Service Dacia, 1970

Reclama pentru service Dacia din 1970. In poza se vad una din premele Dacii 1300, plus o rarisima Dacie 1100 Sport, model fabricat in numai 100 exemplare din care numai unul exista astazi.


An ad for a Dacia service station in 1970. In the picture you can see one of the very first Dacia 1300s, plus an ultra-rare Dacia 1100 Sport, of which only a hundred were made and only one has survived.

Raliul vehiculelor de epoca, Sinaia, anii 80 / Vintage car rally in Sinaia, 1980s

Pe setul postal emis in 1986 in onoarea raliului masinilr de epoca din Sinaia, apare un frumos DKW decapotabil. Surpriza vine pentru ca desenul nu e copiat dintr-o carte, ci reprezinta aproape exact o masina existenta in Romania si care participa la evenimente cu masini de epoca in acea perioada, unde e fotografiata. De multe ori am vazut afise pentru manifestari, atat in tara cat peste hotare, care nu au nicio legatura cu masinile prezente la eveniment. Deci felicitari artistului!


On the first day cover issued to commemorate the vintage car rally in Sinaia, in 1986, you can see a pretty DKW convertible. The surprise is that it's not just a generic old car picture, but a pretty faithful drawing of a DKW existing in Romania and present at these kind of events, and photographed here in Bucharest before the start of the 1986 rally. Rare, and refreshing, to see such attention to detail - congratulations to the anonymous artist.

Insignie auto "Bucuresci" - Pre-1910 Bucharest Car Badge

Recent a aparut pe eBay, la un pret de 249 de dolari, o insignie auto din portelan cu emblema Bucurrestilor, si cu scrisul "Bucuresci" folosit inainte de primul razboi mondial. Vanzatorul german scrie ca e circa 1952, ceea ce e eronat daca de gandim la ortografia cuvantului, dar si la faptul ca in 1952 nu prea s-ar fi vandut asa ceva in Romania... Firma producatoare, W P Muller din Berlin, a fost activa in perioada 1890 - 1914. Oricum, e o bucata interesanta de istorie, pacat ca la pretul cerut nu prea cred ca isi va gasi un nou stapan, mai ales in Romania.

Linkul aici


Recently this porcelain badge with the symbol of Bucharest has appeared on eBay at the whopping price of 249 US Dollars. The seller dates it to 1952, which is almost certainly incorrect: the spelling dating it to before WW1. The manufacturer, W P Muller, was active in pre-WW1 Berlin. It's a very interesting piece, but I fear that at that price it won't be changing hands too soon, especially to Romania.

KdF in Bucuresti?!

Rasfoind prin pozele din arhiva Pragher am gasit aceasta poza, surprinsa in 1944 in centrul Bucurestilor. O scena frumoasa cu multe masini de epoca...

printre care si...

ce pare a fi o autoutilitara pe baza Volkswagen. Desi cunostintele mele in domeniu sunt slabe, cred ca e vorba sau de un Typ 825:
care se pare ca a fost cunoscut si sub numele de Typ 68:
De fat pe destul de complicat, se pare ca ar fi existat si un pickup numit Typ 88. Astept experti!

Pickup-uri Volkswagen au fost facute cam de prin 1939 pana in 1945, cam in 1100 exemplare. Exista o replica facuta foarte frumos, undeva in America, in rest sunt extincte. Nici sansa sa mai existe asa ceva. Din putinele exemplare care au surpavietuit razboiul, cateva au fost folosite de posta germana pan in anii 50. Si una, se pare, si-a gasit drumul pana in Romania candva in 1944.

Motociclisti veterani / Veteran motorcyclists

Recunosc ca nu stiu prea multe nici despre armata romana, nici despre motociclete. Tot ce pot sa spun e ca motocicleta e un Harley si era inregistrata in Piatra Neamt. Numarul e unul civil, motocicleta pare a fi de prin 1915 (viz poza unui model din 1915), restul ... ? Astept pareri.

