| Prague part two: communist cars and other astonishments |
[Jun. 14th, 2006|06:38 pm] |
Here come some more pix from the Prague photo gallery. We shall get to the communist cars in a minute, but first, let's go...
...down in the tube station metro station at midnight approximately 17:30.
Here's the obligatory tram shot. Prague trams are the same as Leipzig trams - presumably because they were all made in the Hail To Joseph Stalin Glory Of The People Central Tram Works, back in the bad old Soviet days. Prague trams are a slightly older model - note the round headlights, rather than the rectangular headlights seen on Leipzig trams. They also operate in 'power twin' formation - each tram car has its own motors, and draws power from the overhead via its own pantograph, rather than having one power car pulling one or two unpowered trailers, as in Leipzig. This tells us that Prague has more hills than Leipzig.
[Note: the paragraph above should be read in a nasal 'tram nerd' voice, while fiddling with the zip on your anorak.]
Here's the first of our communist cars. Now this is something you don't see every day - a Trabant stretch limo!
This is what an un-stretched Trabant looks like. This car was apparently abandoned on a side street - a fate which seems to befall many older cars in Prague. Nobody wants dodgy old Skodas, Trabbies, or Ladas, when it's so easy to trade up to a nice Volkswagen Golf or similar. So, the products of the once-proud eastern bloc motor industry are simply abandoned to the crusher. Many of the abandoned cars seem to be in quite decent condition, and would command a viable price on the UK classic car market. The Czech Republic doesn't seem to have a classic car market...
Another abandooned car. This is a Skoda Rapid - the nearest thing to a Porsche you can buy without actually buying a Porsche (really - all-alloy engine slung out over the back wheels). This pic might bring back fond memories for ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) liz_lowlife!
This late 1950s Skoda Octavia convertible is very definitely still in use. Back in the days when Skodas were supposed to be ultra-crap cars, there were many Skoda jokes doing the rounds in the UK. One of them went like this:
Q: What do you call a Skoda with no roof?
A: A skip.
Well, this is a Skoda with no roof. Decide for yourself if the joke was justified!
Did I mention skips? Here's a photo of the world's smallest skip lorry.
This is a Taz van. Perhaps I should've taken a rear-end shot, to show the tail fins. Very small tail fins, but these vans really do have them.
Praga roadsters, in use as sightseeing tour cars. Nope, I'd never heard of Praga cars, either.
I think this one's called a Velorece, but I'll have to look up my Practical Classics magazines to be sure. It's essentially a three-wheel motorbike with a space-frame body over which are stretched canvas sheets. Bit like driving a motorised tent.
A pre-1967 Austin Mini Countryman, a car which is rare and valuable in the UK. In Prague, it's just another abandoned banger. Note that someone's had the wipers off it already...
At first glance, this might look like an ordinary Citroen 2CV. But look again, and you'll see that someone's taken a strip of metal out of the middle and welded the two sides together, thus creating an unfeasibly narrow car. It's a two-seater (tandem style) and barely wider than a motorbike.
Here's a rear-end shot. Note that the car is so thin it's barely wide enough to accommodate the spare wheel on the boot lid. Whoever did this is (a) an engineering genius, and (b) a loony!
And that's yer lot from the streets of Prague. I did intend to post a pic of a Volga taxi, but it seems I forgot to take that particular shot. Ah, well. Next time I go to Prague, I'm taking a car transporter! |
|
|
| Comments: |
There's some weird vehicles there. I think I'd like the convertible Skoda. I'd have to spray it lilac or something more suitable first though.
i actually need the worlds smallest skip lorry. it's fabulous.
also, how is it that you have not aged a day since i last saw you?. some people get the best genes.
I'm a great believer in moisturiser!
Love the Octavia...
I'm really curious to see what's under the bonnet of that 2cv.
| |
