China's Qoros 3 Sedan Designated 2013’s Safest Car by Euro NCAP [w/Videos]

In September last year, the Qoros 3 Sedan became the first car made in China to get five stars in the Euro NCAP crash tests. That was an impressive feat, but what’s even more impressive is that Euro NCAP has designated the Qoros 3 Sedan as the safest car it has tested last year (in that time frame, not in general), regardless of category.

The Qoros 3 Sedan scored the best result for Adult Occupant Protection in Euro NCAP’s 2013 program, while its safety passenger cell proved to be “extremely robust” in front-end, side impact and pole impact collisions. Obviously, the Chinese car was the safest of its category (Small Family), with six other cars being designated the safest in their class.

These cars are the Renault Zoe (Supermini), Lexus IS 300h (Large Family), Kia Carens/Ford Tourneo Connect (Small MPV), Jeep Cherokee (Small Off-Road 4x4) and Maserati Ghibli (Executive).

The Renault Zoe and Lexus IS 300h were at the same time the all-round performers of the electric/hybrid cars tested by Euro NCAP in 2013.

Euro NCAP updated its assessment of child occupant protection in 2013, giving credit to manufacturers that allow for easy installation of most popular types of child seats, which comply with the most recent revised child safety standards. Furthermore, the organization has started to test voluntary-set intelligent speed assistant systems as part of the rating.

By Dan Mihalascu

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Take a Ride Along in a Fully Original 1980 Maserati Merak SS

Despite being a rare car, with around 1,800 examples ever made, the Maserati Merak pops up surprisingly often on the web, proving that there are still a lot of them being looked after and driven, even if it’s known that you need a lot of the former to even enjoy a bit of the latter…

The engineering behind the Merak was not shabby, though, and if you have the wallet and patience, you can still run a fully original one today, like the man in the video below, Bruce Wagner.

He owns a rare 1980 Merak SS, which gets more power and badging than the basic model, by using larger carburetors (of which it has three for the 3-liter V6) and a different cam. The sound it makes is glorious, and the way it looks compliments that perfectly.

Even the tires are fully original, and the exact compound that the car was designed to run on originally – they are stickier than average and offer good handling (according to the owner).

It’s a real peach of a classic that definitely deserves to be kept on the road, as the industry whisks us further and further away from the romantic early image of the automobile. Admire its shape and engine rumble in the Hagerty video posted below.

By Andrei Nedelea

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