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Sebastian Toma

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Personal motto:

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson

Senior Contributor
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Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. He cannot put a finger on what started it all, but it was there, and it grew day by day. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver).

It all started with him pointing at cars on the street and asking what make and model they were. Sebastian couldn't wait to be tall enough to see over their steering wheel and be allowed to drive them.

When was ready to hit the road, Sebastian was left without a potential first car after his family's '72 Mercedes-Benz was rolled by his father. While the early '70s sedan proved unexpectedly safe, Sebastian was left without a ride, so he took various jobs and saved up for an E30 BMW 3 Series. Months later, he got his dream job – writing about cars for a local website while he was getting a bachelor's degree in Journalism.

Fourteen years had passed since Sebastian started writing about cars and motorcycles, and his job took him behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles, as well as through some of the most important local publications.

Just before returning to autoevolution, he was the editor-in-chief of the country's most-read car magazine and its website. Sebastian took on the challenge and started writing for us again, so sit back and enjoy the read!
BMW Fined with $40 million by NHTSA over MINI Recall Violations
BMW Fined with $40 million by NHTSA over MINI Recall Violations

22 Dec 2015, 09:34 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / BMW is facing fines and other penalties from the NHTSA worth $40 million for failing to issue a recall on time for the 2014 and 2015 MINI Cooper. The problem started with a crash test that was failed by a MINI Cooper in October 2014. At the time...

 
2016 Chevrolet Niva Leaked Patent Pictures Reveal Production Design
2016 Chevrolet Niva Leaked Patent Pictures Reveal Production Design

21 Dec 2015, 17:39 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Chevrolet is preparing to launch a new generation Niva and its first images have been leaked online. An anonymous tipster shared them with us for you to see. We’re speaking about a car designed for the RDM (Russia Domestic Market) that def...

 
GT3 Cars Get 10% Power Restriction at Nurburgring in 2016
GT3 Cars Get 10% Power Restriction at Nurburgring in 2016

21 Dec 2015, 16:07 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / The German Motorsport Association (DMSB) has made the decision to limit the top class in racing at all the events that will be held at the Nurburgring Nordscheleife starting 2016. The DMSB made an analysis of the horrific crash at the beginning ...

 
Vauxhall Is Auctioning Off Top Gear's Reasonably Priced Car, the Astra
Vauxhall Is Auctioning Off Top Gear's Reasonably Priced Car, the Astra

21 Dec 2015, 14:59 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Vauxhall has announced an online auction for what is arguably the most famous Astra K in the world. The British carmaker is selling Top Gear’s “Reasonably Priced Car” and handing the proceeds to automotive industry charity BEN....

 
Urus SUV Might Become the First Lamborghini Hybrid Car
Urus SUV Might Become the First Lamborghini Hybrid Car

21 Dec 2015, 12:38 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / The upcoming Lamborghini Urus is the best candidate for the company’s plug-in hybrid drivetrain. Although the new drivetrain hasn’t received the green light from the company’s board yet, some Lamborghini officials have reveale...

 
Nissan Plans Upmarket Move for Current GT-R, Next-Gen Still Years Away
Nissan Plans Upmarket Move for Current GT-R, Next-Gen Still Years Away

21 Dec 2015, 10:32 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Nissan is still developing the current generation of the GT-R. According to the program’s manager, Hiroshi Tamura, there’s more to come until its replacement. The Nissan GT-R project manager plans to move the model upmarket, but the ...

 
Chevrolet Is the Most Searched Car Brand on Google in America in 2015
Chevrolet Is the Most Searched Car Brand on Google in America in 2015

21 Dec 2015, 09:48 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Chevrolet is the most searched for automotive brand in 2015 in the United States of America, a Google Trends report shows. The Silicon Valley giant has released its “Google Trends” report for 2015. In the automotive department, Chevr...

 
Craigslist Seller Claims Owning the Ultimate Audi B5 A4, Wants $30,000 for It
Craigslist Seller Claims Owning the Ultimate Audi B5 A4, Wants $30,000 for It

18 Dec 2015, 19:03 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Craigslist is an interesting website and reminds us of how things used to look on the Internet in the late 90s. From the same era, we discovered what the seller claims to be the “Ultimate B5 Audi A4 Sedan.” Looking into the ad, we di...

 
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over - NHTSA Releases New PSA Videos
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over - NHTSA Releases New PSA Videos

18 Dec 2015, 17:02 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / The start of the Holiday Season is a great time to get in touch with old friends and make new ones, maybe grab a few drinks together. If you do this, please have a cab or a designated (i.e. sober) driver to take you to wherever you need to go after...

