blackandwhiteandcolours: "No different than anyone else, we were young. Once."

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

"No different than anyone else, we were young. Once."

"No different than anyone else, we were young. Once." - fourteen threadless needles by Vito Pasquale

12 comments:

João A. Quadrado said...: [a ruína,
a velharia de hoje,

já foi sonho alguma vez no tempo!]

excelente!

Leonardo B.; 07 March, 2012 01:13
Tash said...: What a find! Shame about the grafiti on it. This brings back memories of the '60s for me. We had one of those when I was a kid in former Yugoslavia. It was made in Yugo by Zastava via license from Fiat. Called it Ficho.
Had the same suicide doors.
http://mostlylacounty.blogspot.com/2011/06/fico-me.html; 07 March, 2012 01:40
James Weekes said...: Your picture made me feel both old and young. I loved those Fiats, so cute, and hoped they would come to the US. Now the newer version has and I'm too old to drive one. Oh well. Wonderful shot.; 07 March, 2012 02:40
Joan Elizabeth said...: Ah but old cars are considered cute. Old people not so.; 07 March, 2012 09:36
vito pasquale said...: Martina - I was hoping. . . that you might choose something from this poem - and you did! I love the photo. You captured the thought of the poem - they were young once and the freedom that the car gave them all one shot. Thank you so much. Nice lighting on the car - I like how it disappears at the far end (doesn't everything?); 07 March, 2012 12:14
Martina said...: Leonardo, muito obrigado e obrigado pela tua visita! These are your words, I suppose? I like them.

Tash, lol - the suicide doors. Yes, I remember having seen the post on your blog. In fact there was a German version, too, the "Fiat Neckar". I don't think these are graffiti - I guess these are "beautifications" done by the last owner. I know, each one to his/her own taste, but ... you are right: a shame.

James, thanks. I can't remember having seen a Fiat 600 in the last decades, I think you are talking about the Fiat 500 with the new model released in 2007. This is a cute car indeed and if I would ever have to buy a small car I am sure I would buy one of these. Perfect in the city. And cuuuuuuuuute!

Joan Elizabeth, doesn't this depend on the people? ;-) And on the cars. But I know what you mean. Old is only nice and cute if one might label it "vintage" - like your pay van (I love it!)

Vito, not much to add - you said it all! And: it is a pleasure to read your poems and to quote them.; 07 March, 2012 21:41
Daniel said...: Disturbing...the first car of my parents. Great combination.; 07 March, 2012 22:22
Martina said...: Daniel, really? Perhaps this _is_ the car? ;-) Thx!; 07 March, 2012 22:25
Carl Weese said...: Martina,

This car is one of the reasons the Drive-in Movie Theater never caught on in Europe. Imagine sitting through a double feature in one of these!

In the 1980s, a later and somewhat larger Fiat-designed car manufactured in Yugoslavia was imported to the U.S. for a while. One of my steady clients at the time was "Home Mechanix (sic) Magazine". The assistant auto editor was assigned to review one of these and as usual I did the illustrations for the review. The car was awful. The editor's wife refused to ride in it as far as the grocery store. For one of the illustrations (not used) I put a camera on a tripod for the editor to trip the shutter and scrunched into the driver's seat to show how suitable the car was for people over, say, 5'6".

He wanted to begin his article, "The Yugo offers everything you would expect from Italian engineering and Yugoslavian quality control." The senior editors cut that, but published the rest of his scathing review. As I recall one of the absurdities was that it didn't even get good gas mileage. Apparently choking the engine, instead of re-designing it, with US-legal pollution control devices made it not only unable to get out of its own way, but barely able to get into the mid-twenty mpg range. The brand didn't last long.; 07 March, 2012 23:12
Martina said...: Carl, this is quite interesting - I have never heard of their U.S. adventure before. There is an interesting part in the English wikipedia article about Zastava Koral about it. The German wikipedia article simply states that is has been a success because of its low price ... .
Any chance we might ever see the photo the editor took?

Luis, thanks :-)!; 08 March, 2012 23:03
Taken For Granted said...: I, unfortunately, had a Fiat during my Sophomore year of college. It was the worst car I've ever been in. Freezing cold in winter with little heat and no insulation, door handles didn't work, and forget about defroster or windshield wipers. Fiat stopped importing cars to the U.S. until Fiat bought Chrysler. Hope their quality has improved. It is a fine photo with interesting shapes and tones.; 08 March, 2012 23:08
Martina said...: TFG, this sounds very ... exciting, ;-). Reminds me of our old car in winter, we only could get in through the hatchback (?) and had to drive for some 20 minutes until the door locks had thawed. But at least it had windshield wipers. And, thank you!; 09 March, 2012 22:10