Pe bulevard in 1965 / On the boulevard in 1965

Recent, pagina Facebook "Bucurestiul in imagini" a publicat niste fotografii exceptional de interesante aratand file din istoria capitalei. Aceasta poza arata bulevardul Magheru in vara anului 1965. E minunat de detaliata, si surprinde cateva masini destul de interesante...

Mentionam: taxi Volga; Moskvich 402 si 403, si ce pare a fi sau un break sau o dubita, variante de care nu auzisem in Romania; un Nash antebelic; Volvo Amazon; Mercedes Heckflosse, cu numere nemtesti; o Lancia Flavia din Italia; dubite TV-4 si 41; Pobeda pick-up; si primele Fiaturi 850, proaspat importate ca un semn a dezrusificarii. Iar bulevardul arata frumos, curat, ingrijit, civilizat, nu ca astazi...

Recently, the Facebook page "Bucharest in images" has published some wonderful photos of Bucharest in the old days. This shows the central Magheru boulevard on a summer's day in 1965. It's very detailed, and shows some quite interesting vehicles...

Among which: a Volga taxi; Moskvich 402 and 403, and what seems to be a van or an estate, versions I never thought existed in Romania; a pre-war Nash; Volvo Amazon; a West German-registered Fintail Mercedes; an Italian Lancia Flavia; TV-4 and 41, Romanian-built vans; a Pobeda pick-up; and the first Fiat 850s, recently imported officially in a symbol of de-Russification. And the boulevard itself, too looked neat and well-looked after, in sad contrast to today...

Volga pick-up part 2, Pobeda pick-up

Doua descoperiri...

Prima, taxiurile Volga pick-up existau inca din 1968 si nu incepand cu 1970. In prima imagine, din 1968, se vede clar un exemplar. De fapt, deja prezentasem poza pe blog. Se pare ca si in Uniunea Sovietica, multe modele vechi sau accidentate au fost convertite artizanal in pick-up, de multe ori in regiuni mai sarace, regiuni in care si azi se mai vede cate o Pobeda sau Volga M21 facandu-si treaba.

A doua e chiar fascinanta. Studiand atent o poza din 1959, se vede, in statia de autofurgnete ITB, un pick-up, care nu poate fi decat un GAZ M20 Pobeda. In acel timp, stiam ca ITB folosea numai GAZ-69 sau primele modele de IMS ca autofurgonete. Iata totusi o Pobeda modificata artizanal. Ma intreb daca era singura in flota de taximetrie a capitalei.





Two things I found out recently...

First, when I said that pick-up Volga M21 taxis were introduced in around 1970, I was wrong. The above image, with one clearly visible, is from 1968. In fact, I had already presented this picture earlier. It seems that in the USSR too, may old or crashed Volga M21s were converted into pick-ups, mainly in poorer, outlying areas - where even today you can see the odd Volga M21 or Pobeda in daily use.

The second is more interesting. Looking carefully at a 1959 photo showing the commerical taxi rank in Bucharest, you can clearly see a pick-up, in the dinstinctive shape of the Gaz M20 Pobeda. I know that in those days the Bucharest public transport system used early AROs or GAZ 69 vehicles for carrying goods, but never a Pobeda converted to a pick-up. I wonder if it was the only one.