About Daud Gonzalez
Daud Gonzalez is a lifelong car enthusiast and automotive writer with a specialty in modified and race-ready rides. He spends most of his time modifying his cars and ruining them in the process. He is currently the owner of a track-ready BMW 335i, a mild off-roading 1981 Toyota Hilux, and a 2008 Lexus RX400H for daily driving. Most of his free time is dedicated to making sure his vehicles survive to see the next day. You are likely to catch him at one of Southern California’s race tracks on the weekends.
Author Details
From managing speed shops to building flamethrowing drift cars, Daud is among the last of a dying breed. His passion for motorsport made it so every living breathing moment he could was spent at the race track. The empirical knowledge he gained over years of dedication molded him into a technical expert in every aspect of automotive performance. All this led him to realize one simple concept: it’s the “how” that matters. He has applied this same approach with every new article or piece of work: always be on the journey of improving and always be evolving.
Industry Focus
Let’s play a game. How many “automotive journalists” have built an engine? Formed a race series? Brought their own cars to drift, road race, half-mile, and autox events? Stripped and painted a car top to bottom? Crafted a custom flame tune from scratch? Set up ignition tables? An external to internal alternator conversion? Synced individual throttle bodies? Designed aero? Daud feels like he’s the only one in the world that has. So if hands-on automotive performance experience is the question, you can ensure you will hear his opinion on the matter. He believes that JDM or Euro makes no difference, it’s all about intention and approach.
Favorite Car
Daud can say without a doubt that the Ford GT40 MKII is the best car he has ever driven. For him, that timeless piece of automotive excellence shattered every preconceived notion of what a vehicle could be. The experience alone forced him to reevaluate and redefine everything he knew about… well, everything. To this day he still uses the GT40 as his golden standard when defining what shapes a true driver’s car.
“Cars are interesting because people drive them” –
Keiichi Tsuchiya