autoevolution
 

Vlad Radu

1,144  ARTICLES

Personal motto:

“From success, you learn absolutely nothing. From failure and setbacks conclusions can be drawn. That goes for your private life as well as your career.” - Nikki Lauda

Contributor
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At age five Vlad built a car cockpit out of wood, carboard and an old Trabant steering wheel under his desk and dreamed about driving the world’s most exotic cars. He grew up watching Michael Schumacher become a legendary driver, falling in love with speed and all things Ferrari in the process.

In high school, he crashed a communist-era Dacia 1310 with no brakes into a military base’s fence and almost got arrested on terrorism charges but bribed the base’s sentinel with three packs of cigarettes and only got in trouble for ruining the car.

He then decided to put his passion for cars on hold and concentrate on playing professional basketball. Due to a lack of talent, size, and a serious injury, he was forced to abandon professional sports and take a job as a video game tester. It was during this period that he discovered a passion for reading and writing after finding Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels on a park bench.

The author’s writing style was fascinating to young Vlad and he continued to read all his books while creating a blog where he wrote about controversial social issues, inspired by his favorite author.

Years later, he got back to his first passion, taking a job at a local car parts dealership. He worked his way up from the sales department to a successful regional manager position, but something was still missing.

His biggest dream was to write so, when Autoevolution approached him to become a member of the team, he quit his old job instantly, and has been passionately writing ever since.

When he’s not busy creating articles or playing with his two-year-old son, he can be found working on his old BMW 3 Series Wagon or shredding trails on a mountain bike he assembled himself.
5 Cool and Powerful FoMoCo Classic Muscle Cars That Aren't Mustangs
5 Cool and Powerful FoMoCo Classic Muscle Cars That Aren't Mustangs

28 Sep 2023, 20:59 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Ford and its Lincon-Mercury division built a series of awesome muscle cars. However, if you look at any list of best FoMoCo muscle cars, half of the entries are performance versions of the Mustang. By the strict d...

 
1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst: When a Luxurious Full-Size Model Became a Two-Ton Muscle Car
1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst: When a Luxurious Full-Size Model Became a Two-Ton Muscle Car

28 Sep 2023, 12:49 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / As far as humongous, full-size classics equipped with V8 muscle go, the 1970 Chrysler 300 Hurst was the largest ever built. Today, most people associate the Chrysler 300 with the rather dull modern reincarnation produced since 2005 and dubbed...

 
Marauder X-100: The Luxurious Land Yacht With V8 Muscle Currently Worth Around $13K
Marauder X-100: The Luxurious Land Yacht With V8 Muscle Currently Worth Around $13K

27 Sep 2023, 12:20 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / If you ever dreamed of cruising in a battleship on wheels among the sea of boring SUVs, the '69-'70 Mercury Marauder X-100 is the car for you. Rare, imposing, and intimidating, it's also surprisingly affordable. The second part of...

 
Mopar Max Wedge: The Forgotten Orange Monster That Helped Kick-Start the Muscle Car Craze
Mopar Max Wedge: The Forgotten Orange Monster That Helped Kick-Start the Muscle Car Craze

26 Sep 2023, 12:12 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Today, if you ask younger enthusiasts about the origins of the muscle car, most will point to the 1964 Pontiac GTO. However, two years before that, Dodges and Plymouths equipped with the Max Wedge V8 were breaking records on drag strips nationwide....

 
The Upcoming GTD Is Cool, but the Mid-Engine Mach 40 Remains the Coolest 'Stang Ever Built
The Upcoming GTD Is Cool, but the Mid-Engine Mach 40 Remains the Coolest 'Stang Ever Built

25 Sep 2023, 11:36 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Though it wasn't built by Ford but an all-star lineup of customizers, the Mach Forty is still the most mind-blowing Mustang ever created. Ford introduced the Mustang nearly sixty years ago, and even if the company had high hopes for the mod...

 
Dodge Super Bee: The Underrated Muscle Car Classic That's Still Reasonably Priced Today
Dodge Super Bee: The Underrated Muscle Car Classic That's Still Reasonably Priced Today

23 Sep 2023, 21:19 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Overshadowed by the Plymouth Road Runner during its three-year production run, the Super Bee remains an underated beast from the golden era of muscle cars. After the Chrysler Corporation introduced the NASCAR-bound 426 HEMI V8 in its brands'...

 
5 Classic Porsche Concepts You Probably Never Knew Existed
5 Classic Porsche Concepts You Probably Never Knew Existed

23 Sep 2023, 20:11 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Apart from its legendary road and race cars, Porsche has developed many fascinating concepts. While the modern Living Legend series is now famous, these five fascinating old-school machines are virtually unknown to the average gearhead. The Por...

 
5 Greatest Straight-Six Engines Ever Mass-Produced
5 Greatest Straight-Six Engines Ever Mass-Produced

22 Sep 2023, 21:40 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / In use for over a century, this fantastic engine configuration has given birth to some of the mightiest powerplants ever created. The first straight-six was produced in the Netherlands all the way back in 1903. It was used by the Spyker 60 HP ra...

