David Tracy

5 days ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

In what feels like a flash, I met my wife, got married, had a child, and now instead of being a single dude wrenching on badass Jeeps, I’m a domesticated suburbanite whose projects are all house projects. As someone with zero experience fixing houses and 15 years of experience fixing mostly rusty cars, I wasn’t sure how my skills would translate.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

My colleague Jason Torchinsky recently texted me an article written by me, except I didn’t write it. AI did, using my very own voice. Reading this, it became clear that we need to talk about AI, what role it will play in automotive media, and whether it’s going to destroy all of the car publications you know and love. Right away, let’s show the writing sample. The prompt was: “can you write a 250 word article about a jeep cherokee XJ in the voice of journalist david tracy from the autopian“.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

Mind child, Delmar (not his real name) is turning 8 weeks soon, so naturally I’ve already started shopping for his first car. It’s hard! All the cars my single self thought would be great options to teach my kid that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” and that “hard work is how you get anywhere in life” are vehicles I can’t get myself to consider anymore. Maybe I’ve gone soft?

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

We have the first photos of the new 2026 Jeep Cherokee, and while I’m in a heated debate with my colleagues about how XJ-ish or not-XJ-ish it looks, what probably matters more to consumers is pricing and the powertrain. The latter will not be a 4.0-liter inline-six, and — I can’t believe I’m going to say this — that’s actually a good thing. Please forgive any typos going forward, as I’m still shaking off being struck by a lightning bolt thrown by the Jeep gods.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

You’ve probably seen police “hood slides” on TV in The Dukes of Hazzard, Rush Hour, Starksy & Hutch, and who knows — if you lived in 1980s New York City, maybe even in real life. It is universally considered the coolest way for a police officer to get around the extremely long hood of their 1970s land yacht police cruiser as they exit/enter, but one thing that you don’t often hear discussed is: How much damage does it actually cause the vehicle?