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Today I saw a classic and took a pic thread!
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I didn't see this today but....
I was going through some old stuff and I came across this, it's a photo of an Isetta in the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin. The East German border guards thought that the Isetta was so small that no one could hide in it so it was the only car that went through their borders unchecked.
Somebody hit upon the idea of taking the cooling system out, and I think putting in a very small tank, reckoning that the car could go a few km without it, and that fairly flexible person could hide in the car and pass through. It worked a few times it seems and some people got out with this car.
Here's a bit more on an escape.The House at Checkpoint Charlie displays an Isetta, an Italian-made mini-car so small that it was exempted from the usually meticulous examination at the Checkpoint.
Although the Isetta looks barely large enough for a driver, it had been modified to hold an escapee in the space once taken up by the battery and heating system. One at a time, nine refugees escaped to the West huddled in those cramped quarters.
As time passed, guards became harder to fool. They began to search cars more carefully, using calibrated rods to measure the dimensions of all types of vehicles. Mirrors to examine the underside of vehicles were added to their arsenal.
But the courageous kept trying. Heinz Meixner, an Austrian, began working in East Berlin in April, 1962. His passport enabled him to travel through Checkpoint Charlie at will. Then romance entered the picture.
One evening Meixner met Margarete Thurau at a dance in East Berlin. As love grew, they made plans for marriage, and Margarete asked permission to emigrate to Austria. East German authorities denied her request.
Undeterred, Meixner decided to drive under one of the steel beams that stretch across the narrow exits in the Wall. He chose Checkpoint Charlie, and riding a borrowed motor scooter, stalled it while the guard checked his passport. Meixner managed to measure the height of the barrier. It was only 37 1/2 inches above the pavement.
Meixner began a painstaking survey of West Berlin`s car rental agencies to find an automobile low enough to slip under the barrier. He selected a sports car, a red Austin-Healey Sprite. Without its windshield the sports car measured 35 1/2 inches in height. He chose a Sunday, shortly after midnight, for his run.
A few hours before starting he removed the windshield and, for added insurance, let some air out of the tires to lower the car even further. Margarete huddled in the tiny section behind the driver`s seat. Meixner`s future mother-in-law was crammed into the cramped luggage area. For protection against possible gunfire, Meixner had surrounded her with 30 bricks.
Sunday, May 5, 1963. It was time for the run. In the early-morning darkness, Meixner drove to the first barricade on the East Berlin side of the checkpoint. He displayed his passport to the guard, who motioned him on to the customs shed. Instead he gunned the motor, whizzed around the vertical bars and skidded past the startled guard.
Before the guards could fire their submachine guns, Meixner raced to the last steel bar, ducked his head, floored the accelerator and rocketed into West Berlin. He was traveling so fast that when he finally hit the brakes the tires left 96-foot-long skid marks.
After the American guards recovered from their shock at this apparition that had materialized out of the early-morning gloom, they welcomed Heinz Meixner, Margarete Thurau and her mother.
Meixner told the Americans, ``I figured it would take the guards three seconds to draw their weapons once they knew what I was doing. I knew Margarete`s mother was protected by the bricks. I felt I could make it with about three inches to spare . . . Now we can get married.``
The exploit, and the Sprite, received international publicity. Several months later Norbert Konrad tried the same stunt. Although born in Germany, Konrad had an Argentine passport. He had fallen in love with an East German woman, Helga Werner, but the authorities refused permission for her to emigrate. Although concerned that the guards at Checkpoint Charlie might be particularly suspicious of sports cars, Konrad rented an Austin-Healey Sprite at a West Berlin agency.
As Helga huddled in the trunk, Konrad drove toward the East Berlin checkpoint. En route, an East Berlin policeman stopped him; Konrad was certain he had been discovered. He relaxed when the policeman pointed to a loose fitting on the exhaust pipe and told him to have it repaired. Konrad gladly fixed it, then resumed his drive.
At the checkpoint Konrad showed his passport, and the guard directed him to the customs office. Instead, Konrad stepped on the gas, raced for the barrier, ducked his head under the 37 1/2-inch-high horizontal pole and skidded into West Berlin. Konrad later returned the car to the rental agency and was incredulous when he learned it was the same vehicle Heinz Meixner had used. Several weeks later Konrad and Werner were married.
The trick worked twice, but no more. To prevent a third Sprite escape, the East Germans embedded steel bars in the concrete beneath the barrier.
Its from the Chicago Tribune, note that they say the Isetta is Italian.0 -
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Got this off the Motors forum, they're drooling over the Lambo and the Ferrari, but that looks like a Mercedes W100 in the background, which is far rarer and far more interesting.
Well it is Monaco, almost everything there is out of this world, I saw that Merc around town last week.0 -
I saw this opel kadett gsi today in a supermarket.Going by the number it is pre 1987 (vwi-...).It was a boy racer car of its day.The funny thing was a mature gentleman got out of it.I cant see him doing hanbrake turns or being reckless on the road:D.
Sorry that pic is pants,( mobile phone I am afraid)
Similar to this one, only 2 door.
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The second last picture was on the Autobahn just as we crossed over into Germany and we were passed by some exoctica. The last picture was taken outside of the hotel I was stying in in Saarbrucken, the Renault F1 team just happened to be there aswell
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Came across a wonderful classic car showrooms in La Rochefoucauld (near Angouleme) in France as I was staying in a village about 15 kms away a couple of weeks back (established in 1946 I think)
Apologies for the quality of some of the photos but the lighting was patchy to say the least, and the cars were parked at all sorts of angles which means I couldn't necessarily get the shot angle I wanted on some of the photos.
The description is as per the info. card inside each vehicle with the price where displayed. I'll put them up in batches as there are about 50 photos in total.
Palais de l'Automobiles, La Rochefoucauld
1951 Buick Roadmaster Convertible (€87,700)
1956 Cadillac (Serie 62) (€35,600)
Mercedes 280SE Coupe 3.5L "Paul Bracq" (€37,800)
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