 
5 Most Beautiful V12-Powered Lamborghini One-Offs
5 Most Beautiful V12-Powered Lamborghini One-Offs

22 Sep 2023, 21:21 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Whether prototypes or bespoke variations of production models, these five Lamborghinis are not just ultra-rare supercars but works of automotive art. During its 60-year history, Lamborghini has become one of the most famous names in the automoti...

 
Porsche 917: The All-Conquering Icon Created by Exploiting a Loophole in the Regulations
Porsche 917: The All-Conquering Icon Created by Exploiting a Loophole in the Regulations

22 Sep 2023, 19:04 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Considered one of the best race cars ever built, the 917 brought Porsche its first two 24 Hours of Le Mans victories. It also inspired the creation of future prototypes that transformed Porsche into the most successful manufacturer in the world of ...

 
5 Insane Street-Legal Cars Powered by Formula One Engines
5 Insane Street-Legal Cars Powered by Formula One Engines

21 Sep 2023, 15:40 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / The concept of building an F1 car for the road led to the development of many iconic supercars. However, stuffing an actual F1 engine into a road car was only attempted a few times throughout history. Since its debut in 1950, Formula One has bec...

 
Mercury Cougar GT-E 427: Celebrating 55 Years Since the Birth of the Most Powerful Cat
Mercury Cougar GT-E 427: Celebrating 55 Years Since the Birth of the Most Powerful Cat

21 Sep 2023, 12:07 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / In 1968, Mercury introduced the GT-E package, transforming the Cougar into one of the original muscle car era's most powerful and luxurious models. When Ford unveiled the Mustang at the New York World's Fair in April 1964, it revolutio...

 
Meet the Unipower GT: One of the Best Mid-Engine Sports Car You Never Knew Existed
Meet the Unipower GT: One of the Best Mid-Engine Sports Car You Never Knew Existed

20 Sep 2023, 12:51 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Conceived by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, the Unipower GT proved that a small, seemingly underpowered engine and a lightweight chassis could result in a thrilling yet affordable sports car. I'm sure that most people who read this article ha...

 
5 Great Yet Underrated Japanese Sports Cars That Are Still Affordable Today
5 Great Yet Underrated Japanese Sports Cars That Are Still Affordable Today

19 Sep 2023, 20:55 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / If you're a fan of iconic Japanese sports cars but don't have the money for an R34 Skyline, A80 Supra, or even an FD RX7, you should consider one of these five awesome models that are still surprisingly affordable. From the late 1970s ...

 
Alfa Romeo TZ: The Evolution of the Italian Carmaker's Most Exquisite Model Ranges
Alfa Romeo TZ: The Evolution of the Italian Carmaker's Most Exquisite Model Ranges

18 Sep 2023, 13:59 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Developed in partnership with famous Italian coachbuilder Zagato, the TZ family spawned three distinct automotive masterpieces that deserve to be remembered. During its 113-year history, Alfa Romeo built some of the most exciting vehicles to...

 
MID4: Nissan's Forgotten Attempt to Create A Spectacular 4WD Mid-Engine Sportscar
MID4: Nissan's Forgotten Attempt to Create A Spectacular 4WD Mid-Engine Sportscar

15 Sep 2023, 13:30 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / During the '80s, Nissan was close to introducing a mid-engine 4WD two-seater that would've joined its Z and GT-R-badged siblings on the list of most iconic Japanese sports cars. With the introduction of the S30 Fairlady Z, also markete...

 
AMC Matador Machine: Remembering One of the Rarest, Most Underrated Muscle Cars
AMC Matador Machine: Remembering One of the Rarest, Most Underrated Muscle Cars

14 Sep 2023, 13:45 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / The successor of the iconic Rebel-based model with the same awesome name, the 1971 Machine, was a high-performance intermediate forced to fly under the radar by rising insurance costs. Since its inception in 1954, the American Motors Corporation...

 
The Story of the F1-Powered 164 ProCar: Unquestionably the Wildest Alfa Romeo Ever Built
The Story of the F1-Powered 164 ProCar: Unquestionably the Wildest Alfa Romeo Ever Built

13 Sep 2023, 11:34 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / During the late 1980s, a failed attempt to launch a support series for the Formula One World Championship gave birth to this insane F1 V10-powered Alfa sedan. When we think about the greatest vehicle that donned Alfa Romeo badges, iconic models ...

 
Fifty Years of Berlinetta Boxer: Remembering the Forefather of Modern Mid-Engine Ferraris
Fifty Years of Berlinetta Boxer: Remembering the Forefather of Modern Mid-Engine Ferraris

29 Aug 2023, 20:14 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Combining a mid-engine layout with an iconic design, the BB laid the groundwork for future Prancing Horse icons like the Testarossa, 288 GTO, or F40. When Enzo Ferrari left Alfa Romeo, he wanted to continue building race machines, not road cars....

 
Matra MS670: The Underdog Story of the French Car That Won Le Mans Three Times in a Row
Matra MS670: The Underdog Story of the French Car That Won Le Mans Three Times in a Row

28 Aug 2023, 13:37 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / After years of lurking in the shadows of Ferrari, Porsche, or Ford, the small French manufacturer took the endurance racing world by storm with its terrific MS670. From 1972 to 1974, this fantastic race car helped them win two WCM (World Championsh...

 

Stories by Vlad Radu