Daniel Patrascu
18,717 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.
US Slaps 35 Percent Duty on Chinese Tires
13 Sep 2009, 12:54 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / US president Barack Obama announced a new additional duty on tire imports from China, in a move perceived by local US labor groups as great and by the Chinese as yet another protectionist move made by the US government. The new duty of 35 perc...
Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell, 1 Million Miles and Counting
11 Sep 2009, 11:33 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer GM reached the 1 million miles mark with their Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell experiment, thanks to the some 5,000 people rotating in and out the 100 cars designated for the tests. "They'll tell you that after the f...
Volkswagen-Porsche Merger Delayed
11 Sep 2009, 10:42 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The apparent calm in the ongoing Porsche-Volkswagen saga continues with news coming from the two carmakers about a possible delay of their merger. The delay is not necessary, as we got used to by now, because of the disagreement between the two, bu...
2010 Green Car of the Year, Announced at the LA Auto Show
11 Sep 2009, 10:08 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The 2010 Green Car of the Year (GCOY) will be announced at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, on December 3. Although no official competitors were yet announced, this year's competition is poised to be much more intense than in past years, as dev...
Toyota, the Automotive Big Tobacco
11 Sep 2009, 09:31 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As we told you over the past week, what started as a small bush fire tends to be transformed into a scorching blaze. Todd Tracy, the Dallas attorney who this week re-opened 16 suits against Japanese manufacturer Toyota is stepping up the pressure a...
H2 Mobility, Germany's New Hydrogen Infrastructure Plan
11 Sep 2009, 09:23 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Another step towards forever changing the way future roads will look like was taken yesterday by several industrial groups in Germany, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the creation of a relevant network of hydrogen fueling station...
Lincoln MKT Gets top Safety Pick
11 Sep 2009, 08:56 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Ford Motor's Lincoln MKT received yesterday the Top Safety pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The crossover was found as providing a high level of crash protection, making Ford in the process the manufacturer wi...
Ford Wixom, Sold to Green Energy Firms
11 Sep 2009, 08:41 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As we told you in late August, Ford managed to find buyers for their closed Wixom plant. Yesterday, the manufacturer announced it has signed an agreement for the selling of the plant with Xtreme Power and Clairvoyant Energy, without disclosing, yet...
GM Offers 60-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
11 Sep 2009, 08:38 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer GM announced today the launch of a new 60-day Satisfaction Guarantee program for customers who buy their vehicles. The program allows unsatisfied customers to return the car between 31 and 60 days of purchase and get their mon...
MINI Two Untamed Frankfurt Teasers
11 Sep 2009, 07:57 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / We see ourselves forced to start by warning those of you faint of heart NOT to watch the following MINI adds. The two videos you are about to see below were created by MINI to keep your interest high about their two new releases at the 2009 Frankfu...
2010 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid Concept Full Details
11 Sep 2009, 07:16 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After Japanese manufacturer Toyota announced at the beginning of the month that the plug-in hybrid version of its Prius will be attending the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, yesterday the manufacturer released the full-specs of the Volt/Ampera rival, eve...
BMW to Head SEIS Research
11 Sep 2009, 07:13 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The increasing integration of IT elements, as well as Internet solutions into vehicles has determined the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to set up the SEIS, or Security in Embedded IP-based Systems. The project aims to create a s...
Honda, 30 Years of US Manufacturing
11 Sep 2009, 06:41 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Honda of America celebrated yesterday 30 years since it began manufacturing in the US and, to celebrate the event, chose a somewhat unlikely ceremony. Instead of a Honda-whatever special edition, or a new model, the Japanese organized "a symb...
Hyundai to Open Third Chinese Plant
9 Sep 2009, 12:50 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / South-Korean manufacturer Hyundai announced, through one of its executives, that it will begin construction at a third manufacturing plant in China, as it is now faced with the not-so-often-seen scenario of exceeding its production capacity. &q...
Suniel Shetty Unveils New Ford Endeavour 3.0 Automatic
9 Sep 2009, 10:56 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Ford announced today the release on the Indian market of the Endeavour SUV, equipped with a 3.0l DuraTorq TDCi engine and a five-speed automatic transmission. The seven seater also adds for the 2009 model new styling elements,...
Mercedes Benz A-Klasse, Zytec's Electric Version
9 Sep 2009, 10:32 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / If the original manufacturer can't do it, it doesn't mean others can't...Zytek, a British engineering company, decided to take a Mercedes Benz A-Klasse and give it an extensive heart transplant. The car was stripped of it's orig...
Chrysler Grand Voyager Begins Production Windsor, Canada
9 Sep 2009, 10:08 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / American manufacturer Chrysler announced today it has begun assembly of the Grand Voyager model at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Canada. The people-mover built here will take to both the domestic and international markets, as the facility's la...
Opel - Wir Leben Autos, Unveiled in Frankfurt
9 Sep 2009, 09:08 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show is not only the perfect place for presenting the fall car collection, but also the right place for the troubled manufacturers of 2009 to make their new entrace. Opel, the (still?) unwanted GM child, will make full u...
16 Suits Filed Against Toyota
9 Sep 2009, 08:25 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As we told you over the past weekend, Dallas attorney Todd Tracy was asked by a former Toyota attorney, Dimitrios Biller, to re-file 15 lawsuits against the Japanese automaker on the grounds of rollover, frontal-impact and rear-impact complaints. T...
Tesla Munich Store Opens on September 10
9 Sep 2009, 08:16 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The second European beach-head that Tesla has on the Old Continent will open in Munich tomorrow, September 10, just five days ahead of the official release of the new tesla Roadster sport. The Munich store is the first in mainland Europe, following...