People in their sixties speak in awe of the 'great Americans' of their youth. And those great Americans had a somewhat debatable reputation in the XNUMXs and XNUMXs. According to Dutch Calvinistic insights at the time, they were not only large, but also ordinary. The nickname 'whore's sloop' for an American convertible, a convertible, was a good indication of that.
Size matters
Those cars were 'big' in their time. It helped that the relationships between people and cars in American leaflets were deliberately pulled apart. The dolls were simply portrayed smaller to make the car look even more impressive. And that we were so impressed by this, mainly because we all drove around in small cars in Europe. And with a thousand cc engine in a family car? You got away with that. All the more because we Dutch were also an average of ten centimeters smaller in the XNUMXs and XNUMXs and because we were not yet excited about the width due to too much TV, screen time and fast food.
Easily satisfied
With WWII still fairly fresh in mind, we were soon happy with any car. Because a car? That was freedom and status. Of course there were some limitations with those small European cars. My in-laws were provided with a car early on and they may not have invented car tourism, but they were there early. Including a pan full of meatballs under the passenger seat and tins with the most compact material that man has ever known: The tin nasi by Koen Visser.
External drive
In the Beetle not only the meatballs and cans went nasi. There were also two children on board. And behind the Beetle was a folding camper van. The presence of three people outside the driver was very practical. Because in the Italian Alps it often happened that the Beetle's 1200 cc had to get uphill support from what was once my mother-in-law, my Lief and her brother, four years older. "Get out and push!" There are those who have been less traumatized.
My own father was a very early business driver
We got no further than France. But the combination between the then road network and a 1959 Opel Olympia was also one of those that the Opel often had to take the slopes in second gear. And that the drive from Utrecht to Liège took a full day? Oh well, at the time you also needed almost an extra day to get out of Liège again.
At the time, American cars were big and incredibly powerful. In the Ardennes, they had problems with the curves and brakes rather than the slopes. And expensive. Recently I saw Thunderbird being overtaken on the A15 and 1963 by a BMW X5. The Ford, which cost a twice-gross annual income in 1963, seemed to drive low and on soup plates. The Ford was abandoned for 1980 kilos. The BMW for 2180 kilos. And then you understand that a classic American is no longer a big car for the more recent generations. Because even our once small cars have grown big. The Mini, the FIAT 500, the Golf.
The question is of course whether the new Minis, Fiat 500, New Beetles and so on will become classics. Whether cars will get even bigger. Whether they become electric and / or whether we will run on hydrogen ...
But for now it says Auto Motor Klassiek always a mix of what was once big and small. And that makes it not only mildly nostalgic, but also quite greedy. In addition, classic driving is extremely durable. But of course you already knew that. But what should we ever do with the PT Cruisers?
