18 December 2017

La iarba verde cu un Ford Taunus / Countryside jaunts in a Ford Taunus

Un set de poze de familie foarte interesante: la iarba verde in 1957 (primele doua poze), 1960, si 1966. Masina e un Ford Taunus construit in Germania la sfarsitul anilor 30. In Romania anilor 50, orice masina particulara era o raritate, chiar in Bucuresti, de unde veneau personajele din imagini. Remarcam modificarile la partea din fata - originalitatea nu era foarte importanta in acea perioada, iar reteaua de piese era aproape inexistenta. Presupun ca masina nu a supravietuit in familie mult dupa ultima poza: dupa 1965, piata auto s-a schimbat radical si foarte multe familii mai instarite au inceput sa-si cumpere masini noi, moderne, cele vechi (marea majoritate din perioada interbelica) fiind de obicei casate.





An interesting set of family photos: trips to the countryside in 1957 (in the first two photos), 1960 and 1966. The car is a Ford Taunus, bult in Germany at the end of the 1930s. In 1950s Romania any private car was a rarity, even in Bucharest, where this family came from. The front is lightly modified: originality was not considered important and original parts were impossible to find. I doubt the car survived in the family much beyond the last photo: after 1965, the automotive marketplace changed radically and many better-off families were able to buy new, modern cars, the old ones, largely dating from before the war, tending to be scrapped.

5 December 2017

High-life in 1980

Trei poze (via fototech.ro) de la inceputul anilor 80. Suntem in Bucurestiul vechi, aristocrat, locuit de elita capitalei: bulevadul Dacia colt cu strada Henri Coanda. Anul e 1980 sau 1981. Masinile din prim plan sunt cele cunoscute din epoca comunismului, desi cu mult-ravnitele numere scurte, cu trei cifre. Vedem, in spatele lor, langa resedinta ambsadorului german-federal, si cateva masini vestice - Mini, VW Golf, Ford Taunus - toate cu numere patrate TC, pentru angajati de ambasada care nu erau creditati diplomatic - plus o Dacie, tot cu numere TC - prima oara cand am vazut asa ceva. Un colt de lux intr-o lume foarte gri...


Three photos (via fototech.ro) from the early 1980s. We're in the old aristocratic Bucharest, lived in by the elite: the corner of Dacia Boulevard and Henri Coanda Street. The year is 1980 or 1981. The cars in the foreground are the usual Communist makes, although with the three-digit license plates that were a sign of social distinction at the time. Behind them. outside the West German Ambassador's residence, are a few foreign makes: Mini, VW Golf, Ford Taunus - all with square semi-diplomatic license plates given to non-accredited Embassy employees - and a Dacia with the same plates, the first time I've seen one. A bit of luxury in a very grey world...