Ca fapt divers, in judetul Neamt inca mai exista ramasitele unei motociclete cu atas "din 1923". Din pacate e atat de degradata incat nu se poate spune ce marca era, iar proprietarul, vanzator de mobila veche in zona Targu Neamt, nu pare a fi interesat de soarta ei, fiind aproape ascunsa de buruieni. Totusi ce ramane arata mai vechi decat o motocicleta din perioada razboiului (care sunt mult mai comune in Romania), incat poate, poate, varsta venerabila de 87 ani data ramasitelor e corecta.



I must admit I know very little about either motorcycles or the Romanian army; all I can say is that this is a Harley from the Piatra Neamt region. The numberplate is civil; the bike itself looks circa 1915 (see modern photo); the rest, I have no idea...

Interestingly, in the region there is still a motorbike and sidecar allegedly dating from 1923. Sadly the remains are so far gone that it's impossible to tell even what make it is. The owner, an antique furniture dealer from around Targu Neamt, does not seem too interested about it, leaving it covered by weeds in front of a warehouse. However, from what I sa of the remains it does indeed look a little older than WW2 bikes, many of which survive in Romania. Possibly, therefore, the remains are indeed from 1923.

Constanta 1971

Douazeci de poze din Constanta si imprejurimi, facute de Willy Pragher in 1971. Diferenta dintre ieri si azi, mai ales in zona pietei Ovidiu, e enorma. Multe cladiri din piata au fost demolate in 1983, altele intre timp au cazut in paragina, spre exemplu superba vila langa moschee; astazi, scena e dezolanta.

Din cate stiu eu, poza din Costinesti e prima care arata epava vaporului Liberty "Evanghelia", care esuase in 1968. Culmea e ca Pragher facuse o poza din acelasi loc in 1937. Desi nu are tema automobilistica promit ca o sa o prezint, metamorfoza dintre anii 30, anii 70 si astazi fiind extraordinara si foarte elocventa.

Vizionare placuta!


Twenty photographs from Constanta and the surrounding area, taken by Willy Pragher in 1971. The difference between then and now is enormous, especially in the area around Piata Ovidiu. Many of the buildings in the squae ere knocked down in 1983. Others have since crumbled into dereliction, an example being the exquisite villa next to the mosque. Today, the scene is desolate, livened only by the odd bad-taste kebab shop.

From what I know the photo of Costinesti is the earliest one in which the wreck of the Greek-owned Liberty vessel "Evanghelia" appears - it had ran aground there in 1968. Interestingly, Pragher had photographed the scene from the same point in 1937. I will want to show the photo at a later date, even though it has nothing to do with automotive history, as the change between the 1930s, the 1970, and the mordern day is eloquent of the changes which have taken place in Romania over the last century.

Happy viewing!

Reclame din 1924 / Ads from 1924

Cautand prin arhiva foto am dat peste aceste reclame. Sunt preluate dintr-un anuar din 1924. De remarcat 1) cateva mici greseli in ortografia numelor straine si 2) obsesia pentru masini americane, in mod special Ford. In 1924 erau inmatriculate in Romania cam 10,000 autovehicule.

Bogdan Beldianu a publicat, acum vreun an, o serie superba de articole referiotare la garajele interbelice din Bucuresti pe blogul sau typ3forever ; poate a dat si de garajele pomenite aici.




Looking through my photo archive I came across these old ads from an annual published in 1924. Of inters are 1) the occasionall misspellings of foreign names; and 2) the obsession with American cars, mainly Ford. In 1924 there were already circa 10,000 vehicles in Romania.

About a year ago, on his blog typ3forever, Bogdan Beldianu published a fascinating set of articles about surviving pre-war garages in Buchharest. Perhaps some of the garages shown here have been found by him, too.

