Mircea Panait
20,075 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"If in doubt, flat out." - Colin McRae
Interning for Top Gear was his first foray in automotive journalism, and not long after that, a full-time position was opened for Mircea to seal the deal. Just about three years later, autoevolution became his new home.
Especially interested in American ponies and muscle cars, Mircea also finds the Japanese domestic market appealing thanks to the quirkiness of kei cars. Full-size pickups like the Ram 1500 and off-roaders such as the Ford Ranger Raptor and Jeep Gladiator Rubicon are much to his liking as well.
A self-described master of pasta and an avid CCG player, Mircea’s past-time activities include playing his Epiphone Les Paul Special Vintage Edition electric guitar, discovering the wonders of the Carpathian mountains by foot, and driving to the Black Sea to get a well-deserved tan.
Sinkhole in Peru Swallows Up Car with Three Passenger on Board
8 Feb 2016, 09:16 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Remember the humongous sinkhole that opened under the floor of the Skydome of the National Corvette Museum in February 2014? It is one of the most covered sinkhole stories ever since the phenomenon became a worldwide problem. But whereas that incid...
Jerry Seinfeld's Porsche Collection Is About to Get Smaller
8 Feb 2016, 08:15 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / What’s not to like about Jerry Seinfeld? The 61-year-old Brooklyn-born comedian is highly acclaimed for his fictionalized version of himself in Seinfeld, his observational comedy, and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. It’s no wonder the...
Kahn Design WB12 Vengeance to Debut at 2016 Geneva Motor Show
7 Feb 2016, 11:29 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The British tuning company founded and managed by Afzal Kahn has announced that the Kahn Design WB12 Vengeance will make its long-awaited debut in March. The world premiere has been confirmed by an Instagram post garnished with too many hashtags an...
$3.4 Million Will Buy You This Aston Martin Vulcan
7 Feb 2016, 10:26 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Make no mistake about it - the Vulcan is probably the most intense track-only machine ever made by Aston Martin. The British outfit will only dispatch 24 of these babies worldwide, three of which in the U. S. of America. This is one of them, the fi...
Four Ford GT Race Cars Will Compete at Le Mans
6 Feb 2016, 12:38 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours is scheduled for June, 50 years after Ford managed to finish first, second, and third in the 1966 edition of the grueling endurance race. For the 50th anniversary of its iconic win at Le Mans, the Blue Oval announced that ...
Most Expensive Car Sold at Auction Is This Ferrari 335 S Scaglietti
6 Feb 2016, 11:36 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Shortly after 18:50 on February 5, the gavel of Maitre Hervé Poulain struck against a sound block at the 2016 Retromobile Salon, announcing that the 1957 Ferrari 335 S Scaglietti sold for $35,711,359 (€32,075,200 or £24,693,782 at...
UPDATE: 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia Development Postponed Due to Crash Test Failures
5 Feb 2016, 16:57 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / While Volvo is working on the safety tech that will eliminate all deaths in its cars by 2020, Alfa Romeo delayed the Giulia’s launch due to mounting development challenges. One of those development challenges is that the Giulia sedan failed F...
2016 Honda Odyssey Sport Hybrid Goes on Sale in Japan
5 Feb 2016, 16:08 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Chrysler may be the manufacturer that introduced the minivan to great success to the American public, but Honda is the manufacturer that perfected the recipe. An illustrative example is the all-new Honda Odyssey Sport Hybrid, a model that was recen...
Porsche’s Photovoltaic Pylon Is an Eco-Friendly Black Monolith
5 Feb 2016, 15:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After Porsche announced that its first battery-powered model would enter production by the end of the decade, the automaker reaffirmed its eco credentials by building its first photovoltaic pylon. Looks interesting, doesn’t it? Like a comb...
Honda Recalls 443,000 Cars in Japan over Faulty Takata Airbags
5 Feb 2016, 14:18 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Never mind the fact that Honda is the most affected automaker in the ongoing Takata airbag mess-up. According to a release published by Honda this morning, the outfit will recall an additional 443,000 cars in its home market to replace the faulty a...
2016 Ford Ranger Prepares to Hit European Showrooms
5 Feb 2016, 13:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / As Ford celebrates the Ranger’s recent coronation as the best-selling pickup truck in Europe in 2015, FoMoCo announces that the 2016 Ford Range facelift will arrive at European dealers in the first quarter of the year. The price in Germany fo...
UPDATE: Elon Musk Is the Face of a Civil Police Campaign in Brazil
5 Feb 2016, 12:11 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Did you know that the CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors works part-time as a police officer in Brazil? The billboard you can admire above is one of many that are scattered around Campo Grande, the capital and largest city of Brazilian state...
Toyota Prius Drifts in 2016 Super Bowl Commercial
5 Feb 2016, 10:22 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / When was the last time you saw a Toyota Prius drifting? A snowy parking lot and the D1 drifting series from Japan don’t apply. As fate would have it, Toyota proves that the Prius is able to slide its wheels off at full opposite lock in a Supe...
Is Chris Harris Going to Host Top Gear? This Photo Sort of Confirms It
5 Feb 2016, 09:29 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After Chris Evans let the cat out of the bag by confirming that Matt LeBlanc joined Top Gear, the BBC Radio 2 presenter made it clear that additional Top Gear cast members would be announced shortly. The question is, will Chris Harris join Top Gear...
Dave Mirra Found Dead in a Pickup Truck
5 Feb 2016, 08:42 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / When I was a little bugger, one of my favorite activities was to play Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX on my next door neighbor’s PC. Other than introducing me to professional BMX riders, the game’s soundtrack introduced me to bands such as Ran...
This Is Your Chance to Buy a Porsche 959 Prototype
4 Feb 2016, 16:12 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Make no mistake about it - the Porsche 959 is hypercar genesis. The tech-laden engineering marvel from Germany set the benchmark for each and every car that can surpass the 200 mph mark. Only 337 units of the Porsche 959 were sold to the public and...
Snowboarder Jamie Barrow Breaks Guinness World Record with the Help of an SUV
4 Feb 2016, 15:23 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / When he was just 15 years old, Jamie Barrow’s talent brought him on board the British Snowboard Cross Team. Fast forward to the present day and Jamie prides himself on titles such as British Youth Snowboard Cross Champion 2008, British Junior...
Hyundai i20 Active Now Available with 1.0 T-GDi Engine in the United Kingdom
4 Feb 2016, 14:45 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The British arm of the Hyundai Motor Group recently launched the 2016 Hyundai i20 Active. For the 2016 model year refresh, the rugged brother of the i20 supermini drops the 1.4-liter gasoline motor. A 1.0 T-GDi three-cylinder turbocharged engine...
Jeep Enters Indian Market, Sales Start in Mid-2016
4 Feb 2016, 13:47 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Jeep, this pantheon of four-wheel-drive ruggedness, decided to enter India with three models. At the 2016 Auto Expo in New Delhi, Jeep will debut the Wrangle Unlimited, Grand Cherokee, as well as the 6.4-liter HEMI V8-powered Grand Cherokee SRT. An...
2016 Citroen SpaceTourer Debut Set for Geneva Motor Show
4 Feb 2016, 12:48 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Developed from the ground up to provide tons of practicality, the 2016 Citroen SpaceTourer will have its world premiere this March at the Geneva Motor Show. Designed for big families and shuttle service, the Citroen SpaceTourer can seat up to 9 peo...