Adrian_pt

Shiter family owned! Was in two minds about whether to post it on these pages - but glad to see the love for it. 

Yep - the further away from Western markets you went, the rarer they would be - but they existed.
Romanian still has the old fashioned phrase "to stare [at something] as if at a foreign car". 
The below were all privately owned cars in Communism. Other interesting vehicles were owned by the state (as official or rental cars) and by foreigners resident in the country. The Ceausescus had a few cars too, though the luxury ones tended to be for official use:  in private, Elena Ceausescu had a Renault 16, her daughter Zoe a Mercedes 350SL, her son Valentin a Triumph Spitfire (which still exists) followed by an Audi 100 coupe, and her other son Nicu another Renault 16 and a Ford Sierra. 
 

The 2020 Laikipia BJ-50.

https://smallcarsclub.com/catalog/laikipia/laikipia-bj-50/

Bowler hat?  Steed?  Jaaaaag?  It’s all too much!!

That's gone straight into the replacement steed (a JRG 2003 X-type)

Another reasonably priced family owned 900.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-Saab-900-4-door-saloon-green-non-turbo/154341415748?hash=item23ef771b44:g:Gj4AAOSw0KJgM-o2

Can't speak for the other countries but in Romania Audis, VWs and Beemers rule the roost. If you're skint you have an older one, or a Dacia Logan. Communist-era cars (including the Dacia 13xx series, made up to 2004) are very thin on the ground - they tend to be owned by eccentric pensioners in town, and poor people in the countryside, plus a growing number of collectors. Their status kind of depends where you are. 
When I'm over there, I live in a relatively poor county, so tend to get pitied for driving a 1984 Dacia - lots of comments along the lines of "Well, if it gets you from A to B...". But the car is normally kept in neighbouring Iasi, which is prosperous, and there it gets grins, waves, and photos wherever it goes. So people do remember them fondly, but it requires a degree of distance, plus the comforting insulation of something reliable and German in the garage. From recent travels I get the impression it's the same elsewhere in Eastern Europe - the richer the country the more affectionately they look back on their motoring heritage.
One of my favourite Dacia moments was when going to an extremely snooty country house restaurant. The guys at the gates saw the ageing Dacia pootling up the drive and decided this was the sort of clientele they could do without, so promptly shut the gates. Which was funny for us, but mildly embarrassing for them when it emerged that not only did we have a booking, but we were also reviewing the place for a reasonably influential site. (Review was eventually published with the headline along the lines of "Should have taken a Porsche")
 

Can't speak for the other countries but in Romania Audis, VWs and Beemers rule the roost. If you're skint you have an older one, or a Dacia Logan. Communist-era cars (including the Dacia 13xx series, made up to 2004) are very thin on the ground - they tend to be owned by eccentric pensioners in town, and poor people in the countryside, plus a growing number of collectors. Their status kind of depends where you are. 
When I'm over there, I live in a relatively poor county, so tend to get pitied for driving a 1984 Dacia - lots of comments along the lines of "Well, if it gets you from A to B...". But the car is normally kept in neighbouring Iasi, which is prosperous, and there it gets grins, waves, and photos wherever it goes. So people do remember them fondly, but it requires a degree of distance, plus the comforting insulation of something reliable and German in the garage. From recent travels I get the impression it's the same elsewhere in Eastern Europe - the richer the country the more affectionately they look back on their motoring heritage.
One of my favourite Dacia moments was when going to an extremely snooty country house restaurant. The guys at the gates saw the ageing Dacia pootling up the drive and decided this was the sort of clientele they could do without, so promptly shut the gates. Which was funny for us, but mildly embarrassing for them when it emerged that not only did we have a booking, but we were also reviewing the place for a reasonably influential site. (Review was eventually published with the headline along the lines of "Should have taken a Porsche")
 

In Romania a Dacia 1300 was 77000 lei and a normal monthly wage was 2000-2500 (admittedly after tax). Pricey but there wasn't much else you could spend it on. In the late 60s you could get Western cars new - Fiats and Renaults plus a tiny handful of VWs and Fords. The state lottery memorably offered a Volvo Amazon as the top prize one year. If you had the cash, a Western vehicle was not unusual till about 1978 ,when import duties were considerably increased - that, plus the difficulty of getting spare parts, meant that most were swiftly taken off the road. Those who could, not just senior Party members but musicians, actors, sportspeople, doctors etc, had some pretty interesting cars - there were Range Rovers, E-types, Maseratis, Mercedes SLs, and even a drop top Rolls registered in Communist Bucharest. Some interesting cars had also survived the war, but the border was porous and a lot managed to trickle out of the country; one elderly couple I knew were offered a brand new Fiat 124 Coupe by Italian tourists in exchange for the elderly pre-war cabriolet they used as a daily driver in the 60s. They laughed as they did the deal and it was decades before they kicked themselves for having flogged a ... Bugatti.
 
 

Yep - the further away from Western markets you went, the rarer they would be - but they existed.
Romanian still has the old fashioned phrase "to stare [at something] as if at a foreign car". 
The below were all privately owned cars in Communism. Other interesting vehicles were owned by the state (as official or rental cars) and by foreigners resident in the country. The Ceausescus had a few cars too, though the luxury ones tended to be for official use:  in private, Elena Ceausescu had a Renault 16, her daughter Zoe a Mercedes 350SL, her son Valentin a Triumph Spitfire (which still exists) followed by an Audi 100 coupe, and her other son Nicu another Renault 16 and a Ford Sierra. 
 

