Daniel Patrascu
18,633 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.
Suzuki Swift Plug-In Hybrid, SX4 Fuel Cell First Photos
9 Oct 2009, 14:34 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The upcoming Tokyo Motor Show is the perfect opportunity for carmakers to showcase the creations which were not available for the previous shows. One of these vehicles is the Swift Plug-In Hybrid. Already announced to attend the event earlier this...
The Fastest Blind Man on Earth: 200+ MPH
9 Oct 2009, 14:09 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / While we were minding our own business today, we came across a title reading: new world land speed record for the blind set by... Now, we know blind men (or women) behind the wheel of a car is not something unheard of. What we didn't know exis...
Indulge Yourself, Take the (Piano) Stairs
9 Oct 2009, 12:59 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Is not often these days we see a carmaker doing something as simple as thinking up ways to encourage people into changing their behavior patterns. We too must admit, caught up in reporting just about everything that happens in the automotive indust...
NASCAR's JC France Arrested on DUI Charges, Suspended from Grand Am
9 Oct 2009, 11:07 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / JC France, grandson of Bill France, founder of NASCAR and son of Grand Am founder, Jim France, has been arrested on Wednesday evening for drunk driving and drug related charges, according to a report by news-journalonline.com. France was arrested t...
myCOMAND, Wireless In-Car Internet from Mercedes
9 Oct 2009, 10:35 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German manufacturer Daimler announced today what may very well prove to be the next big step in in-car infotainment: project myCOMAND. Simply put, the Mercedes of the not-so-distant future will benefit from wireless Internet. The project itself...
Hyundai's Plan for No. 1
9 Oct 2009, 10:09 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Although just about every single important carmaker out there expressed their intention of becoming the world's no.1 producer of green vehicles, the challenge seems to be easy enough for all to jump in. The last to join the pack is South Korea...
Road Rescue Gets More Spartan Funding, New Chief
9 Oct 2009, 10:07 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Road Rescue division of ambulance and rescue vehicles manufacturer Spartan Motors (SMI) announced today it will receive additional funding from its mother company, as well as a new head of day-today-operation. The funding will be used by Ro...
NADA Objects Financial-Protection Legislation
9 Oct 2009, 09:34 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Obama administration's plan to create a consumer financial-protection agency has made the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) object the idea. In its current state, the legislation proposed by Rep. Barney Frank does not apply to au...
Delphi, Back with Confidence
9 Oct 2009, 09:28 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / It took the American supplier some four long years to exit bankruptcy protection, yet it is this exact reason the one behind the company's new found confidence that it will succeed. With most of its former assets now owned by GM and lenders th...
Nissan Supports South Asia Disaster Victims
9 Oct 2009, 08:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / 70 minutes...For little over an hour, the South Pacific ocean has been struck by no less than three major quakes, with the fourth hitting hours later. And this only this Wednesday. Prior to that, other quakes, tsunamis and the Ketsana Typhoon hit t...
Life Saving GPS, Looked into by Ford
9 Oct 2009, 07:58 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Ford, together with the Auburn University took it upon themselves to show us a new side to the now common GPS. The research conducted by the two has reportedly show that GPS cannot only show directions, but also can prevent ac...
Norway Fund to Oppose Porsche Takeover
9 Oct 2009, 07:27 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / A Norwegian wealth fund has announced today that it is against Volkswagen's takeover of Porsche, as the move may prove to be too costly for the minority shareholders. The move is being considered by the fund, a minority VW shareholder (0.35 pe...
Spyshots: 2011 Mercedes E-Klasse Cabrio, Top Down
9 Oct 2009, 07:01 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Back in mid-July, we brought you the first spyshots showing the Mercedes CLK replacement, the E-Klasse Cabrio. Whereas at the time the car has been caught testing with its roof up, it is now time to give you a preview on how the vehicle will look ...
Court Denies Visteon Execs Bonuses
9 Oct 2009, 06:51 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington has denied Visteon's request to give bonuses to 12 of its executives. As announced back in mid-August, Visteon planned to cut $31 million in employee health-care insurance this year, while at the same time gi...
200,000 Nanos Come Next Year
8 Oct 2009, 16:07 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Indian carmaker Tata is planning to increase the output for its low-cost Nano to 200,000 units in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, five times more than the 40,000 units expected to be built by the end of the ongoing year. Starting with December 2009,...
Electric smart fortwo to Be Built in France
8 Oct 2009, 14:37 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German manufacturer Daimler announced today it will begin mass production of the electric smart fortwo in 2012, at the smart plant in Hambach, France. The announcement was made during a visit French president Nicolas Sarkozy payed to the respective...
Toyota Asks Dealers to Tie Down Deadly Mats
8 Oct 2009, 14:34 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Finding itself in the eve of an all out storm regarding one of the largest recalls it has even been forced to do (3.8 million vehicles), Japanese manufacturer Toyota advised its dealers to attach the floor mats on the driver's side to the seat...
2010 Chevrolet Agile Photos Released
8 Oct 2009, 13:27 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer GM released today a more comprehensive set of photos showing the Brazilian designed and built Chevrolet Agile. The hatchback will become available later this year in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. As the initial ...
2009 Bologna Motor Show, Stripped of Exhibitors
8 Oct 2009, 13:02 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After this entire year we have been the unwilling witnesses of what seemed to be the demise of the auto shows, things seemed to get back on track. The success of Europe's largest, the Frankfurt Auto Show, seemed to be an indicator that things ...
BMW UKL1 to Surface 2013?
8 Oct 2009, 12:40 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / A two-year-old rumor comes back with a vengeance to haunt Ingolstadt. Do you remember the BMW City, or the 0 Series as it came to be called? Well, apparently the first pieces of information which surfaced in 2007 were wrong: it will not see dayligh...