Amintiri interbelice - Interbellum memories

An extraordinary picture courtesy of the Freiberg Archive, taken by Willy Pragher just before the war in Bucharest. The Pragher photographic archive is exceptionally rich and has many thousands of fascinating photos, some of them automotive, and some of which will be presented on these pages.

O poza extraordinara din arhivele orasului Freiberg. Fotograful e Willy Pragher si pozea a fost surprinsa chiar inainte de razboi, in Bucuresti. Arhivele fotografice lui Pragher sunt fascinante, cu mii de poze, unele pe tema automobilistica. Sper sa pot sa prezint cat mai multe aici in viitor.

Amintiri din 1966

Two pictures from 1966, just before the May change around of number plates. The first comes from a Romanian guidebook from that period, and the second comes from the plaque.free.fr website. FIATs started being officially imported in 1965 and quickly became extremely popular. DB = Dobrogea region.



Doua poze din 1966, diar inainte de schimbarea formatul numerelor in mai, prima dintr-un ghid turistic si a doua de pe superbul site plaque.free.fr. Din 1965 se importa oficial FIAT si a devenit o marca foarte populara. DB = regiunea Dobrogea.

FIAT 2800 in Romania: 1975 - 2005

FIATul 2800 era modelul de referinta a companiei italiane. Foarte putine exemplare au fost fabricate intre 1938 si 1943 - 683, din care 210 erau versiunea militara. Erau condise de rege, de papa, si de elita europeana. Si una a fost si in Romania...

In 2005 aceasta masina era expusa de vanzare pe site-ul Retromobil la un pret modic - 2000 E. Se gasea in Lupeni. S-a vandut repede si din pacate nu am putut salva decat aceasta poza de proasta calitate. (Daca are altcineva pozele care au fost cu anutnul il rog sa ma contacteze!) Arata ca o limuzina long-wheel base cu 4 geamuri laterale si opt scaune: conform anuntul, masina era "balilla ministeriale" desi in literaturea referitor la modelul 2800 nu am auzit dezignatia asta. Oricum, e un model foarte interesant care sper ca a supravietuit in tara.

Ce suprins am fost cand am vazut masina a doua oara, de data asta intr-o imagine de epoca din Oradea anilor 70....

The FIAT 2800 was the flagship model of the Italian company. Very few were made between 1938 and 1943 - 683 out of which 280 were military versions. They were driven by the King, the Pope, and other members of the European elite. And one ended up in Romania...

In 2005 the car below came up for sale in Lupeni at an extremely low price (2000 Euro). It quickly sold and to my regret I only managed to save the one, low quality photo. (There were more on the Retromobil site and I would very much like to hear from anyone with more pictures in large resolution.) It looked to be a long-wheelbase limousine with four windows per side and eight seats: the advertiser said the precise model designation was "Balilla ministeriale", which I have not come across in any of the literature. Anyway, it is an interesting car and I hope it still exists in Romania.

So imagine my suprirse when I found it again in a period photograph of Oradea...

Masinile comunismului 2 - Best of British

In the 1960s and 70s, British cars were quite popular in Romania, and many models which you wouldnt expect to see on Eastern European streets ended up here.

The photograph with the Land Rovers is taken at the Land Rover factory in 1971 with the batch of models for official export to Romania. One of this batch still exists, beautifully restored, and is in the Retromobil club. Incidentally this was not the first time Romanian authorities oridered Land Rovers: in the 50s a batch was ordered by the Securitate, and I hope to show you a contemporary photo in which one of these cars appears.












In anii 60 si 70, masinile britanice erau destul de raspandite in Romania, si multe modele interesante au sosit pe melegaurile noastre.

Poza cu Land-Rover-uri e facuta la fabrica LR in Anglia cu lotul de export pentru Romania. Un exemplar din acest lot inca exista, a fost frumos restaurat si face parte din clubul Retromobil. Incidental, nu e prima data cand au fost importate Land-Rover-uri: prin anii 50 Securitatea a mai comandat o serie de masini; cel putin una se gaseste intr-o poza de epoca, pe care o voi prezenta in curand.

Ceausescu's Jeeps - Jeepurile lui Ceasuescu

In 1965, statul roman a comandat o flota de Jeep Wagoneer argintii pentru folos oficial. Poze cu un exemplar din flota de "gipani" se poate gasi pe fototeca comunismului romanesc. Un exemplar a supravietuit in Oradea, si era recent de vanzare, parca la 16000 Euro... Alt exemplar era condus zilnic in Piatra Neamt pana cel putin 2003, cand am suprins masina intr-o poza de proasta calitate. Din pacate nu am mai vazut masina de atunci, probabil e REMATizata de mult.

Ma intreb daca culorile pe aceste Jeepuri l-a inspirat pe Ceausescu cand a comandat celbra sa flota de ARO-uri intr-o culoare foarte similara...


In 1965, the Communist Party ordered a fleet of silver-grey Jeep Wagoneers for official use. One such Jeep can be seen in hunting images on the excellent "Fototeca online a comunismului romanesc" website, which kindly provided the black and white photos. One other car survived near Oradea, and was recently for sale at the price of 16,000 Euro. Another was being driven in Piatra Neamt until at least 2003, when I captured a poor-quality shot of it. I have not seen it since but do not doubt it was part of that fleet.

I wonder whether these Jeep Wagoneers inspired Ceasuescu for his colour scheme on the custom-built AROs for his private use?...

Accident 1950

Aceasta imagine a fost surprinsa de strabunicul meu, ofiter in armata romana, calatorind prin tara in anii 50. E vorba despre un Chevrolet 1936. Saracul cal!

This photograph was taken by my great-grandfather on his travels around Romania in the 1950s (he was an officer). The truck is a 1936 Chevrolet. Poor horse!

Masinile comunismului 1 - Cars of Communism 1

I'd like to start an occasional series showing pictures of Western cars which drove around Romania under Communism. Contrary to popular belief, not all bigwigs' cars were of Eastern European origin: in the 60s and 70s (and to a much lesser extent the 80s), Western cars were reasonably plentiful in Romania - including some surprising makes. Of course, many were status symbols; others belonged to people with relations abroad; other owners simply liked cars! Many have still survived.

The picture below was taken at Marea Adunare Nationala in Bucharest, some time in the early 70s. As well as the ubiquitous Volgas, we see two Fiat 125s and a shiny new Mercedes.

Cu aceasta poza incep o serie numita "Masinile tari ale comunismului". Nu toti aveau Dacii sau Trabaturi in acele vremuri ... in ani 60 si 70 (si, mult mai putin, in anii 80), masinile occidentale erau destul de raspandite in tara. Multi care aveau asa ceva aveau pile, altii rude in strainatate, altii pasiunea masinilor... Din fericire multe au si supravietuit.

Poza e suprinsa la Marea Adunare Nationala, la inceputul anilor 70. Printre Volgi se vad si doua Fiaturi 125, si un superb Mercedes numit "bot de cal" dupa faruri.