26 May 2010

Carpati 1939, Adler 1937

Cinci poze absolut exceptionale din arhivele orasului Freiberg, aratand o excursie prin Carpati spre Sinaia in octombrie 1939. Pozele sunt facute in cheia Bratocea de fotograful german Willy Pragher. Masina, proprietate personala, e un Adler 1.7-Liter Karmann din 1937. Poze color din Romania interbelica sunt FOARTE rare. Vizionare placuta!

Five absolutely exceptional pictures from the archives of Freiberg in Germany, showing a trip through the Carpathians to Sinaia in October 1939. They were taken in the Bratocea pass, by the German photographer Willy Pragher. His car is a Adler 1.7-Liter Karmann from 1937. Colour pictures of prewar Romania are VERY scarce. Enjoy these!




25 May 2010

Petrosani 1930

Piata in Petrosani in anii 30. De remarcat 1) arhitectura neo-romaneasca, foarte frumos realizata; 2) doua masini, din care cea din fata e celebrul Ford Model T, poreclit Ford "cu mustati" in Romania.



A market in Petrosani, in the 1930s. Note 1) the splendid neo-Romanian architecture; 20 the two cars, the first of which is the famous Model T ford, called the Ford "with whiskers" in Romanian.

20 May 2010

Menu ACR, Capsa, 1913

Menu pentru o seara la Capsa in onoarea corpului de automobilisti voluntari , 1913. De remarcat somptuozitatea mancarurilor, si faptul ca meniul, dfiind de unica folosinta, era practic desenat de mana. In acele vremuri Capsa era cotat hotelul nr. 8 din lume de unele reviste. Un "Atunci si acum" nu isi are rostul: desi intotdeauna am mancat bine acolo, clar nu e ce era. Poate nici ACR-ul...



Menu for a Romanian Automobile Club dinner in honour of the Volunteer Automobile Corps at Capsa, 1913. Note the sumptuous foods on offer, and the fact that the menu, essencially single-use, was beautifully decorated for the occasion. Back then, Capsa was rated by some magazines the number 8 hotel in the world. It's probably fair to say that, although I've always eaten well there, it's no longer what it was. (But, perhaps, neither is the Romanian Automobile Club...)

18 May 2010

Simca Aronde

Masina era de vanzare acum cativa ani. Desigur are o poveste fascinanta. Probabil era autoturismul personal apartinand unui personaj important sub comunism. Asta explica numarul cu trei cifre, si marca vestica. Pana rececnt erau multe masini similare in Bucuresti, masini care nu aveau ce cauta intr-o tara comunista dar, totusi, circulau prin capitala. Sper sa fi supravietuit!

This car was for sale a few yers ago. It almost defintiely has an interesting story behind it, probably being the private car of an important Party member, which is hinted at by the Western make and the three-digit license plate. Until recently, Bucharest had many such cars, whose presence may have been unexpected in a Communist country but which, nevertheless, drove up the capital's highways and byways regularly. I wonder if this one has survived!

16 May 2010

Piata Sfatului, Brasov, x10

Zece imagini cu Piata Sfatului din Brasov in epoca comunista, intre anii 60 si 1987.
De remarcat ca Fiatul Topolino negru apare de doua ori... Se vede un Mercedes antebelic in poza din 74. Iar TV-uri din primele serii apar in aproape toate imaginile! Doua din poze (cele in care se vede un Mini alb) par a fi facute in aceeasi zi, in anii 70.

Ten pictures of Piata Sfatului, in Brasov, at various times under Communism, between the mid 60s and 1987. Note the black Fiat 500 Topolino appearing twice, and the pre-war Mercedes convertible in the 1974 photo. Also, very early TVs are pretty much a consistent feature. Two of the pictures (the ones in which you can see a white Mini) seem to have been taken on the same day, in the early 70s.










ZIS-110, 1949

Doar am sosit de la o saptamana in Rusia, Estonia si Latvia. Am ramas uimit, nu de ce au pe sosea ci de ce au in muzee! In curand voi prezenta muzeele de transport din Riga si Moskva si bogata lor colectie.

Pana atunci ceva cu iz sovietic: autoturisme ZIS-110 in Romania, 1949. Ocazia a fost o viita a delegatiei poloneza. (De remarcat ca masina nr 1 era un Buick nou nout. A fost o serie importata in acea perioada, din care un exemplar inca supravietuieste in stare proasta cu motor diesel.)




Just come back from a visit to Russia, Latvia and Estonia. I was amazed not by what they ave on the road but by their automotive museums, which I hope to present in due course.

Till then, something typically Soviet - ZIS cars in official use, 1949. The occasion is a visiting Polish delegation. Note tht the first car (just visible in one picture) is a brand-new Buick, from a series imported under the fledgeling Communist administration. One such car still survives, albeit in poor condtition.

7 May 2010

Mamaia 1940

Desi in zilele de astazi in fata Rexului se gasesc mai mult masini de fite, in anii 40, clientela era mai modesta. Totusi, masinile sunt modele noi, si in orice caz a avea masina in Romania interbelica era semn de nivel social inaltat. Printre modele se recunoaste un Opel Kapitan.

