autoevolution
 

Vlad Radu

1,109  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 Reasons Why The Crew Motorfest is a Must-Have for PlayStation 5 Owners
5 Reasons Why The Crew Motorfest is a Must-Have for PlayStation 5 Owners

30 Nov 2023, 21:39 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Though it's not the perfect arcade racing video game, The Crew Motorfest offers PlayStation 5 a thrilling open-world experience and a Hawaiian holiday away from Gran Turismo 7. Officially announced back in January (2023) when a short tea...

 
5 Astonishing Mid-Engine Corvettes That Predate the C8
5 Astonishing Mid-Engine Corvettes That Predate the C8

30 Nov 2023, 16:14 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Though it was the first production version to employ a mid-engine configuration, the eight-generation was not the first mid-engine Corvette. First unveiled on July 18, 2019, in Tustin, California, after years of rumors and teasers, the C8 finall...

 
GT-R Nismo Z-Tune: Remembering the Ultimate Street-Legal Skyline
GT-R Nismo Z-Tune: Remembering the Ultimate Street-Legal Skyline

30 Nov 2023, 12:53 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / The R34 was the last, greatest Skyline-based GT-R, but unlike its modern predecessors, its production run ended in the summer of 2002 without a true, high-performance limited edition. However, that's not where the R34's story ends, as ...

 
5 Legendary Mass-Produced Hemi Engines That Were Not Built by Chrysler
5 Legendary Mass-Produced Hemi Engines That Were Not Built by Chrysler

29 Nov 2023, 17:06 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Though they're the only engines officially named after their hemispherical combustion chambers, Chrysler's legendary V8s aren't the only mass-produced automotive engines to feature this technology. Hemispherical combustion chamber...

 
1962 Grand Prix 421 Super Duty: A Look Back at Pontiac's Ultra-Rare Heavy Hitter
1962 Grand Prix 421 Super Duty: A Look Back at Pontiac's Ultra-Rare Heavy Hitter

29 Nov 2023, 13:35 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Though it was a full-size coupe, the new Grand Prix was transformed into one of Pontiac's first muscle cars months after its introduction when the GM division added the 421 Super Duty engine to its options list. For purists, a muscle car i...

 
5 Wildest Motorcycles Powered by Car Engines
5 Wildest Motorcycles Powered by Car Engines

28 Nov 2023, 21:40 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Mounting a car engine on a motorcycle frame is an outrageous idea that has been successfully implemented numerous times. However, these five models take that idea to a whole new level. Throughout the decades, many carmakers have used motorcycle ...

 
VW Karmann Ghia Type 14: The Story of a Forgotten Coachbuilt, Air-Cooled Icon
VW Karmann Ghia Type 14: The Story of a Forgotten Coachbuilt, Air-Cooled Icon

28 Nov 2023, 15:42 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / A Type 1 "Beetle," dressed in a designer suit, the Type 14 Karmann Ghia was Volkswagen's second mass-produced passenger car and its first sporty model. When I was a teenager, one of the first trips I took outside my home country w...

 
5 Wild American Supercars You Probably Never Heard About
5 Wild American Supercars You Probably Never Heard About

28 Nov 2023, 01:38 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Fast, powerful, and downright outrageous, these American supercars never won any popularity contest, but that doesn't mean they weren't special. For older American gearheads, a supercar is a 1960-1970 US-built intermediate with a poten...

 
Turbo-Rocket V8: Remembering the Automotive World's First Mass-Produced, Turbocharged V8
Turbo-Rocket V8: Remembering the Automotive World's First Mass-Produced, Turbocharged V8

27 Nov 2023, 11:34 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / A small (by 1962 standards), all-aluminum V8 produced by Oldsmobile, the innovative Turbo-Rocket introduced turbocharging to the masses. These days, most of the internal combustion engines that are still mass-produced employ turbochargers. ...

 
5 Classic, Street-Legal Muscle Cars That Were Race-Bred Homologation Specials
5 Classic, Street-Legal Muscle Cars That Were Race-Bred Homologation Specials

26 Nov 2023, 09:33 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Unlike most muscle cars from the golden age, these five legends were created specifically for motorsport homologation purposes. For decades, the rulebooks of many motorsport competitions stated that, in order for a race car to compete, manufact...

