Why are my tires turning brown? Protective ingredients in the rubber can work their way to the surface, leaving a brownish film known as blooming. Road dirt and brake dust can look similar. Blooming i
A freshly washed car can reveal things its owner had never noticed. Park it near a window or a row of straight lights, look along the side, and the reflection begins to wobble. The paint is glossy,
Look down beside the pedals of an older car and you may find a small metal button poking through the carpet. It is easy to mistake for an abandoned starter or some ingenious accessory installed by a p
Before tanks had tracks, someone had to imagine that an engine, armor and heavy weapons might belong on the same vehicle. Frederick Richard Simms did more than imagine it. At the end of the 19th ce
In 1974, a shipment of 1,000 boxy Swedish sedans arrived in North Korea. The cars were Volvo 144 GLs, sensible four-door machines known for sturdy construction, generous interior space and all the
Long before carmakers filled dashboards with screens, an important piece of engine information was displayed outside the windshield. Early automobiles often carried their radiator filler caps at
Open the door of a large American sedan from the 1950s and the front seat looks less like a modern cockpit than a particularly comfortable sofa. There is no center console dividing driver and passe
A vehicle identification number has the charm of a password printed by a malfunctioning office computer. It is long, awkward to recite and generally ignored until an insurer, parts supplier or registr
A remarkably low odometer reading has a way of making every other detail fade into the background. The paint may be dull, the tires may look suspiciously old and the service book may contain a de
Inside a modern automotive design studio, there are enormous screens, virtual-reality headsets, laser scanners, 3D printers and computers capable of rendering a car so convincingly that its paint appe