Official Child Car

Sabtu, 27 Juli 2013

Another "Loose Woman" in West Germany and another Mercedes: Helga Matura and her Mercedes 220 SE Convertible

The case of the unsolved murder of Helga Matura (1933-1966) never approached the level of publicity of Rosemarie Nitribitt, but there do exist some chilling parallels. She drove a white Mercedes 200 Se Cabriolet in Frankfurt while looking for clients, and she was seen by some Germans as a "Noble Prostitute." Neighbors found her dead, stabbed in the neck, on January 27, 1966.

Jumat, 26 Juli 2013

Friday Night Cruise-In, Beavercreek, Ohio, July 26, 2013

Hi folks -- a busy night at the cruise-in! As I was about to leave I started to take a photo of an old Harley with a side car and two women came up to the motorcycle. They didn't want to get in the way of the shot, but as I told them, I prefer having people in the photo as much as the vehicle. After all, the vehicle is just an inanimate thing, and not nearly as interesting as people. So here is a shot with Nancy and Mary ( I do not know who is who!)

Below was a very nice 1959 Triumph TR-3. The owner only has $12,000 in it!

Note the cut-down height of the windshield.

The Mercedes-Benz 190 Sl -- also known as the "Nitribitt-Mercedes" -- it was a car for loose women!

Every day I learn more and more, and it is astonishing what I do not know about car culture, American, German, or whatever.

A thank you to Ms. Gundula Tutt, who sent me this message:

"Dear John,

there in fact IS a connection between the 190SL and prostitutes in the 1950s:

Germany's "most well-known woman of loose morals" at that time, Rosemarie Nitribitt, owned a black 190 SL. Together with it's prominent female driver and her poodle, the car back then was talk of the town in Frankfurt am Main and the whole country. Rosemarie Nitribitt, practised her profession quite openly and displayed a very eccentric, luxurious lifestyle in public (including her beautiful car). She found her clients in the high society like politicians or managers and was some kind of "living scandal" in prudent post-war Germany, until she was killed under mysterious conditions in 1957. This case has never been solved and ads even more drama to the life of this enigmatic woman. The story later served as basis for two motion pictures...."

Rosemarie Nitribitt (1933-1957). One of her customers gave her a used Opel Kapitan as a present, and later using her own money she bought a black 190 Sl roadster, which colloquially would be referred to as the Nitribitt-Mercedes. Police later estimated later that in 1956 she earned about 80,000 DM.

Mercedes 190 SL Advertisements -- During the 1950s in Germany, a Car Popular with Women "of Loose Morals?"

I posed the question above due to a reference on p.185 of Rob De La Rive Box's Encyclopedia of Classic Cars: Sports Cars 1945-1975. The author argues that the car was not popular in Germany because of these owners, presumably, prostitutes. This cannot be totally right, can it? An urban legend, German style?

I have always liked these cars,although under-powered (105 bhp at 5,700 rpm). Put simply, it is a very beautiful car, with a gorgeous dash and leather interior. When I was an undergraduate student at Davidson ColLege there was a pompous little JACK-ASS ( I think he was a doctor's son) from West Virginia that had one in light blue. An effeminate sort of fellow, so it fit him well. But I could learn to like one of these cars too, so maybe I should not throw rocks at others!

Kamis, 25 Juli 2013

Heavy Traffic: Images of the Automobile and New York City Congestion during the 1970s: Documerica Project Photos

Midtown traffic congestion and jaywalking pedestrians, in April of 1973. (Dan McCoy/NARA) #

Idled traffic heading north on Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) near 42nd street, April 1973.

An auto chassis, submerged in Jamaica Bay, near Breezy Point, in May of 1973.

Holland Tunnel traffic, backed up on Canal Street, in May of 1973.

6th Avenue and 32nd Street, New York City, April 1973.

A traffic accident on a crowded street in Harlem, in May of 1973.

Rabu, 24 Juli 2013

Photos of Smog during the Early 1970s in America:The Documerica Project at the EPA

These and many other photographs were taken by EPA photographers during the early to mid-1970s and illustrate the nature of the smog problem that was a part of American urban life at that time. We think of smog as something that afflicted California; but as these photographs attest, it was a widespread urban problem that affected the health of Americans in New York City and New Jersey; Birmingham Alabama, Cincinnati, and many other highly dense and industrialized urban areas. We have coma along way since the early 1970s in terms of air quality, as automobile engines have become far cleaner and more efficient.

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE IN HEAVY SMOG. VIEW TOWARD THE NEW JERSEY SIDE OF THE HUDSON RIVER, 05/1973

SMOG OVER BOSTON, 1:15 A.M., AT THE JUNCTION OF MORISSEY BOULEVARD AND THE SOUTHEAST EXPRESSWAY, 03/1973

SMOG OBSCURES BIRMINGHAM'S SKYLINE. THE CITY'S ABUNDANCE OF COAL, IRON ORE AND LIMESTONE SUPPORTS U.S. STEEL'S TWO FURNACES AND SUCH HEAVY INDUSTRY AS PIPE, MACHINERY AND FREIGHT CAR PRODUCTION, 07/1972