Mircea Panait
19,993 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.
New Ford Focus Electric Confirmed to Be $6,000 Cheaper Than Predecessor
22 Oct 2014, 13:41 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Seems like a previous report claiming the 2015 Ford Focus Electric will shave $6,000 off its sticker price was bang on the money. The electric Focus isn't just considerably cheaper than before, but also slightly restyled and a lot better equip...
Holden Barina Trio Limited Edition to Be Built in Just 450 Examples
22 Oct 2014, 12:27 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Did you know there's something very wrong with the Australian automotive industry? We are not referring to the fact that Ford and Holden decided to close every manufacturing plant from the Land Down Under in a few years' time. We're ...
Takata Airbag Incident Fatally Injures a Woman
22 Oct 2014, 11:41 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / When the Takata airbag saga started in April 2013, many safety experts and automotive publications expected things to turn from worse to worst. Just like the killer GM ignition switches, a recent report claims a woman was killed by metal shrapnel s...
600 HP Hyundai Genesis Coming to SEMA
22 Oct 2014, 10:16 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Since the late 1960s, the automobile aftermarket business has grown considerably, with products in this industry now totaling roughly $30 billion in sales per year only in the United States. The best way for an OEM outfit to showcase its newest lot...
2016 Dodge Viper ACR - This Is 90 Percent It
22 Oct 2014, 09:36 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Chrysler Group previously announced that it will showcase a number of Moparized vehicles at this year's edition of the SEMA show. Yes, there's a Chrysler 200, Dodge Charger, Jeep Renegade and a Fiat 500 wearing chinsy decals, cars tha...
General Motors Sides With Michigan Governor to Sign Anti-Tesla Bill 5606
22 Oct 2014, 08:44 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / If you aren't a hardcore General Motors fanboy then you might remember that the automaker is hit by its biggest crisis yet: 30+ million vehicles recalled and people that were seriously or fatally injured in crashes related to defective GM-made...
Rare Bentley Heading to Auction, One of Three Ever Made
21 Oct 2014, 16:55 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / If you made the decision to venture into the world of classic car collecting, it's never wrong to go for an old school Bentley. However, your budget may not be sufficient to meet this particular Bentley's estimate of between £800,00...
Ringbrothers Recoil Chevrolet Chevelle Heading to SEMA, Packs 980 Horsepower
21 Oct 2014, 16:24 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Who could say no to a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle? That retro mid-sized ride is considered to this day as one of the most iconic American muscle cars ever made, in SS trim that is. So what would you say about a neat restomodded Chevelle that packs 980 ...
Corvette Museum Sinkhole to Be Repaired
21 Oct 2014, 15:57 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Wednesday, February 12th, 2014 will forever be remembered as one of the saddest days in Vette history. That's because of the ginormous sinkhole that swallowed up eight historic Corvettes at 5:44 in the morning, damaging them in the process. ...
2015 Nissan Pathfinder Pricing Revelead, Gets Enhanced for the New Model Year
21 Oct 2014, 15:28 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / The Nissan Pathfinder mid-size crossover SUV has been updated for the 2015 model year and now sports a base sticker price of $29,510 for the entry-level S two-wheel drive trim, including destination and handling. However, its strong points are not ...
2015 Volvo XC90 Price List for Europe Announced, It Starts from €59,472
21 Oct 2014, 14:44 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After months of speculation and teasing ended in a glamorous fashion with a Torslanda plant debut event, the new 2015 Volvo XC90 recently received pricing for the European area. No beating around the bush then, so here's Johnny - you'll h...
C7 Corvette Stingray Supercharged by Abbes Design
21 Oct 2014, 12:53 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / For the 2015 model year, the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray adds a suite of new bits and bobs, but the highlight of the lot comes in the form of the fast-shifting Hydra-Matic 8L90 automatic tranny. Whereas the standard model makes do with 460 horsepow...
Volvo XC90 Heico Sportiv Tuning Package Teased
21 Oct 2014, 12:24 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / In the world of sport utility vehicles, 2014's most heavily-anticipated nameplate was the new Volvo XC90. Even though production is slated to start in the first quarter of 2015, the automaker added a third shift to its Torslanda plant in antic...
Turbo Aston Martin Prototype Spied Lapping the Nurburgring, It's AMG-Powered
21 Oct 2014, 11:04 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Ah, Aston Martin. Not only the British sports car manufacturer is using the same all-aluminum VH platform for all of its models since the first-gen V12 Vanquish, but its flagship models employ a Ford-developed naturally-aspirated 6L V12 engine sinc...
2015 Ford Focus Pricing for Europe Starts From €18,750 · Video
21 Oct 2014, 10:00 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Pretty similar to the compact executive sedan and supermini segments, Europe is a big battleground for automakers that manufacture C-segment cars. The freshest candidate is the 2015 Ford Focus, a model that recently got its European pricing announc...
Takata Airbag Recall: 4.7 Million Cars Covered in the Latest Campaign
21 Oct 2014, 08:50 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Remember Toyota's recent supplemental safety recall of approximately 247,000 cars equipped with defective Takata Corporation airbags? As it happens, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that campaign is just the tip of ...
Lotus Esprit Submarine from James Bond - The Spy Who Loved Me is on eBay · Video
21 Oct 2014, 07:53 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Let's face it - us petrolheads are boys that like to play with expensive, tire-shredding toys. As such, it's virtually impossible not to have wanted, at a certain moment in time, a car from James Bond's long list of super exotic, sup...
Toyota Recall - 247,000 Vehicles Affected by Faulty Takata Airbag Inflators
20 Oct 2014, 17:33 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / This just in from Toyota: the American division of the Japanese manufacturer is calling back a hefty 247,000 cars to have their airbags replaced with safer units. Toyota says that the affected vehicle population from 2001 to 2004 model years. Li...
2015 Ford Mustang - Euro-spec Model Loses Some Power Over its American Brother
20 Oct 2014, 17:03 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / After a year of slow teasing we found out almost every secret the sixth-generation of the breed holds. However, European customers of the new pony will be in for a little shock because the Euro-spec model isn't quite as powerful as the Mustang...
2016 Acura ILX Teased Ahead of 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show Debut
20 Oct 2014, 16:06 UTC · By: Mircea Panait / Before you wonder why the photograph above is so overexposed, oversaturated and grainy, you should know that Acura provided a very dark, almost useless teaser picture of the 2016 ILX. With that detail out of the way, the Japanese automaker is geari...