Friday 7 December 2012

Sepia Saturday - Vehicles

Sepia Saturday 155
Alan suggests that this week's theme could be overalls, workwear and the like. That is an interesting subject and what is more, I covered it already a couple of months ago. You can see my granddads at work here. Having thus accomplished my mission for this week, I might as well wish you a very nice weekend. However, I do not want to be the cause of Sepians in literary distress, walking around and desperately asking themselves what to do now. 
Looking at the "Oshkosh picture" it occurred to me that we are looking at a photograph of buildings in a street. And what is a street without vehicles? So I have been digging in my many shoe boxes and came up with a few, I hope nice examples of not so current models.
Austin A40 Mimosastraat Den Haag
Austin A40
This first picture is that of an Austin A40. It was taken in the Mimosastraat in The Hague approx 1955. My mother is next to the car.
Austin A30
Austin A30
A little earlier, it must have been 1954, my kid brother is standing next to a smaller model Austin, the 2-doors A30. The location I don't know but it looks like somewhere in the middle of the country, possibly the Veluwe.
Thorbeckelaan Den Haag
Me, on my first motorcycle
I still recognize the location where this photo was taken. It is the Thorbeckelaan, again in The Hague. A relative of ours lived there. I guess I was about 3 or 4 years old. So it is 1947 or '48. I haven't got the foggiest idea about the make of the motorcycle. It looks like a single cylinder engine.
Update Apr. 30, 2015:
An unknown person commented that this motorcycle might very well be a CZ 125 t. And indeed there is some resemblance!
The Czech CZ 125 t

Mispelstraat Den Haag
My father on his motorcycle
This picture makes clear that I inherited my father's motorcycle genes. However, I have to truthfully declare that I never rode one again after 1947/48... The woman in the passenger seat is probably my mother but it is difficult to see. The people looking at them are my maternal grandparents. They are doing so from their house in the Mispelstraat in The Hague. The year? 1938 or '39.
Opel
A pre war Opel cabriolet
I am not an expert on vintage cars so off hand I couldn't tell you the make of this car. But enlarging the wheel caps reveals that we are looking at an Opel. The model? Don't know. I'll leave that to the experts. My father is seated next to the driver, my mother is seated in the left hand rear seat. The other couple are friends of my parents. Also this picture is taken in 1938 or '39. The car has German plates, my father's friend was employed there.
VIOS bus Gòttingen
During a school trip in the German city of Göttingen
My mother is the girl on the far right looking to us from her roof position. The school bus was owned by the then well known company VIOS from Wateringen near The Hague. The trip probably took place in 1933.
Koblenz
During a sightsee tour in Koblenz, Germany
Here is another of my mother's school trips to Germany. I couldn't even start to guess the make of this roofless bus. 
Austro Daimler
Austro Daimler
But it looks a little like the 1934 Austro Daimler (thank you, Google). I am led to believe this school trip took place in 1932 so maybe this is one of its predecessors.
Having finalized my post I just hope you did not forget that this week's theme is about workwear. So for the latest models I can recommend you turn to the Sepia Saturday site.
BTW In the unlikely event you want to see all the cars I ever owned, please see this post. The text is in Dutch but the pictures are not ;)

23 comments:

  1. What an interesting segue from overalls to modes of transportation. Excellent job, overall!

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  2. Wonderful! I am interested in your motorcycle genes. It seems a very European thing to pass that love down. My husband's Danish father did the same for him, and we have a had a few motorcycles over the years. The latest one is a Honda CBR350 which is his first brand new bike, and he loves it!
    I am just the passenger, but I enjoy the ride.

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  3. Very interesting bunch of cars. And a real hardworking group of workers in the old post. Of course in a few weeks the theme photo will be...a car! I'm just guessing.

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  4. That was fun. I think that next to children, cars are the measure of time in old photographs. I also enjoyed your other post on workmen's uniforms.

