Alte Zürcher Blog - Automobiles

BMW R25

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:01:00-0400

A nice - pristine looking - BMW R25 from 1954 or thereabouts. This also came from the same batch of B+W negs as the previous one. Camera was another new addition to my collection. Pentax ESII with the SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4. Quite a famous lens whose optical design is still in use today. And very impressive the results have been I must say. Nice rendering and pretty sharp. All for about 100 euros.

Red Skooter

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:13:00-0400

Mini Cooper

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:42:00-0400

Ninja

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:20:00-0400

As an addendum to the previous post, here is one of those new models

BMW R75/5

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:14:00-0400

I remember taking a photo of one of these in 1972 in the Lake District in England. At that time it was one of the latest, most advanced motorcycles. Nowadays I'm impressed by the simplicity of the engineering (and the longevity) compared with modern high tech machines

You don't get many of these to the pound...

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:59:00-0400

I spotted this in Geneva yesterday, and had time for just one quick photo. Only 90 produced so far, 1001 horsepower, $1.4 million. 0-60mph time? - shorter than a gnats foreskin, Top speed? - warp factor 9 etc etc. It's the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, and it's really a Volkswagen. Even the normally sedate wikipedia entry makes your eyes water. Like those nice little Alfa Spiders, your money doesn't actually get you somewhere to put your license plate. I wonder what happens when you need to switch the plate to your VW Golf?

By the way that's not a giant sized parking ticket - it says "Ne touche pas!". ... oh, and there seems to be some kind of truck parked behind it.

And if you're interested to find out what happens when the Brits get their hands on one, have a look here

Autumn Beetle

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:14:00-0400

Classic style - Part 2

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:48:00-0400

Thought it only fair to show the other half of this pair of cars in full - this is the Mercury Montclair Phaeton (1956) and the Lincoln Lido 2 Door Coupe (1951) poking in at the right. I've also included the boys other halves

I've again uploaded a larger photograph (2mb file) so you can enjoy the details

Classic style

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:45:00-0400

Zurich is full of brand new Ferraris and Lamborghinis, but it also seems to be full of immaculately preserved/restored US cars from the 50's. Here I found a Mercury Montclair Phaeton (1956) at the left just showing and a Lincoln Lido 2 Door Coupe (1951)

I've uploaded a larger photograph (1mb file) so you can enjoy the authentic 1950's owners as well

Swedish golden oldie

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:25:00-0400

This one's for Peter in Paris - I hope he appreciates the comparison! A Volvo Amazon from the 1960's I guess. I remember these being raced in UK rallies. An iconic automobile - why do all today's cars look kind of the same?

Chrome - Pontiac Chieftain

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:00:00-0400

Here is a contrast with the delicate minimalism of porcelain. This is a Pontiac Chieftain 2 door coupe from 1952/3. It also has the Pontiac Silverstreak motif along the side, and although I've seen these cars referred to as "Silverstreaks" I'm not sure that this was ever an official model name. This is the 8 cylinder version

Leica M8 35mm Summicron

Karmann Ghia

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:11:00-0400

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of a Porsche 356 and someone said that at first it reminded them of a Karmann Ghia. Well here is the real thing. You can see the similarity in configuration, but this one really is a Beetle under the skin

Topolino

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:40:00-0400

CDP throws up some amazing coincidences. Three or four hours after reading Fabrizio's post I stumbled on this little creature. It's a Fiat Topolino - precursor of the 500 in many ways, although a different design. I couldn't manage such glamourous companions as F, but you get the idea. (Check the EXIF data if you don't believe the coincidence - as if I'd lie!)

And what about that grille? Do the Italians know how to design cars..?

Porsche 356

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 07:16:00-0400

You do see some interesting cars here, old and new, even if this one has a Liechtenstein plate. (Z has featured quite a few even from the little village of Villigen. This is the Porsche 356 which was produced from 1948-1965. Born of Volkswagen Beetle parentage, it was the forerunner of the 911, which of course is still incredibly popular and successful today. There were many variants and it's a bit confusing but I think this is a 365B or C Roadster from early 60's but I'm not sure.

James Dean owned a 356 Speedster, and later a 550 Spyder in which he died. The 550 is a different animal altogether, although with the same Porsche genes, it was really a full blown racing car - 150mph against this 356's 90-ish.

More info on the 550 spyder

More info on the 356

Trawling through the web, I found a curious bit of trivia. The Porsche 911 was originally called the Porsche 901, but Peugeot complained as I think they already had a 901, so it was renamed 911. And the rest is history. If you want to know more about Dean and his ill-fated Spyder just google "james dean porsche spyder".

Harley

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 23:07:00-0400

A nice shiny motorcycle, spotted in Bahnhofstrasse