Continental Supersports. With 630 horsepower, the Continental Supersports is the fastest and most ...

 
Ford Expected to Announce Q1 Income of $1Billion
Ford Expected to Announce Q1 Income of $1Billion

26 Apr 2010, 11:57 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Ford Motor Company is expected to announce on Tuesday a first-quarter income of almost $1 billion, according to economic analysts surveyed by the Detroit Free Press. The analysts excluded “special charges” from their estimate. After ...

 
Subaru Global Production Up 166.9 Percent in Q1
Subaru Global Production Up 166.9 Percent in Q1

26 Apr 2010, 10:38 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / Subaru reported consistent sales growth for March and for the first quarter of 2010, both in its home market of Japan and in export ones. The global production for March increased for the fifth consecutive month year-on-year, due to the strong sale...

 
New Fiat Uno Photos Leaked
New Fiat Uno Photos Leaked

26 Apr 2010, 09:54 UTC · By: Dan Mihalascu / The new Fiat Uno pictures were leaked on the Internet two years ahead of the official launch of the car. The all-new supermini will fit between the Panda and the Grande Punto in the Fiat range and will appear on the market in 2012 as part of the co...

 

Stories by Dan Mihalascu