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the graceful apex
HOME
ANALYTICS
ESSAYS
ABOUT
LINKEDIN
Get In Touch
HOME
ANALYTICS
ESSAYS
ABOUT
LINKEDIN
Get In Touch
When Power Loses Its Center
Automotive Nick Chandler 1/12/26 Automotive Nick Chandler 1/12/26

When Power Loses Its Center

Mercedes-AMG, Overcompensation, and the Cost of Proving You’re Still Strong

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Why the EU Is Walking Back Its 2035 Zero-Emissions Commitments and Why I’m Torn
Automotive Nick Chandler 1/5/26 Automotive Nick Chandler 1/5/26

Why the EU Is Walking Back Its 2035 Zero-Emissions Commitments and Why I’m Torn

The EU’s emissions stance has shifted.

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Small Enough to Let Your Guard Down: A Day with a 356 in London
Automotive Nick Chandler 12/14/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 12/14/25

Small Enough to Let Your Guard Down: A Day with a 356 in London

I’ve always liked small cars, that day, I finally understood their impact.

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Perfection in Proportions
Automotive Nick Chandler 12/8/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 12/8/25

Perfection in Proportions

Some cars just look right. The perfection lies in the proportions.

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Luxury Self-Sabotage: The Mercedes EQS and the Fear of Success
Automotive Nick Chandler 12/1/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 12/1/25

Luxury Self-Sabotage: The Mercedes EQS and the Fear of Success

The EQS is a cautionary tale: Luxury brands don’t die from evolution, they die the moment they stop holding themselves to the standard that built their name.

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When a Badge Stops Asking for You
Automotive Nick Chandler 11/17/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 11/17/25

When a Badge Stops Asking for You

Brand erosion doesn’t start with a bad product. It starts when a product stops asking anything of you.

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Portfolio Gravity: When SUVs Start Tuning Your Sports Car
Automotive Nick Chandler 11/10/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 11/10/25

Portfolio Gravity: When SUVs Start Tuning Your Sports Car

When your biggest volumes and profits come from comfy, tech-dense SUVs, those defaults start pulling everything—even your icon—toward refinement, insulation, and spec bloat.

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The Loss of Low: How Cars Lost Their Grounded Grace and What It Takes to Bring It Back
Automotive Nick Chandler 11/2/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 11/2/25

The Loss of Low: How Cars Lost Their Grounded Grace and What It Takes to Bring It Back

Has the modern world’s obsession with height—our towers, our SUVs, our hierarchies—made us forget the quiet dignity of being close to the earth?

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Alfa Romeo: Masculinity in Metal, From Menace to Seduction
Automotive Nick Chandler 10/19/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 10/19/25

Alfa Romeo: Masculinity in Metal, From Menace to Seduction

Few car companies wear their eras so honestly as Alfa Romeo.

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Luxury on the Line: How Affordability, Age, and Asia Are Rewriting Performance Prestige
Automotive Nick Chandler 10/13/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 10/13/25

Luxury on the Line: How Affordability, Age, and Asia Are Rewriting Performance Prestige

What happened to the most profitable big-volume luxury carmaker on earth, and what part of this story is about strategy, what part is macroeconomics, and what has to change?

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Living at Redline: Why Peak Performance Can’t Be Permanent
Automotive Nick Chandler 8/11/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 8/11/25

Living at Redline: Why Peak Performance Can’t Be Permanent

Push an engine to its limit without relief, and you don’t just risk losing speed, you risk losing the engine entirely.

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The Manual Transmission and the Lost Art of Control
Automotive Nick Chandler 7/27/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 7/27/25

The Manual Transmission and the Lost Art of Control

In a world engineered for ease, the manual transmission remains a quiet act of resistance.

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When the Car Gets Too Big: Desire, Design, and the Death of Sexy
Automotive Nick Chandler 7/20/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 7/20/25

When the Car Gets Too Big: Desire, Design, and the Death of Sexy

Real beauty, real sexiness, is not about more. It’s about coherence. Proportion. The way something makes you feel seen, not small.

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Charging Ahead or Pumping the Brakes? The Real Reasons Behind America’s EV Hesitation
Automotive Nick Chandler 7/13/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 7/13/25

Charging Ahead or Pumping the Brakes? The Real Reasons Behind America’s EV Hesitation

The headlines say EV sales are growing, but beneath the surface, consumer sentiment in the U.S. is cooling.

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Dancing on the Limit: What Driving Teaches Us About Feeling
Automotive Nick Chandler 7/6/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 7/6/25

Dancing on the Limit: What Driving Teaches Us About Feeling

There’s a moment when the car disappears. You’re no longer behind the wheel, you are the wheel.

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Turbochargers and the Art of the Overreaction
Automotive Nick Chandler 6/16/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 6/16/25

Turbochargers and the Art of the Overreaction

You press the throttle and...nothing. A pause. A breath. Then, suddenly, all hell breaks loose.

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The V12 and the Myth of Effortless Power
Automotive Nick Chandler 6/10/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 6/10/25

The V12 and the Myth of Effortless Power

In the world of internal combustion, the V12 is king.

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Sanctuary on Wheels: Rolls-Royce and the Divine Feminine
Automotive Nick Chandler 6/3/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 6/3/25

Sanctuary on Wheels: Rolls-Royce and the Divine Feminine

The Rolls-Royce is not simply luxurious—it’s an invocation of the divine feminine on four wheels.

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Lamborghini Countach: Masculinity Incarnate
Automotive Nick Chandler 5/26/25 Automotive Nick Chandler 5/26/25

Lamborghini Countach: Masculinity Incarnate

The Countach is more than a car, it represents the evolving nature of masculinity

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