The Cars We Drove Into Capitalism

For many decades, every year, half of Europe was facing the complicated task of selecting a new car, among hundreds of new models arriving in to the market. The other half was free to choose from among 10 to 15 makes and models available to them from their States. Almost as Henry Ford put it about the Model T - Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, as long as it is black. These products of the Social¬ist automotive industry were usually out of fashion, slow, clumsy, a pain to drive and repair - but still they were status symbols, no less important than a Chevy or a Mercedes in the West. Moreover, producing cars was also a question of national prestige - even countries without any automotive traditions (like Bulgaria or Romania) felt obliged to start production of their “own” makes, even if it meant only assembling some other car-maker’s rebranded models.
In almost every family there was a much loved, long-awaited polished and groomed Moskvich, Trabi or Dacia. It represented a touch of freedom, opening new horizons to make that long-dreamed trip to East Germany, Bulgaria or Hungary, or at least to the lake or mountains.
The Cars We Drove into Capitalism will be about the cars that are still alive in the memory of Europeans - as a sweet childhood remembrance or as a laughing stock. There will be stories of industrial espionage, design, politics, speed and love.