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.
Holden Cruze Debuts in Melbourne
27 Feb 2009, 10:00 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The new Holden Cruze debuted today at the Melbourne International Motor Show, bringing a new competitor on the small car segment of the Australian market, the "largest growing segment" in the country, as Mark Reuss, GM Holden chairman sai...
Virginia Driver Licenses Turn Laser Black
27 Feb 2009, 09:18 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / In the spring of 2009, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles will begin issuing newly designed driver licenses made of laser engraved polycarbonate. The measure will be implemented in order to make it harder to counterfeit driver licenses. The i...
Fioravanti LF1 and TRIS Go to Geneva
27 Feb 2009, 08:26 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Formula One racing cars and your everyday street vehicle will seem to get a little closer to each other after you get to see the new LF1 from the Italian design firm Fioravanti. The Moncalieri-based company will unveil at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show ...
Mercedes Benz Brings Vehicle Leasing Into China
26 Feb 2009, 16:58 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Mercedes Benz Auto Finance (MBAC) will become the first finance company to offer vehicle leasing on the Chinese market after receiving the approval of the Chinese Banking Regulatory Commission. Starting in March, MBAC plans to begin its work by foc...
Skoda Stops Production for First Generation Octavia
26 Feb 2009, 16:12 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Skoda decided to temporarily stop production of its first generation Octavia due to sales decline in key markets, Autonews reported. Poor results in Russia, Ukraine and Romania forced the Czech manufacturer to idle its Vrchlabi plant assembly line,...
Lotus Omnivore Two Stroke Engine Detailed
26 Feb 2009, 15:19 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Research into developing better yet more fuel-efficient engines is getting more an more of a rhythm these days, as the 2009 Geneva Auto Show is about to begin. What went on behind the scenes until now gets uncovered, as engine and car manufacturers...
New MCE-5 VCRi Engine to Be Shown on a Peugeot 407
26 Feb 2009, 15:11 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Amid new cars, strange concepts and the “Lancia Café”, the 2009 Geneva Auto Show will also bear witness to car manufacturer's attempts to tackle the other modern day problem besides the crisis: fuel consumption efficiency. ...
An I.DE.A ERA for the 2009 Geneva Auto Show
26 Feb 2009, 14:16 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / What began as a means to celebrate Italian styling firm's IDEA Institute 30th anniversary, turned last year in a barchetta like sports car. The vehicle came to be in just in 30 days, starting from drawing, rendering, molding and ending with th...
Nissan Cuts Jobs in Spain
26 Feb 2009, 13:25 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The Spanish automotive market, one of the most crisis-damaged market in Europe is to receive yet another blow to both its prestige and its hopes for better times. Nissan has reached an agreement with its Spanish unions to cut their Barcelona plant&...
Nissan Begins New Fuel-Cell Vehicle Winter Testing
26 Feb 2009, 11:11 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Alternative fuels and fuel-technologies are the new promised land for car manufacturers. The economic crisis seems to have stepped up research and development endeavors towards achieving fuel efficient low or even zero emission engines. Last...
Win a 2009 Ford 150 with Monster Jam
26 Feb 2009, 10:21 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / If you are among the millions of quiet, nice, dog loving, keep-it-to- yourself kinda of a guy, who enjoy hearing names such as Bigfoot or Grave Digger while your surrounded by noise, dust and lots of small trucks with really big wheels, the upcomin...
Lumma BMW CLR X 650 GT Goes to Geneva
26 Feb 2009, 09:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The 2009 Geneva Auto Show will witness yet another bulked up vehicle, this time in the shape of a BMW. The German tuner Lumma Design will bring along to the show their new BMW X6 based CLR X 650 GT. The CLR, as is the case with the regular X6 i...
Saab Stops Production Because of Customs Issues
26 Feb 2009, 08:26 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Saab's sad story continues, as the company finds it more and more difficult with mother company GM's decision to let it go. The company finds itself alone in the dark, as their own government has not yet decided whether to lend a hand or ...
2010 Kia Sorento Second Teaser Released
25 Feb 2009, 20:20 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As the auto show season draws ever closer, car manufacturers all over the world just won't stop teasing and taunting us. Kia Motors is no exception and keeps on leaking photos and specs about its upcoming range. It did the same with the releas...
Mercedes Benz Opens Plant in India
25 Feb 2009, 20:16 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Incredible India gets a German precision implant with the opening of the new Mercedes Benz factory in Pune, India. The facility was inaugurated on Tuesday after 13 months of construction work. With 100 acres of land and independent assembly fac...
Smart Fortwo Limited Spring Edition
25 Feb 2009, 20:09 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Smart will show up for the 2009 Geneva Auto Show with a special edition of the Smart fortwo range. Although we are not sure if the "smart fortwo edition limited three: Spring into spring with smart" official name and slogan of the release...
Rinspeed Fiat 500 – 60 or 160 Hp at the Push of a Button
25 Feb 2009, 15:46 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Frank Rinderknecht, the guy behind Rinspeed, must have had some really long, sleepless nights before the 2009 Geneva Auto Show, as he thought up ways to make us marvel. After giving us a look at the Rinspeed iChange and the way it can be controlle...
Volvo Buyer Expected in April
25 Feb 2009, 14:48 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Ford's intention of selling Volvo has stirred a lot of interest in automotive industry... Wait, it didn't... It did, but rumors surrounding the future owner of the company are so blurry no one knows what to make of them. Three intereste...
Hyundai Genesis Coupe Limited Edition Comes to Europe
25 Feb 2009, 14:38 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Korean manufacturer Hyundai will issue a special limited edition of the Genesis Coupe to be sold in good old Europe, autoblog.nl reported. Finally, you might say. Yes, finally, but there is one little catch: only 1,000 units of the Coupe, pric...
GM Scraps New Volt Engine Plant
25 Feb 2009, 13:09 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / General Motors has decided not to build an entire new plant to make engines for the Chevrolet Volt and Chevrolet Cruze and preferred to refit the existing Flint South Engine plant in Michigan instead. It is a more cost effective alternative, given ...