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Now with few exceptions many cars seem almost alike. You have to look at the nameplate or logo to see what make the automobile is. There was a time when style was everything.
Mit wenigen Ausnahmen scheinen sich viele Autos fast zu ähneln. Sie müssen auf das Typenschild oder Logo schauen, um zu sehen, was das Auto ausmacht. Es gab eine Zeit, in der Stil alles war.
In 2017, I visited my friend Helmut in Holland. In Den Hague, there you can find the Louwman Museum, an amazing car museum that also has a nice collection of early 20th century electric cars.
The first one shown here is a 1908 Baker Electric Roadster built in the USA by Walter Baker, who started working on electric cars in 1893 already. Although first successful, Baker stopped production of electric cars in 1916. Ironically, the invention of the electric starter for combustion engines, increased the popularity of petrol-powered vehicles substantially.
Next, the “Detroit Electric Clear Vision Brougham” from 1912. The Detroit Electric was one of the market leader with an annual production of about 1500 vehicles. Their Clear Vision Brougham had a reach of about 100 miles with full batteries. Detroit Electric existed until 1930, an extended period compared to other electric car manufacturers, thanks due to the production of electric delivery vans for bakers and milkmen.
In 1905, Hedag (Hamburger Elektrische Droschken Aktien Gesellschaft) built this electric Brougham in Germany. It had already two motors mounted on the front wheels. The Hedag was further equipped with four-wheel brakes, something completely new for the time. The Hedag was mainly used as Taxi. Note also the little Bell in the front, to warn pedestrian of the approaching unusual silent vehicle…
1905 – Hedag, Germany
Electric powered cars did not survive very long. Soon, petrol cars with 4 – 12 cylinders took over the streets of the world, until today. Just look at those slick petrol cars of the past, like the one below….
I discovered this almost 50 year old VW in Sonora, CA. It has a current license and it looks like it is still driven. Amazing!
…in Rothenburgsort, Hamburg. Car enthusiasts meet every weekend at the historic gas station (“Oldtimer Tankstelle”). A small selection of my photos from pre-Corona times…
During the time of the GDR, the german democratic republic before reunification in 1989, the Trabant was a coveted possession. People were on a waiting list for many years to get one. In January 1991, a year with an exceptional cold and icy winter along the coast of the Baltic Sea, buyers already preferred to buy a more fancy car. A few years later they had disappeared from german roads. At the station in Göhren on the island of Rügen this one, the station wagon version, still had the old GDR license plate. The Rügen narrow gauge railroad, however, in the background, which in 1991 still was a means of public transport which had barely changed since the foundation of the GDR, is still running today with the same steam engines and cars. It even was extended. However, today, its services are many used by tourists.
Trabant, Göhren, Rügen (scan of an Agfa CT 18 slide)
A family friend that restores old vehicles and takes them to car shows, has them all displayed out on his property for visitors. I was able to take a few photos of them and this is one that I captured. I like how the tarp is covering half of the car and revealing only a part of it. Enjoy!