    Reading about your auto history, Peter, I was reminded of my favorite YouTube video which is from the Netherlands. A similar small car is carefully parked into the smallest of garages by a man with real determination - Check it out -
    http://youtu.be/wnKoGN2oaTk

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  5. Somehow, some of these photos are making me think that the collective motor vehicles are really disappearing. It is a sin. When people, either commuters or ore-day-travellers, move together, they become more human and learn an aspect of real life that is absent in other moments.
    Interesting post indeed. Congratulations and thanks!

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  6. @Wendy
    Thank you!
    @Kat
    I discarded my genes, it's freezing cold here. But the Harley is my favorite.
    @Kristin
    Probably you are very right! But with a little creativity...
    @Mike
    I watched your YouTube, it's super! I have a similar picture of my own car in a French hotel. Have to admit there was a little damage to the car. Maybe I'll use that picture one day.
    @Gio Ve
    I am afraid today's noisy exhaust pipes and helmets make social contact a bit difficult.

    Thank you all for your visits!

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  7. Our shoeboxes could be twins, they contain so many similar photographs. I have several photographs of both myself and my brother perched perilously atop of motorcycles just like the one you illustrate. Austin A30s are part of my memory of youth. And I could even match your photograph of a 1920s charabanc. We are all united by our common social history - and long may it continue.

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  8. I've never been a motorcycle fan but I can see how they can easily become an obsession. Tha Austin A30 is a car I remember well, but it was thesplit screen Morris Minor that was our first car.

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  9. An awesome selection, and thank you for not leaving us hanging, Peter.

    I have never seen convertible buses before; nor any of the makes of the cars that you have provided for us today.

    Kathy M.

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  10. Peter, I'm impressed with the huge collection of car photographs you have! Amazing. And interesting, too. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  11. What fabulous photos! The roofless bus is so interesting. Kind of like a bus convertible. And I see you posted another photo of an early convertible as well. A car this time.

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  12. @Alan
    I have to admit that the word 'charabanc' was new to me but now I know. In Dutch this is called a 'janplezier' which is in English a 'john-fun'. Don't ask me why. And I'll join you in your good wish.
    @Bob
    Wasn't the Morris Minor the car with the front doors opening in the wrong direction? I also seem to remember some wood paneling on the outside?
    @Kathy
    I guess the Austins were rather small cars for the European market only.

    Appreciated all your visits!

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  13. @Jana
    O, I see, you mean the Opel. It's a nice small car isn't it?

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  14. Loved that topless bus! And I checked out your old post about all the cars you've owned...very fun!

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  15. Peter, this is a fabulous collection.
    You were an early learner on the motorbike.

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  16. My father still loves to tell the story about his grandfather with his motorcycle with the side car and how he once drove off not bothering to notice that grandma was not in the sidecar after a stop at a station.

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  17. Lovely story Peter. I love classic cars, having had quite a few and still do. Nothing lasted as long as the golden oldies and some are still running. Very nice pics. Love that cabriolet your maternal grandparents had.

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  18. @Deb
    Those were the days when the word 'topless' had a different meaning ;)
    @Titania
    Yes, but I also forget easily. I never drove one again...
    @T&L
    One day you have to tell us about grandma's reaction when they were re-united :)
    @aussie
    Tell us about your classic cars. I'm curious!

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  19. I guess I'll never get over the fact of just how small European cars were, and still is, actually. I grew up surrounded by big American cars and trucks. Uncle G's Thunderbird comes to mind, the one he totalled in the '70s and nearly died in it. If he had been in a tiny car, surely he would have died still relatively young...

    You seemed to take motorcycling quite seriously, in that pic.
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  20. @Ticklebear
    "You seemed to take motorcycling quite seriously, in that pic."
    You justly use the past tense :)

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  21. I assume you kissed the pavement at one time or another of your life.
    Just glad you're fine now!!
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  22. Hello Peter,
    The motorbike with the licenseplate HZ-97133. I think it is a CZ 125 t.
    Because it looks like the one I have....
    Check it out on the internet!

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  23. @Anonymous
    You may very well be right. Please see the update underneath the picture.
    Thanks.

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