This will be the final installment of Carspotting in the Past, at least for now. I enjoyed making this a weekly series, much like my DIOCCUSA posts, but I don’t want to get tired of it. Thank you to all the Oppos that helped me identify the cars featured in here. Also, I learned how to make a proper thumbnail!
Part five! The first can be found here, the second here, the third here, and the fourth here.
The Traveler’s Book of Color Photography* was picked up at a library sale by a sibling, and is now my favorite picture book. Why? It is a guide to the brave new world of color photography, using examples taken by a team of professional photographers on a continental (and American) adventure. Better yet, it is set in the colorful, colorful world of 1972!
*All images are copyright 1972 by Hamyln House and taken by Van Phillips and Owen Thomas. I do not own the right to reproduce these photos. The publisher still exists, but I can find no mention of this book online. It is unlikely that they renewed the copyright this long out of print, since color photography needs no introduction; I don’t think they would mind me sharing a few partial images online after 50 years has elapsed. Please tell me if you have any information regarding this. Enjoy.
This is one of my favorite images in the book, and it’s a wonder I held it back so long. Immediately, you get a good glimpse of a commercial fishing dock with plenty of heavy duty vehicles including buses and lorries of all shapes and sizes. Most interesting of all is that olive drab tanker truck in the bottom left corner; It is so utilitarian and the wheel arrangement is unusual. What could it be?
Update: Ramblin Rover pointed out that the olive drab tanker appears to be Berliet GLM series.
The appearance of two white Citroën DSes (one by the docks, the other by the buses) is surprising at such an industrial scene, since the cars were quite expensive despite their popularity. The curvaceous white car on its own near the olive drab lorry appears to be a Renault Dauphine. Can anyone pinpoint the country/city pictured here?
Since the American scene was so popular in my last edition, here is a familiar sight: seemingly unnecessary construction work. Times have changed after all though; look at how little separates the workmen from the crazed cabbies.
Sticking with the theme, this photograph of some colorful cabs seems to imply a sense of urgency. The yellow one looks familiar in both form and livery. The orange and blue mopar (?) appears a bit garish for my modern sensibilities.
I will leave you with this lovely fall shot (a bit cruel in winter, no?) of two content Germans: one a lowly beetle happily chugging along, the other a stern Mercedes bus abandoned, driverless, in an inconvenient spot.
Well, that’s the last of it. I enjoy making these quick weekly series posts but I don’t know what to continue it on.