 
2017 Lincoln Continental Spyshots Reveal More Details
2017 Lincoln Continental Spyshots Reveal More Details

18 Dec 2015, 16:03 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Lincoln is still testing its MY 2017 Continental with camouflage. The brand is expected to unveil the new model at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. Our latest spyshots of the new Continental show production-ready headlights, with an attractive set of...

 
Renault Megane Will Get a Sedan Version in 2016
Renault Megane Will Get a Sedan Version in 2016

18 Dec 2015, 14:07 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Renault Megane’s fourth generation is set to receive a Sedan brother as early as next year. According to Fabrice Garcia, Megane hatch’s chief engineer, the compact sedan from Renault will debut in 2016. The engineer revealed this inf...

 
Cadillac's Chief Marketing Officer: "Hydrogen Is the Future, Current EVs Make No Sense"
Cadillac's Chief Marketing Officer: "Hydrogen Is the Future, Current EVs Make No Sense"

18 Dec 2015, 12:27 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Cadillac’s Chief Marketing Officer believes in hydrogen fuel cars as the future of transportation. As far as current electric vehicles go, Uwe Ellinghaus considers they make no sense in the context in which the majority of electric energy is ...

 
BMW to Showcase New M2 and X4 M40i at 2016 Detroit Auto Show
BMW to Showcase New M2 and X4 M40i at 2016 Detroit Auto Show

18 Dec 2015, 12:05 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / The new BMW M2 and X4 M40i will make their world debut at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. BMW’s stand will also feature the second generation X1, the 2016 7 Series, the new plug-in hybrid version of the 3 Series, 330e and the already on the marke...

 
VW of America Hired a Famous Lawyer to Deal with Dieselgate Compensation
VW of America Hired a Famous Lawyer to Deal with Dieselgate Compensation

18 Dec 2015, 09:14 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Volkswagen’s American division hired renowned attorney Kenneth Feinberg to help resolve claims made by owners affected by the Dieselgate scandal. Ken Feinberg is the lawyer who also handled high-profile cases such as BP’s oil spill i...

 
Gamers of the World, Get Ready! The 2016 eSports WRC Tournament Has Been Announced
Gamers of the World, Get Ready! The 2016 eSports WRC Tournament Has Been Announced

17 Dec 2015, 16:59 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / WRC 5, the official video game of the FIA World Rally Championship, will have a parallel eSports Championship of its own. The competition is the first of its kind on a global scale and will host multiplayer tournaments that run simultaneously wi...

 
VW Group Restructures Leadership Ranks, Sets New Directors for Design, Sales, R&D, and More
VW Group Restructures Leadership Ranks, Sets New Directors for Design, Sales, R&D, and More

17 Dec 2015, 16:14 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Germany’s Volkswagen Group has announced its new heads of Design, Research&Development, Sales, Production and Product. The Wolfsburg-based carmaker has released the names of the new chiefs of five of its departments. The new leaders of...

 
2017 Ford GT - This Looks like the Production Version
2017 Ford GT - This Looks like the Production Version

17 Dec 2015, 14:07 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Ford is getting ready to launch the 2017 GT, the third generation of its halo car, and the supposed first picture of the production version has popped up on the Internet. The Blue Oval has recently announced that it will be using Gorilla Glass t...

 
Audi Q2 Spyshots Reveal Mules Are Getting Close to Final Design
Audi Q2 Spyshots Reveal Mules Are Getting Close to Final Design

17 Dec 2015, 13:49 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Audi Q2, the smallest crossover in the Ingolstadt brand’s future range, is getting ready for its debut. The Q2 is actually the production name of the already confirmed Q1 and will become the smallest model in Audi’s Q range. Initiall...

 
Knight Rider Trailer Suggests Revamp with David Hasselhoff and the Original KITT
Knight Rider Trailer Suggests Revamp with David Hasselhoff and the Original KITT

17 Dec 2015, 10:55 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / The Knight Rider TV series from the ‘80s could get a modern revamp with the old characters, KITT and Michael Knight. A video popped up on YouTube showing the one and only David Hasselhoff and the old KITT Pontiac Trans-Am. While Hasselhoff...

 
Google Could Use Its Self-Driving Cars to Rival Uber
Google Could Use Its Self-Driving Cars to Rival Uber

17 Dec 2015, 10:24 UTC · By: Sebastian Toma / Google will move its self-driving cars to the Alphabet company in 2016 and has bigger plans with this division in the future, a person familiar with the business’ strategy reports. Since its first introduction, Google’s autonomous ve...

 

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