David Tracy

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

“Beep” my BMW i3 sounds as I turn it on, the dashboard ahead of me lightning up with a speedometer, range guess-o-meter, odometer, and other useful information. But I notice one new light: A red outline of a BMW i3 with the word “SERVICE” written above it. Apparently BMW wants me to change my car’s brake fluid and do an oil change. I’ll do the brake fluid soon enough, and the oil change I’ll eventually do as well, though I’m in no rush; my oil has maybe 500 miles on it and it’s just one year old.

1 week ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

While browsing Cars & Bids, something caught my eye: Jeep Wrangler JKs — built between 2007 and 2018 — are surprisingly cheap. In fact, they appear to be cheaper than any equivalent-condition Jeep Wrangler ever, save perhaps the Wrangler YJ — the “cheap Jeep” that the world has for years assigned to the bottom of the convertible-Jeep hierarchy. How low will JKs go? Will they ever be as cheap as the YJ?

2 weeks ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

Today we wrote about the Tesla Model S refresh, with Thomas calling the car “a dinosaur.” This led to a discussion among Autopian writers about platforms; how big of a deal is it that a platform is old? Personally, I don’t think it matters much at all, necessarily; here’s why. Right out front of my house I’ve got a 2021 BMW i3S, an astonishing little city-car that I adore. This particular vehicle, by 2021, had been on the market for eight years, and many criticized it for being dated. But was it?

2 weeks ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

The parking lot. It’s an absolute nightmare for folks with shiny cars, as rogue shopping carts roll around like wayward tumbleweeds, doors are flung open haphazardly, and bad drivers pay more attention to their phones than on navigating spots. The traditional solution to this dilemma is parking your car an ungodly distance away from the Costco entrance, but there is another answer that allows you to be lazy and park right up front, we’re putting it to the test.

2 weeks ago | theautopian.com | David Tracy

The year is 2012, and I’d just driven to Detroit — the Motor City I’d dreamed about for years— for the first time in order to work my internship at Chrysler. It was the start of what would be the greatest summer of my life in which my new friend Brandon and I would wring every last drop of car culture out of our new temporary home by attending as many car shows as humanly possible.