Daniel Patrascu
18,652 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.
Ford Police Interceptor Comes in 2011
15 Nov 2009, 17:48 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Ford announced last week it is currently developing a new Police Interceptor for US-based law enforcement agencies, to replace the aging Crown Victoria sometimes in 2011. According to Ford, these vehicles will be purpo...
EcoBoost Attracts Young Buyers
15 Nov 2009, 15:32 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Ford doesn't seem to get enough of its long-praised line of EcoBoost engines. After they told us just about everything there is to know about them, the carmaker is now trying to find out whether their investments and work...
Volkswagen Passat Highline Plus Available in the UK
13 Nov 2009, 16:33 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German carmaker Volkswagen announced today it will release a special edition of its Passat and Passat Estate, dubbed Highline Plus. The edition will add to the existing offer on the Highline trim (which replaced the SE in February 2008).The model w...
Chrysler Recalls 84,000 Dodge Calibers
13 Nov 2009, 16:29 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Chrysler announced today it is recalling over 84,000 2007 Dodge Caliber vehicles, due to the... windshield wiper. Apparently, the excessive use of the wiper may make it inoperable... According to the official recall notice,...
EU Approves Ford Romania 400M Euro Loan
13 Nov 2009, 16:25 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The European Union Commission gave the green light to Ford's Romanian operation attempt to secure an European Investment Bank (EIB) loan for the development of low-CO2 engines and for vehicle production at Ford's site in Craiova. The engi...
Court Approves Visteon $150M Restructuring
13 Nov 2009, 14:52 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Bankrupt American supplier Visteon announced today it has received court approval for a $150 million worth of deals which will allow it to restructure its operations and get financing for its reorganization plans. "There is a foreseeable n...
Mexico City Metrobus Gets Roy Family Award
13 Nov 2009, 12:55 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Being in charge with moving people from place to place in one of the most crowded cities in the world is no easy feat, considering the environment at the same time in one of those cities is almost impossible. Well, not quite. Mexico City, the s...
3M Goes Deeper into NASCAR
13 Nov 2009, 11:29 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / NASCAR announced today that its partnership with sponsor 3M, automotive, industrial, professional and home use applications manufacturer, will expand the categories for which it holds exclusive NASCAR marketing rights. From now on, 3M will have mar...
Navmii Turn-by-Turn Navigation, Available on iPod Touch
13 Nov 2009, 10:41 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / In what is a premiere for the iPod fans, GPS solution provider Navmii Software, together with GeoLife and PosiMotion, announced yesterday the availability of Navmii's turn-by-turn navigation for the iPod touch. "At last more than 20 m...
2010 NAIAS to Debut Electric Avenue
13 Nov 2009, 10:03 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / In recognition of the rapid development of electric vehicles, the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) announced it will debut the so called Electric Avenue, a 37,000 square foot feature on the show's main floor sponsored by Dow Chem...
Ford Fusion, the US' Best Selling Domestic Car
13 Nov 2009, 09:26 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Ford announced today that its Fusion model managed to get a spot in the US's 10 best selling vehicles for 2009 and the best selling domestic cars for the same year. In 2009, the Fusion sold 151,137 units, managing to brea...
Azure Posts Q3 Financial Results
13 Nov 2009, 08:55 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Although it is not our habit to bring to your attention financial results of non-mainstream automotive industry manufacturers, we decided to start doing so and we chose Azure Dynamics as the starting point. Why? Azure Dynamics is, as you might...
Renault-Nissan Partner with Miyazaki Prefecture
13 Nov 2009, 08:13 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Renault-Nissan Zero Emission alliance is continuing its efforts to establish as many site for its future EV charging infrastructure with the signing of another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan. As with...
Porsche, 4.4Bn Euros Loss for 2008/2009 Fiscal Year
13 Nov 2009, 07:37 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German luxury carmaker Porsche announced yesterday it has ratified the financial statements for the fiscal year 2008/2009 (ending 31 July 2009). All fine and dandy, if it weren't for the huge 4.4 billion euros loss, before tax. Compare this wi...
How Inflatable Seat Belts Work
12 Nov 2009, 16:57 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The biggest news this past week from the automotive industry, in terms of safety innovations at least, was Ford's announcement it has completed work on the world's first inflatable seat belts – a brilliant combination between the se...
Busch, Sent Back 25 Points, Ratcliff Fined
12 Nov 2009, 12:14 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Late last night, NASCAR Nationwide Series announced penalties and fines for Kyle Busch, Brad Parrott and Jason Ratcliff after discovering rule violations in last weekend's event at Texas Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch, after already ruining hi...
Oshkosh Gets $438M for 1,000 MRAP M-ATV
12 Nov 2009, 11:31 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Defense contractor Oshkosh announced today it has been awarded a $438 million contract by the US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command (TACOM LCMC) for 1,000 MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV). The new contract, t...
Toyota Joins EPA's WasteWise
12 Nov 2009, 11:09 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The American division of Japanese carmaker Toyota announced today it will join the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WasteWise program, the first national waste reduction program aimed at waste prevention, recycling and buying or manufa...
Zhengzhou Nissan NT400 Cabstar Launched in China
12 Nov 2009, 10:41 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Japanese manufacturer's Nissan joint venture with Chinese company Zhengzhou (ZNA) announced today the release of a new "high-end light commercial vehicle" on the local market, the NT400 Cabstar. According to its manufacturers, th...
Karl-Thomas Neumann, VW Group CO for Electric Traction
12 Nov 2009, 10:36 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German carmaker Volkswagen has just established a new position within its ranks, Group Chief Officer for Electric Traction, being perhaps among the first carmakers to do so. As the name suggests, the man which will fill the position will be in char...