Masinile Bucurestiului in 1991 / Cars of Bucharest in 1991

In 1991, un turist francez, uimit de masinile noi din occident care aparusera peste noapte pe strazile Bucurestiului, le imortalizeaza pe pelicula. Aceste masini, in perioada in care casta majoritate a parcului auto era Dacia / Oltcit / Skoda / Lada / Trabant, erau de-a dreptul speciale, chiar daca multe din ele erau deja detul de vechi in tarile lor de origine.

Majoritatea poarte numere emise dupa 1990, desi nu toate. Renaultul 18 cu numere galbene 14-B, de exemplu, e probabil o masina din garajul Comitetului Central, pe post de masina de protocol. Iar Fiatul 131 poarta placute de un tip emise pana in anii 80, seria 3-MS fiind emisa in perioada 1981-87. Nu e exclus sa fi circulat in tara inainte de 89.

Cine avea asa ceva ... era tare! Dar ca fapt divers, in ianuarie 1991 deja apare primul Rolls Royce din Romania postdecembrista ...

In 1991, a French tourist was so astonished by the crop of Western cars which appeared in Bucharest almost overnight, that he immortalized them on video. These cars, in a period where the vast majority of the vehicles on the streets were Dacia / Oltcit / Skoda / Lada / Trabant. were something rather special, even though many of them were already quite old in their countries of origin.

Most of them, though not all, carry post-1990 plates. The Renault 18 saloon with yellow plates, for instance, is probably a car from the Central Committee garages, now used for VIP transport. And the Fiat 131 carries plates of a design issued till the late 80s, with a series (3-Mures) which was issued between 1981 and 1987 - so it could well have been in Romania under communism.

Who had one of these ... was a lucky man! Incidentally, in January 1991 there appeared the first Rolls Royce in post-Communist Romania...