Short answer: No. Long answer: It doesn’t matter, it’s still amazing.
Pininfarina Returns to its Roots
The Italian carrozzeria is returning to form. “We have expanded a lot our coach-building services, especially during the past three years, following a higher demand from the market” says new CEO Paolo Dellachŕ in his first interview with the US press since taking the job in December.
Pedal-Assist Mini-Trucks Take Over the World
“They’re kind of like Get Out of Traffic Free cards for delivery companies.”
The Fix
How a Swedish-German emissions control system, pioneered by Volvo, fostered an era of responsible performance.
Horse(power) Barn
The Porsche barn—and it always seems to be Porsches—is suddenly poised to become a digging-out-the-basement-for-an-indoor-pool high-end residential trend.
It looks like a school bus. Get it under control!
On the occasion of his retirement, after nearly 30 years on the job, I chatted with outgoing Mercedes-Benz design chief Gorden Wagener to discuss his lengthy tenure, some of his favorite vehicle designs, and some near-misses–including the one that caused his boss to shout “It looks like a school bus. Get it under control!”
Tipping the Scale
We’ve always had big cars. So why do some look so HUGE? For the latest issue of Road & Track, I explore this subject with car designers, design instructors, and a UVA psychology professor who literally wrote the book on the subject of perception.
Click on the blurry thumbnails above to reveal a far less crappy scan. Or just subscribe to the magazine already, you Chintzy Bltch.
New Fiction: After Face
I have a new short story out, “After Face,” which was just published in “Eleventh Hour,” a literary journal out of SUNY Binghamton.
Mystery Machine
An oddball Packard Twin-Six–the world’s first production V-12-powered car–single-handedly encompasses everything about the early luxury car market in Detroit, and much more.
I-Roll?
Volvo, the 99 year-old Swedish automaker faces a confluence of crises in one of its biggest markets. I ask its new regional president how it can pull through?