De remarcat ponderea masinilor americane. Surse interbelice spun ca intre 70 si 80% de masini in Romania erau de provenienta americana. In timplu razboiului, conform presei din 45-47, au plecat aproximativ 22,000 masini din tara. In schimb, au sosit cam 28,000 din strainatate, majoritatea fiind modele europene. Din motivul asta exista atate antebelice europene intr-o tara care in mod general cumpara masini americane.

Sursa: arhivele Willy Prager.




While these days most cars parked outside the Rex are super-luxury models, prewar taste was somewhat more modest. However, the cars seen in this picture are relatively new models; at any rate, owning a car in those days was in itself a sign of high status.

Note the number of American makes. Before the war, according to contemporary sources between 70 and 80% of cars in Romania were of American origin. However, during WWII about 22,000 of these cars left the country. According to the immediate postwar press, about 28,000 cars found their way back into Romania, from other European countries whose cars tended to be locally built. This explains why such a high propertion of surviving pre-war cars in Romania are European makes.

6 May 2010

RIP Opel Super Six (sau ce ramasese din el)

Cei care urmaresc blogul automobilia-romania.blogspot.com sigur au vazut poze cu o bijuterie de Opel Super Six, gasit in stare decenta (poza cu masina grena) dar totusi relativ precara, si frumos restaurat. E fantastic ca asa ceva se intampla, si il felicit pe proprietar si pe cei care l-au sprijinit.

Si inca o poveste despre un Opel Super Six, sau, ma rog, ce a ramas din el. Era de vanzare le 4tuning, drept Moskvich. Suma ceruta era de 200E. Clar nu mai ramasese nimic original decat farurile, aripile, si masca. Poate rotile, poate ceva mecanica. Fusese bricolat intr-un pickup in cel mai grosolan fel posibil. Nu s-a vandut deci proprietarul s-a distrat si si-a ars masina. Nu e mult de plans - era irrecuperabla. Totusi, parti de Super 6 se gasesc super-greu, foarte multe exemplare fiind distruse in razboi. Ce frumos ar fi fost daca macar aceste parti se salvau!





Retroparada 1984

Dintr-o bogata colectie de poze ale raliulor de altadata postate pe internet, am gasit si cateva poze surprinse la startul Raliului Dunarii din 1984, cu o parada de antebelice.

Din pacate constatam ca nu toate masinile prezentate mai exista in tara. Un Wanderer decapotabil de o culoare identica exista in Giurgiu insa nu sunt sigur daca e aceeasi masina. Nash Lafayette 36 albastru 2 B 4068 e disparut. Steyr XVI Tourenwagen, aceeasi masina care apare in filmul Ciuleandra, a disparut din tara dupa revolutie. Plymouth 1938 e posibil se mai existe in stare de epava, in tara inca sunt vreo 10 exemplare. La curte la dl Filipciuc este un exemplar albastru inchis care a ars partial in turnarea unui film: e posibil sa fie cel din poza. Nu imi dau seama ce este tourerul rosu si negru inmatriculat in Sibiu, dar in arhiva autoturismelor antebelice existente in tara nu figureaza. In plus sincer nu imi dau seama ce cauta Morrisul in parada: fiind masina din anii 60, nu e nici foarte vechi si nici exemplar unic in tara, existand mai multe exemplare in perioada comunista, e drept majoritatea in capitala.







From a fabulous picture collection of 1980s Romanian rallies, these rare shots of a pre-war parade before the start of the 1984 Danube Rally.

Sadly not all of the cars still exist. A Wanderer convertible of the same colour still exists in Giurgiu but I am not sure whether the two are one and the same. The 1936 Nash Lafayette (2 B 4068) has now disappeared. The Steyr XVI Tourenwagen also left the country after the revolution: before it was seen regularly at parades and films. As regards the 38 Plymouth the situation is unclear as there are still several such cars existent in Romania. In Bucharest in the collection of Mircea Filipciuc there is one very similar example, the same colour, partially burnt out after a filming accident. I am not sure what the red and black tourer is but no such car appears in the image collection of pre-war cars existent in Romania. Finally I'm not too sure what a Sixties Morris Minor is doing in such a crowd: by the standards of 1984 it was neither very old, nor extremely rare - there were several such cars registered in Romania, mainly in Bucharest.

Permis de conducere, anii 20 / 1920s Driving License

Recent de vanzare pe eBay.
Recently for sale on eBay.



1 May 2010

Postcards 1

Din colectia personala de vederi vechi.

In poza cu Intercontinental se remarca primul model de microbuz TV.
In Timisoara se vede un Polski-Fiat 125p kombi. Modelul nu a fost importat oficial in Romania. Banuiesc ca masina e in tranzit prin tara.
In ultima poza, se vede o autospeciala construita pe baza de Bucegi/Carpati, folosit ca transport turistic mai ales in zonele montane.
De remarcat si curatenia si aerul de civilizatie vizibil in poze...






From my old postcard collection.
In the photograph with the Intercontiental hotel, you can see the first model of TV minibus.
In Timisoara a Polski-Fiat 125p kombi is visible. This model was never offivcially imported in Romania; probably it belongs to a foreign tourist.
in the final photograph you can just about make out an open-top bus, coachbuilt on a Bucegi/Carpati truck platfomr, specially used for transporting tourists in mountainous regions.
Also note the general air of cleanliness and civilisation visible in all the pictures...