Daniel Patrascu
18,685 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.
Daimler Pumps Money in Rastatt Expansion
22 Oct 2009, 12:24 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German carmaker Daimler announced today it will expand production capacity of the Rastatt facility following a 600 million euros investment. The money is part of the overall 3 billion to be spent over the next year by Daimler to refit, retool or e...
Chrysler, 2009 CAMSC Corporation of the Year
22 Oct 2009, 10:41 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / It was hard to believe, in the beginning of the year, when American manufacturers were struggling to stay afloat, that any time soon either GM or Chrysler will be named "best" at something, let alone best company, or corporation, or group...
Ford, U of Michigan Test Hybrid Control Systems
22 Oct 2009, 10:25 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Ford seems to grow more and more keen on testing its ideas, as well as ways to see them through, in the virtual environment, prior to actually spending money for the final products. We've already seen this approach with Ford's Distraction...
2010 Mercedes Benz GL BlueTEC, SUV of Texas
22 Oct 2009, 10:05 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / One by one, the winners of the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) competiton held last weekend come into the public eye to claim their crowns. After we presented you the F-150 Raptor and the Patriot, together with what they managed to accomplish...
Serbia Wants More than Fiat...
22 Oct 2009, 09:33 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / ... and looks up to Slovakia for inspiration. The Serbian government intends to attract European money in its automotive industry, first and foremost from Italian manufacturer Fiat, who already plans to invest 100 million euros for equipment. S...
Fisker to Announce Future Production Site
22 Oct 2009, 09:10 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / California-based carmaker Fisker Automotive announced today it will soon reveal the site chosen to house production of the Karma PHEV sportscar. Although so far no official announcements have been made, speculation is Fisker will use old facilitie...
2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS, Star of the Nikon SuperGP Track
22 Oct 2009, 08:47 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The latest pony in Chevrolet's back yard, the 2010 Camaro SS, will take to Australia this weekend, to lead an impressive line-up of other American muscle cars at the Nikon SuperGP on the Gold Coast. The Camaro, already dubbed as being the ...
Self-Driving Cars, ETA 10 Years
22 Oct 2009, 08:25 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The announcement of the European's Union new SARTRE project has opened the way for the development of self driving cars, which could be used in what may very well become passenger cars road trains. The idea is as wacky as it is applicable....
Rattner Explains Why GM Had to be Saved
22 Oct 2009, 07:45 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The former chief of the US Auto Task force, Steven Rattner, talked yesterday in a speech backed by the Brookings Institution about the challenges the task force had to face with American manufacturer GM during its bankruptcy. According to Rattn...
Auto Execs to Get Treasury Pay Cuts
22 Oct 2009, 07:24 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The top management of several US companies and banks, including GM, Chrysler (together with their financial arms) and other five groups which received government bailouts this year (Citigroup, Bank of America, American International Group), will ge...
Lexus LFA to Make US Debut at SEMA
22 Oct 2009, 06:47 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The newest supercar to join the automotive world, Lexus' LFA, will make its official North American debut at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas in November, before heading for the Los Angeles show. Un...
Chevrolet Volt Official Color Chosen, Name Sought
22 Oct 2009, 06:36 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer GM announced today it has decided on the default color of the upcoming plug-in hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt. The PHEv will wear, as it exist the production lines, a "silver exterior with an emerald hue". Yet, even if t...
EU Will Not Oppose Opel Sale. Sort of...
21 Oct 2009, 10:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The European Union and its Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes back down on the Opel-Magna deal and now say they will not oppose a sale of the German carmaker to the Canadian manufacturer, passing, in one swift move, the responsability of a possi...
Geely Gets Entangled in Ford's IP Rights
21 Oct 2009, 10:12 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Chinese carmaker Geely is once again making the headlines with their relentless attempt to take over Swedish carmaker Volvo, This time, it's not good news for the Chinese, as reports began surfacing that Geely can't get its head around in...
Lexus LFA Official Details, Photos and Video Released
21 Oct 2009, 09:35 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Taking advantage of the debut of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, Japanese carmaker Lexus finally revealed the details and photos of one of the most awaited appearances of the year, the LFA (previously known as the LF-A). The supercar is powered by a...
Ford, 2009 SNCR Brand of the Year
21 Oct 2009, 09:00 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Ford was chosen by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR, a global non-profit research and education foundation) as the Brand of the Year 2009, largely thanks to the way the carmaker used social media to improve th...
Xiang Dong Yu Stays in Prison
21 Oct 2009, 08:22 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The first hearing in the case of Xiang Dong Yu, the former Ford engineer accused of stealing trade secrets concluded with the judge's decision to keep him behind bars, pending his transfer to Detroit. The Chinese got his luggage and passpo...
Lexus of Las Vegas, the First EB Gold Certified Building in Nevada
21 Oct 2009, 07:59 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Lexus' dealership in Las Vegas, Nevada, became the first building in the state to receive the Gold certification for Existing Buildings (EB) from the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The distinction was awarded through the Leadership in Ener...
Volkswagen to Take 49.9 Percent of Porsche
21 Oct 2009, 07:34 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Things seem to come into place for German carmakers Porsche and Volkswagen, as the latter announced today it will begin the merger process by taking, at first, a 49.9 percent stake in Porsche. After a bitter fight earlier in the year, the stake to ...
Upgraded Nissan GT-R, Available from December
21 Oct 2009, 07:15 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Japanese manufacturer Nissan announced today the tweaked version of the GT-R will become available starting December 7, at prices beginning from 8,610,000 yen ($94,951). The upgrades brought to the GT-R include first and foremost the recalibrat...