 
The One-Off Corvette Rondine: When Italian Flair Met American Muscle
The One-Off Corvette Rondine: When Italian Flair Met American Muscle

25 Nov 2023, 20:54 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Coachbuilt by Pininfarina, the Corvette Rondine looked more like a Ferrari from the 1960s than the C2 it was based on. During its 70-year history, the Chevrolet Corvette became America's most beloved sports car and one of the most legendar...

 
5 Most Beautiful Custom Cars Designed by Chip Foose
5 Most Beautiful Custom Cars Designed by Chip Foose

25 Nov 2023, 14:00 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Designer extraordinaire Chip Foose has left its mark on the world of custom cars with some incredible works of automotive art. In this article, we'll take a look at what we consider to be his most beautiful five creations. Born in Santa Bar...

 
'71-'72 Heavy Chevy: A Muscle Car That's Still Heavy on Looks and Light on Price
'71-'72 Heavy Chevy: A Muscle Car That's Still Heavy on Looks and Light on Price

25 Nov 2023, 09:28 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / As it was back in 71-72, the Heavy Chevy is the perfect choice for second-generation Chevelle fans who can't afford an SS but want more of a muscle car than the standard Malibu sport coupe. Apart from legendary models like the HEMI-powered ...

 
5 Most Expensive 426 HEMI-Powered Classics Ever Sold at Public Auctions
5 Most Expensive 426 HEMI-Powered Classics Ever Sold at Public Auctions

24 Nov 2023, 18:43 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Nowadays, any classic car equipped with the mighty 426 HEMI is expensive. Still, these five rare and highly original examples sold at public auctions take the notion of expensive to another level. Named after its hemispherical combustion chamber...

 
1970 Plymouth Duster 340: Remembering Mopar's Giant-Slaying Mini Muscle Car
1970 Plymouth Duster 340: Remembering Mopar's Giant-Slaying Mini Muscle Car

24 Nov 2023, 15:19 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Equipped with Mopar's potent small block, the new-for-1970 Duster 340 was a budget-friendly muscle car that terrorized owners of larger, more powerful performance models. In my home country of Romania, as well as in most European countries,...

 
5 Most Powerful ICE-Powered Hypercars Ever Produced
5 Most Powerful ICE-Powered Hypercars Ever Produced

23 Nov 2023, 22:40 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / The era of electrification is upon us, and with it come the most powerful hypercars ever built. Nevertheless, the ridiculously powerful models in this article prove that the good old internal combustion engine (ICE) can still pack a punch. If th...

 
'66-'67 Fairlane 427: One of the Rarest, Most Powerful Muscle Cars of Its Era
'66-'67 Fairlane 427: One of the Rarest, Most Powerful Muscle Cars of Its Era

23 Nov 2023, 15:45 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Though it arrived late to the muscle car party, the 427-powered Fairlane earned its place by becoming one of the rarest, most powerful street-legal models from the golden age of muscle cars. When discussing iconic Ford muscle from the sixties an...

 
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5–16 Evo II: The Story of the Cosworth-Powered, AMG-Tuned Legend
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5–16 Evo II: The Story of the Cosworth-Powered, AMG-Tuned Legend

22 Nov 2023, 17:31 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / Produced in a limited series of just over 500 units, the 2.5-16 Evolution II was one of the wildest homologation specials from the 1990s. Since the early days of the automobile, manufacturers have used motorsport as the most effective means of p...

 
5 Reliable Used SUVs That You Can Buy for Under $10,000
5 Reliable Used SUVs That You Can Buy for Under $10,000

21 Nov 2023, 18:18 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / If you're looking for a used SUV that isn't over 15 years old and your main priority is reliability, these are five models you should consider. As much as some car people (myself included) hate to admit it, SUVs have become the most po...

 
BMW S50 EU-Spec: The M3's First Six-Cylinder, an Iconic Engine That the US Couldn't Have
BMW S50 EU-Spec: The M3's First Six-Cylinder, an Iconic Engine That the US Couldn't Have

20 Nov 2023, 11:50 UTC · By: Vlad Radu / After the E30 generation set the stage, the newer E34 helped make the M3 wildly popular worldwide. But while most buyers were treated to the legendary Euro-spec S50, US enthusiasts had to settle for a less powerful and less advanced version. Fou...

 

Stories by Vlad Radu