Daniel Patrascu
18,720 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.
Nissan Global Compact Car Sketch Revealed
1 Oct 2009, 11:08 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Japanese manufacturer Nissan released today a sketch of their future "global compact car," set to be initially launched in Thailand in March 2010, and subsequently in an extra 150 countries. For Thailand, Nissan says the yet unnamed compa...
Fiat 500 Launches in Brazil
1 Oct 2009, 11:02 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Italian manufacturer Fiat debuted today in Brazil, as it was presented to the media prior to the market release later this month. Before the end of 2009, the 500 will spread throughout Latin American, as it will be launched in Colombia, Barbados, ...
Navistar All-Electric Truck, Unveiled on Capitol Hill
1 Oct 2009, 10:01 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Truck manufacturer Navistar presented yesterday on Capitol Hill the result of both their endeavor to build an all-electric truck and the US Department of Energy's $39 million grant awarded to Navistar in August. Details on the truck were n...
New Virtual Display System for Range Rover
1 Oct 2009, 09:29 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As we previously announced, in the near future the Range Rovers will benefit from a virtual display system, developed by American manufacturer Visteon. The unit is getting closer to reality, as it was announced that Fujitsu Microelectronics America...
Mitsubishi iMiEV Cargo, World Premiere in Tokyo
1 Oct 2009, 09:27 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Japanese car manufacturers flock these days to give us a preview of what they will present at this year's edition of the Tokyo Motor Show, not as much because the event takes place in their home country, but mostly because, sadly, they will be...
Rise of the Sport Utility Vehicle
1 Oct 2009, 08:46 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / With a little under three decades of history behind it, the mass production Sport Utility Vehicle, or SUV, as the class is known today, has grown from a car built with a specific consumer group in mind to one of the most sought after vehicles on th...
Volvo Starts On Road Human Behavior Research
1 Oct 2009, 08:10 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Swedish manufacturer Volvo announced it is expanding its vehicle safety research with the introduction of the human element. Perhaps as important as the safety systems installed on the car, the human element is, as many studies have shown, largely ...
Audi to Assist Competent Employees
30 Sep 2009, 12:50 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German manufacturer Audi announced the debut of an internal program developed to assist the company's most competent employees through both training and recreational activities. The program, called “Development for High-Flying Employees&...
Mercedes Benz Hires 800 Brazilian Workers
30 Sep 2009, 10:46 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Brazilian branch of German manufacturer Mercedes Benz announced it will hire some 800 people for its truck and buses production sites in Sao Bernardo do Campo. In addition, the 350 temporary workers now with Mercedes will become full time emplo...
Ford Bridgend Builds Engine No. 15 Million
30 Sep 2009, 10:23 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Ford's UK based Bridgend facility announced it has rolled off the assembly line the 15 millionth engine in its 9th year of existence. The threshold was reached somehow ahead of schedule, following a boom in demand as a result of UK's scra...
Subaru Impreza WRX STI Carbon, Debut in Tokyo
30 Sep 2009, 09:51 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Japanese manufacturer Subaru has set out to impress the crowd which will attend the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show next month, with a exclusively tuned version of the Subaru WRX. Dubbed STI Carbon, this special version is based on the STI A-line model. ...
GM Idles Duramax for Four Months
30 Sep 2009, 09:27 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer GM announced it has decided to pause production of the Duramax diesel engine, making room for fears that inventory of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra will get dangerously low. The four month break is caused by the p...
Fiat-Bertone Deal to be Signed Tomorrow
30 Sep 2009, 09:22 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The deal through which Italian manufacturer Fiat will get control of the Carrozzeria Bertone will be signed tomorrow, according to trade union sources talking with Reuters. The sale has been already approved by the Italian Industry Ministry in Augu...
Dacia Logan, to Be Replaced in a Few Years
30 Sep 2009, 08:39 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / A somewhat strange piece of news came yesterday from Romanian manufacturer Dacia. After years of way-above-expected success for the Logan model line, it would appear the carmaker is considering replacing it with a new range, in a few years time. ...
Korea Approves Patent on All-Fuel Engine
30 Sep 2009, 07:38 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Korean Intellectual Property Office has taken the decision to approve the patent for a new, heat regenerative external combustion engine developed by Cyclone. The engine is question is capable of functioning on just about any liquid or gaseous ...
GM Sets Up Diversity Leadership Team
30 Sep 2009, 07:10 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer GM announced yet another management endeavor within its ranks, namely the set up of a so called Diversity Leadership Team. Their main task will be to create "an environment that values diversity and inclusion and enables ...
Honda Line-Up for the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show
30 Sep 2009, 06:48 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / With less than one month left until the start of the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, car manufacturers, especially Japanese ones, began announcing their line-ups for the event. After yesterday Mazda gave us a preview of what we will see there, today's ...
Hertz Sues Analyst for Defamation
29 Sep 2009, 15:10 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Car rental company Hertz announced it filed a suit against Audit Integrity and its CEO, Jack Zwingli, accusing them of defamation. The analyst and his company at one point said Hertz is "most likely to declare bankruptcy" within a year, t...
Zipcar App, Available on App Store
29 Sep 2009, 14:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Car sharing company Zipcar announced today that the Zipcar App for iPhone and iPod is now available on the App Store. By using the program, customers can find and reserve Zipcar vehicles all over the world. The application also allows users to choo...
Audi Signs New Waste Heating Contract
29 Sep 2009, 13:26 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / German manufacturer Audi signed today a waste heating contract with Ingolstadt municipal utility company Stadtwerke for the increased supply of heat resulted from burning waste materials. The contract will allow, starting with 2011, for the deliver...