Yep - the further away from Western markets you went, the rarer they would be - but they existed.
Romanian still has the old fashioned phrase "to stare [at something] as if at a foreign car". 
The below were all privately owned cars in Communism. Other interesting vehicles were owned by the state (as official or rental cars) and by foreigners resident in the country. The Ceausescus had a few cars too, though the luxury ones tended to be for official use:  in private, Elena Ceausescu had a Renault 16, her daughter Zoe a Mercedes 350SL, her son Valentin a Triumph Spitfire (which still exists) followed by an Audi 100 coupe, and her other son Nicu another Renault 16 and a Ford Sierra. 
 

In Romania a Dacia 1300 was 77000 lei and a normal monthly wage was 2000-2500 (admittedly after tax). Pricey but there wasn't much else you could spend it on. In the late 60s you could get Western cars new - Fiats and Renaults plus a tiny handful of VWs and Fords. The state lottery memorably offered a Volvo Amazon as the top prize one year. If you had the cash, a Western vehicle was not unusual till about 1978 ,when import duties were considerably increased - that, plus the difficulty of getting spare parts, meant that most were swiftly taken off the road. Those who could, not just senior Party members but musicians, actors, sportspeople, doctors etc, had some pretty interesting cars - there were Range Rovers, E-types, Maseratis, Mercedes SLs, and even a drop top Rolls registered in Communist Bucharest. Some interesting cars had also survived the war, but the border was porous and a lot managed to trickle out of the country; one elderly couple I knew were offered a brand new Fiat 124 Coupe by Italian tourists in exchange for the elderly pre-war cabriolet they used as a daily driver in the 60s. They laughed as they did the deal and it was decades before they kicked themselves for having flogged a ... Bugatti.
 
 

In Romania a Dacia 1300 was 77000 lei and a normal monthly wage was 2000-2500 (admittedly after tax). Pricey but there wasn't much else you could spend it on. In the late 60s you could get Western cars new - Fiats and Renaults plus a tiny handful of VWs and Fords. The state lottery memorably offered a Volvo Amazon as the top prize one year. If you had the cash, a Western vehicle was not unusual till about 1978 ,when import duties were considerably increased - that, plus the difficulty of getting spare parts, meant that most were swiftly taken off the road. Those who could, not just senior Party members but musicians, actors, sportspeople, doctors etc, had some pretty interesting cars - there were Range Rovers, E-types, Maseratis, Mercedes SLs, and even a drop top Rolls registered in Communist Bucharest. Some interesting cars had also survived the war, but the border was porous and a lot managed to trickle out of the country; one elderly couple I knew were offered a brand new Fiat 124 Coupe by Italian tourists in exchange for the elderly pre-war cabriolet they used as a daily driver in the 60s. They laughed as they did the deal and it was decades before they kicked themselves for having flogged a ... Bugatti.
 
 

The flip side is seeing raised-letter white plates on anything pre about 1965 - a true sign of a giffer mobile in the 80s and 90s. I remember seeing quite a few on utterly shagged Morris Minors and the odd Ford Consul. 

The flip side is seeing raised-letter white plates on anything pre about 1965 - a true sign of a giffer mobile in the 80s and 90s. I remember seeing quite a few on utterly shagged Morris Minors and the odd Ford Consul. 

The flip side is seeing raised-letter white plates on anything pre about 1965 - a true sign of a giffer mobile in the 80s and 90s. I remember seeing quite a few on utterly shagged Morris Minors and the odd Ford Consul. 

Looks suspiciously like Sid James and Charles Hawtrey advertising the Suzuki Mighty Boy - which, to be fair, does have a bit of a Carry On ring to it. 

Our head of art had a Ferrari Testarossa (the flash git) which he traded in for a Citroen Berlingo after starting a family.

Bedford Road, Rock Ferry, on the Wirral, in the 50s.  The plate on the convertible is Brighton 1939 - it's American, possibly a Chrysler. A surprising amount of foreign tin made it over here pre-war, though very little has survived compared to the UK models. 

Well... that escalated quickly.

Thank you to Autoshite for once again being the enablers that you are.  Now, which one of you horrible lot wants to buy my BX to make up for what you made me do?

Cars and other collectables definitely have their time in the sun and then values fade away a bit.  I was reading recently how values of Elvis memorabilia have declined recently as his fans have died off. 
As a general trend, for cars it usually vehicles that were popular 20-30 years ago when middle aged men were young and either had one or wanted one, now they want to relive their youth.  There's lots of exceptions, anything with a racing history or from a famous brand will always have a following.
Sadly, I'm not sure young people these days are interested in cars in the same way, the whole movement could well be heading for a gradual decline as there wont be the next generation prepared to look after the older stuff. 

Fascinating, in the older ads, how expensive the prewar stuff is compared to relatively recent exotica. Not the best investment to have made at the time.

Fascinating, in the older ads, how expensive the prewar stuff is compared to relatively recent exotica. Not the best investment to have made at the time.

Bedford Road, Rock Ferry, on the Wirral, in the 50s.  The plate on the convertible is Brighton 1939 - it's American, possibly a Chrysler. A surprising amount of foreign tin made it over here pre-war, though very little has survived compared to the UK models.