Drezina Skoda VOS, 1948 / 1948 Skoda VOS Draisine

Cine a calatorit cu trenul prin Europa de Est fara discutie a vazut cate o drezina, de multe ori construita special dar in cazuri mai rare un automobil sau un microbuz modificat sa mearga pe cale ferata. Mai ales in tarile comuniste, erau comune, si inca mai exista cateva in tara, in marea majoritate ARO-uri, TV-uri sau microbuze mai moderne. Totusi au fost si alte masini modificate. In Romania postcomunista inca se foloseau modele ZIS, Volga, si Moskvich. Si aceasta superba Skoda, de prin 1948.


La un moment dat era expusa in aer liber la Fetesti. Cand veneam inapoi de la mare intotdeauna ma intrebam "ce o fi asta"? Nu stiam nimic despre modelul VOS, credeam ca era vorba de un Buick sau un Packard de prin 1950.

Skoda VOS a fost construit in serie foarte mica (cca. 100) intre 1948 si 1952. Cam jumatate din exemplarele facute erau blindate. Motorul era un V8 de 5195 cmc imprumutat de la fabrica Praga, care dezvolta 120cp; viteza maxima, pentru versiunea blindata, era 115kmh.
Aceste masini erau numai pentru elita comunista, fiind echivalente cu un ZIS sau, mai tarziu, o Ceaika. (Masina din poza, de exemplu, e o masina prezidentiala expusa in muzeul Skoda.) Clar, masina a fost pentru un mare oficial, si ulterior a fost facuta in drezina, probabil in anii 60 cand s-au importat noi flote de masini "de elita". (Se spune ca a masina Anei Pauker insa spusul e usor, documentatia vine mai greu.)

In moment drezina se poate gasi la gara din Sinaia, in stare ... precara. Geamul blindat spart, piese originale pas, de fapt nici nu se gasesc, masina fiind mai rara, folosind o expresie englezeasca, ca dintii pasarilor. Totusi e un model rarisim care reprezinta foarte bine Romania stalinista. Daca aveti un drum prin Sinala nu ratati o vizita!

Mai multe poze la http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ro/work/misc/pix.html



Whoever has travelled by train through Eastern Europe will have seen draisines. They are normally specially built but some are converted cars and vans. They were especially common in Eastern Bloc countries and can still occasionally be seen; in Romania's case, some of the cars converted for such use included ZIS, Volga and Moskvich models. And this superb circa 1948 Skoda.

At one stage it was an open-air exhibit in Fetesti, where I used to see it every year travelling to the Black Sea coast and wonder what it was. Not knowing anything about the Skoda VOS, I thought it might be a very early 50s Packard or Buick.

The Skoda VOS was built in very small numbers (around 100) between 1948 and 1952, destined exclusively for the top Communist elite and easily equivalent to a ZIS or to the later Chaika. About half the models built were bullet-proof. Power came from a 5.2 litre Praga lump which developed 120 bhp, propelling the armoured version to a top speed of 115km/h (about 70 mph). The restored car in the photo, for example, was used by the Czechoslovakian president and is now in the Skoda msueum. The Romanian car clearly belonged to a very important official and would have been converted to a draisine later in its life, possibly in the 60s when new fleets of official cars were imported. (Some say it belonged to Ana Pauker, although this is not documented).

Currently, it is an open-air exhibit at the Sinaia railway station, in rather precarious condition, with its bulletproof window ... smashed. Any renovation was done with non-original parts; original ones are presumably rarer than hens' teeth. It is, however, well worth a detour to see, representing a piece of Romanian history. If you have a trip taking you through Sinaia, don't miss it!

More photos http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ro/work/misc/pix.html

Bucuresti 1937

Scene superbe in Bucuresti, anul 1937. Foto Pragher. Lincoln-ul e absolut exceptional, precum si expresia tipului care se uita in vitrina...

Superb pictures of Bucharest in 1937, by Pragher. The Lincoln is great, as is the expression of the man looking through the shop window...