Daniel Patrascu
18,667 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.
Chris Bangle Quits BMW, Auto Industry
3 Feb 2009, 14:38 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Christopher Edward Bangle, BMW Group's chief designer is quitting his job “to pursue his own design-related endeavors beyond the auto industry”, said BMW officials according to Autonews. The now 52 year old American started his...
2009 Geneva Show to Witness Mazda3 i-stop and MPS
3 Feb 2009, 14:14 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The 10 days long Geneva International Motor Show will be the place where all manufacturers will try to get a glimpse of what lies ahead. All of those who chose to take part in the event will try to capture the visitors' eyes with new designs a...
BorgWarner-Bosch Coalition: Go Diesel!
3 Feb 2009, 11:47 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / As the battle between fossil and green fuels rages on, the day has come for a new domestic front to open. Two companies, BorgWarner Inc., US based turbocharger manufacturer, and Robert Bosch LLC, worldwide car parts supplier, got together last wee...
Ford Confirms Selling of Blanquefort Transmissions Plant
3 Feb 2009, 10:50 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / After the news being made public yesterday, by French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, Ford Motor Co. confirmed its intention to sell its automatic transmission plant in Blanquefort, near Bordeaux. Initially, a German company was said to have bo...
Touareg Turns Hybrid, Passat Finds BlueMotion
3 Feb 2009, 10:12 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Growing concern about environmental issues, as well as better than predicted market response to Hybrid vehicles, made all car producers occupy themselves with the creation of either hybrid or more fuel efficient engines. Volkswagen, for instance, h...
GM Truck Production Pumped Up to Save the Day
3 Feb 2009, 09:30 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Spring is fastly approaching and with it comes hope of renewal, wormer days and money for GM. Following one of the worst winters in economic history, GM is looking forward with great expectation to the upcoming selling session. "As f...
Seoul Motor Show Loses GM, Chrysler, BMW
3 Feb 2009, 08:15 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The restless race for money, initiated by the economic crisis, makes car manufacturers fire workers, close down factories, scrap new models and sell assets. Undoubtedly, marketing budgets are also cut down to a minimum, as all struggle to cope with...
2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportsback in Showrooms in Summer
3 Feb 2009, 07:11 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Mitsubishi Motor North America announced the 2010 Lancer Sportsback will become available for the US market in summer. The award wining Lancer's newest addition has a dynamic new shape, while keeping its distinctive look. The defining fea...
Ford's French Plant Bought by German Industrial Group
2 Feb 2009, 16:57 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Ford's financial problems have forced the company's leaders to start contemplating selling assets in order to survive the crisis. And this exactly what they've done as it was announced that Ford's Motors Co. plant in Blacquefort...
Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 Quattro Detailed
2 Feb 2009, 15:58 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Audi released today new information and multimedia content of the Audi R8 V10, first shown at the 2009 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). The power plant for the car is the 5.2l naturally aspired engine that puts out 525 horsepower ...
Matiz 550 HP V8...
2 Feb 2009, 14:55 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / ...or what people do when they have nothing to do. Yes, you read the title correctly. And I did not misspell it. This is what a Chevrolet Matiz, a 3 cylinder in-line 65 horsepower engine powered city car was turned into by Yves Fourdin, founder of ...
New Info on the Rolls Royce RR4 Silver Ghost
2 Feb 2009, 14:33 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Set to make its public debut sometimes in 2010, the RR4, as is it's currently named, is hoped by company officials to be a significant milestone in the manufacturers history. Autotelegraaf.nl reported that the soon to be called Silver Ghost...
New Dinan Signature Package for BMW
2 Feb 2009, 11:15 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The California based BMW tuner, Dinan, is bringing a new addition to its Signature Series Program. The BMW M5, M6, 135i and 335i will benefit from the newest Signature Packages developed by Dinan. For the M5 and M6 models, the new line includ...
Dacia Goes Eco with New Engine Versions
2 Feb 2009, 10:23 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Joining the race for a better, cleaner environment, and after doing so with its Renault brand, the French manufacturer will introduce three eco-friendly engines for its Dacia brand. The alternative energy sources it proposes are LPG, E85 bioethano...
First Skoda Yeti Assembled
2 Feb 2009, 08:25 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The first VW Tiguan based Skoda Yeti is said to have been assembled at the Kvasiny plant, in the Czech Republic, ekonom.ihned.cz reported. The new 4x4 is a small SUV designed to compete with the Suzuki Jimny and Nissan Qashqai rather than the Toyot...
BMW 3 Series M Sport Package Out for Grabs in the US
30 Jan 2009, 16:15 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The M Sport Package for the BMW 3 Series facelift is now available for order. Even if the waiting period could extend up to one month, at least for orders placed until March. We are sure all you Bimmer fanatics outhere can't wait to get you ha...
Volkswagen Cuts 400 Jobs in South Africa
30 Jan 2009, 15:57 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / The economic instability seems to be a never ending pool of stories, whether they are good or bad. But, mostly, bad. As is the news for 400 South African Volkswagen workers, who will soon join thousand of other people gathering outside unemployment...
The First Mercedes Showroom Turns 100
30 Jan 2009, 15:12 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / January 1, 1909 is considered the official founding day of the Berlin sales and service outlet of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG). The same year, four other company-owned sales and service outlets were born, in Frankfurt, Dresden, Dusseldorf and...
Honda Profits Drop 90% in Q3
30 Jan 2009, 14:28 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Honda has posted its Q3 financial report and things are looking really scary. The company's operating profit dropped 63 percent in 2008's last quarter and the net profit in practically non-existent, as numbers indicate a 90 percent crash....
Daimler AG-Beiqi Foton Motor Joint Venture
30 Jan 2009, 13:17 UTC · By: Daniel Patrascu / Daimler AG and Beiqi Foton Motor signed a letter of intent to form an equal share joint venture to produce medium and heavy-duty trucks in China. The joint venture will benefit from Daimler’s technology leadership, especially in the area of d...