Daniel Patrascu
18,659 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"I truly believe men and fish can coexist peacefully" – George W. Bush
Following several years off the grid, Daniel is back at autoevolution, and seeing how the great crisis of the past decade made the auto industry boring, he grew bored with it too, so he slowly shifted his focus to custom cars, custom motorcycles, and other weird stuff. He also loves ranting about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
During his time at autoevolution, Daniel put his name on more news articles, coverstories, auto guides, reviews, and editorials than we care count. To slow him down a bit, he was given more responsibilities not long ago, so he is now also in charge with coordinating the editorial team on autoevolution.com.
Long time ago, Daniel also translated Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “The Fountains of Paradise” to Romanian for Paladin Publishing.
Polo, the First VW Car of the Year in 18 Years
2 Dec 2009, 07:45 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As we told you on Monday, the Volkswagen Polo has been chosen Car of the Year 2010 in Europe and, as promised, we come back on the story to give an idea of the reasons which led to this title. Being the first Volkswagen to win the award in 18 years...
Toyota Accelerator Problem, Due to Faulty Throttles?
30 Nov 2009, 16:09 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Toyota's largest recall, set in motion due a problem with stuck accelerator pedals, may have been caused by other reasons than previously thought. According to the Los Angeles Times, cited by just-auto.com, US authorities are looking into a po...
OnStar Car Hero Game Teaches Driving Habits
30 Nov 2009, 14:54 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge will be met by GM's OnStar with the Car Hero game, a driving solution for teens which comes in the shape of a game. The Hero is in fact a blue sky design featuring a vehicle and whose gaming envi...
Sam Bird to Race for ART Grand Prix in 2010
30 Nov 2009, 14:35 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / French GP2 team ART Grand Prix announced it signed Brit Sam Bird for the 2010 season. Bird will join Jules Bianchi, the holder of the Euro F3 title, as he currently races for the team in the winter GP2 Asia Series. "I'm obviously very...
2010 European Car of the Year: Volkswagen Polo
30 Nov 2009, 13:43 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Germans have done it! What is perhaps the best Polo in generations has been recognized as the 2010 European Car of the Year. The mini-Golf managed to come in front of no less than 33 contenders in all, outclassing in the final rivals Citroen C3...
Renault Releases Laguna Coupe TomTom in the UK
30 Nov 2009, 11:42 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / With Christmas quickly approaching, you should be expecting manufacturers around the world to begin releasing special editions of their vehicles, in the hope that the economic crisis did not chip away at the consumer's appeal for December spen...
Mercedes Benz Joins TyreSafe
30 Nov 2009, 11:38 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German carmaker Mercedes Benz decided to join UK's tire safety organization, TyreSafe, making it the second manufacturer group to do so. As part of the program, the Germans will run a series of initiatives across its retailer network to showca...
Improved BMW 330d and 335i for Australia
30 Nov 2009, 10:40 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German carmaker BMW is expanding the range of more and more fuel efficient vehicles it has in Australia with the introduction in December of new versions of the three 3s it already has there. According to the carmaker, the 330d and 335i models ...
Fiat Digital Configurator Available in the UK
30 Nov 2009, 09:56 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Fiat Marylebone, the flagship Fiat dealership in London, announced today the introduction of no less than four different configurators for customers, as well as an external digital display on the dealership will projects images of Fiat models. ...
Volkswagen to Merge MAN and Scania?
30 Nov 2009, 09:16 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The expansionist endeavors of German carmaker Volkswagen seem to have reached a whole new level, as rumors began surfacing the carmaker is considering increasing its stake in MAN to above 50 percent (from about 30 percent) and then merge it with Sw...
Chrysler Cuts Production, Extends Holiday Shutdown
30 Nov 2009, 08:47 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / It is not clear yet if the recently unveiled five-years business plan has taken into account the continuing crisis, but American manufacturer Chrysler is now forced to idle its plants for a longer time during the holiday breaks, to compensate for t...
2009 Sports Cars of the Year: Audi TT RS and R8 5.2 FSI
30 Nov 2009, 08:18 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Auto Bild's “Sports Car of the Year” award stays in Germany this year, with the announcement that two of Audi's models, the TT RS and R8 5.2 FSI, have managed to snatch the prize in the Production Coupe categories. In addition...
2011 Chevrolet Cruze Unveiled
30 Nov 2009, 07:31 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The wait for what GM hopes to be at the center of its revival line-up for 2010 is finally over, as the American carmaker pulled the wraps off their 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. The car, yet to be presented in the flesh (this will happen on December 2, at ...
Alfa Romeo, Fiat Launch New Service Plan in the UK
28 Nov 2009, 10:52 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo announced today it will launch a new range of service plans for Alfa Romeo vehicles in the UK. The new service plan includes all parts and labor costs associated with vehicle servicing. Basically, the new service...
AvtoVAZ Restructuring Plan Presented
28 Nov 2009, 10:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Following a top level meeting in Paris last week, attended by Serguey Chemezov, AvtoVAZ chairman, Igor Komarov, AvtoVAZ president, Christian Esteve, Renault vice president and Serguei Skvortsov, Troika Dialog director, the rescue plan intended for ...
Investors Pile Up to Take Saab. Again...
28 Nov 2009, 09:49 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / If you have been watching the almost year-long Saab sage, then you definitely know the huge state of denial both the Swedish carmaker and the parent company, GM, are in. To give you a brief summary, from January to April, the Swedish carmaker manag...
Wallace Still in Need for Sponsorship
28 Nov 2009, 09:21 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As the curtain is getting ready to fall over the 2009 NASCAR season next week, when the Champion's Week will get under way, some of the team are yet to secure sponsorship for the 2010 season. Among them, Rusty Wallace, whose contract with ...
Delta Electronics Unveils Hybrid Propulsion System
28 Nov 2009, 08:43 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / It is not everyday we see an automotive supplier taking a chance at car manufacturing, but in those rare occasions that we do, we can't but be pleasantly surprised. So is the case with Taiwanese supplier Delta Electronics. Used to manufact...
Lotus Halosonic, Make Your Prius a V12...
27 Nov 2009, 15:51 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As electric vehicles and hybrids become more and more of a reality, carmakers find themselves faced with a problem none of them really thought about until now: the utter silence these car's surround themselves in while moving about. Wherea...
Tata Posts Surprising Profit for Q2
27 Nov 2009, 15:04 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Indian carmaker Tata Motors managed to surprise the automotive world today as it posted a consolidated profit of INR217.8m ($4.7 million) for the second quarter of 2009 and added at the same time that Jaguar Land Rover was a big help towards that p...