monochrome
Government Issue
The Puget Sound was once vulnerable to invasion by sea. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the timber industry was burgeoning and the Navy had a shipyard established in the deep water seaway protected by mountains and rugged rainforest on all sides. It was a tempting prize for an ambitious conquering nation to blockade the Sound and keep the Navy bottlenecked within. The United States understood this vulnerability, so in 1896 Congress authorized the Secretary of War to fortify and build a complex of artillery emplacements to repel potential attacks of the Puget Sound from the Pacific Ocean.
Fort Flagler, Fort Casey, and Fort Worden were built in a triangle formation to protect Admiralty Inlet. Armed with 10 and 12 inch guns mounted on “disappearing” carriages, these bastions of freedom stood watch over the Straits of San Juan ready for an invasion that would never come. Made obsolete prior to World War II by improved military technologies, these bases were closed in the 1950’s and the land was returned to the State of Washington. They later became state parks that preserve an important part of our nation’s history. They are wonderful to photograph.
I recently visited Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula, located just south of Port Townsend. The concrete bunkers that protected the gun batteries and the military hardware that remain at the site have form and texture that photograph well in monochrome. Ammunition storage bunkers and munitions elevators also remain, hidden deep inside underground chambers protected by these concrete structures.
Random cracks in the thick concrete sections show the power of the Pacific Northwest climate working against man’s best engineering efforts. Monochrome images communicate the form and texture of the iron guns and concrete structures without the distraction of color. The gun mounts that remain are quiet, yet their presence is a powerful reminder of our desire to remain a free nation.
The images of Fort Flagler in the Military and Ancient Industry galleries were shot with a Nikon FM2n camera and 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lenses. I used TMax 400 film exposed at ISO 200 and developed in Microdol-X developer, stock dilution, for 10-1/2 minutes at 20 degrees C.
Fort Flagler, Fort Casey, and Fort Worden were built in a triangle formation to protect Admiralty Inlet. Armed with 10 and 12 inch guns mounted on “disappearing” carriages, these bastions of freedom stood watch over the Straits of San Juan ready for an invasion that would never come. Made obsolete prior to World War II by improved military technologies, these bases were closed in the 1950’s and the land was returned to the State of Washington. They later became state parks that preserve an important part of our nation’s history. They are wonderful to photograph.
I recently visited Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula, located just south of Port Townsend. The concrete bunkers that protected the gun batteries and the military hardware that remain at the site have form and texture that photograph well in monochrome. Ammunition storage bunkers and munitions elevators also remain, hidden deep inside underground chambers protected by these concrete structures.
Random cracks in the thick concrete sections show the power of the Pacific Northwest climate working against man’s best engineering efforts. Monochrome images communicate the form and texture of the iron guns and concrete structures without the distraction of color. The gun mounts that remain are quiet, yet their presence is a powerful reminder of our desire to remain a free nation.
The images of Fort Flagler in the Military and Ancient Industry galleries were shot with a Nikon FM2n camera and 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lenses. I used TMax 400 film exposed at ISO 200 and developed in Microdol-X developer, stock dilution, for 10-1/2 minutes at 20 degrees C.
Monochrome Is Back!
The monochrome gallery is back. I took it off the website and replaced it with Natural FX earlier this month, but I got more hits on the monochrome gallery in two weeks than I did with the new one. I spend a fair amount of time studying monochrome photographs on the web, so it just makes sense to include a monochrome gallery on Visions of Vocation.
Monochrome processing is easy to do without a lot equipment. It produces images with more natural character than color film or digital photographs. Monochrome images have shape, tone, and grain without a lot of computer post-processing. After scanning the negatives, I simply adjust the contrast, remove the dust spots, and post.
From the cheap and grainy Chinese films to the fine grain and high resolution of Ilford Pan F, each kind has its own character. In combination with different developers, developer dilutions, processing time, and temperature, a photographer has many different options without the distractions of color or the buttons and menu selections found on the camera itself. All you need is a solid 35 mm or medium format camera, a good light meter, a few prime lenses, maybe a red or yellow filter, and an understanding of the zone system. ‘Rolling your own’ with bulk film loader helps keep the costs down.
Monochrome processing is easy to do without a lot equipment. It produces images with more natural character than color film or digital photographs. Monochrome images have shape, tone, and grain without a lot of computer post-processing. After scanning the negatives, I simply adjust the contrast, remove the dust spots, and post.
From the cheap and grainy Chinese films to the fine grain and high resolution of Ilford Pan F, each kind has its own character. In combination with different developers, developer dilutions, processing time, and temperature, a photographer has many different options without the distractions of color or the buttons and menu selections found on the camera itself. All you need is a solid 35 mm or medium format camera, a good light meter, a few prime lenses, maybe a red or yellow filter, and an understanding of the zone system. ‘Rolling your own’ with bulk film loader helps keep the costs down.
High Dilution Development
I found a post on the APUG website suggesting that Rodinal developer could be diluted far beyond its design limitation to produce images with interesting tonal and textural qualities. I use Rodinal 1:25 for fine grain film, like Plus-X and Maco 100 Plus, to produce monochrome prints with high acutance and just a touch of grain, but after reading about diluting it to 1 part concentrate and 100 parts water, I just had to try it.
To create the solution with as little variability as possible, I mixed 10ml of Rodinal concentrate with 500 ml water to create a 1:50 solution. After removing 250 ml of that solution, I replaced it with 250 ml of water for the final 1:100 solution. I let the film sit in the ‘soup’ for half an hour, agitated the tank slowly three times in a ten-second interval, and then let it sit for another half hour. To stop development, I emptied the tank and then filled it with water and let it rest for another 5 minutes. This lets whatever developer is left to work on the shadow areas whereas stop bath would have stopped development in its tracks. I fixed and washed the negatives in the usual way.
Many of the images were lost to poor composition, but the ones I kept were rather extraordinary. I photographed an old diesel engine that I found sitting on a lot and rusting into oblivion. The combination of grain and high contrast gives the images a gritty, industrial feel and exaggerates the lines in the machine, especially on the exposed valve springs. I just ‘feels’ ancient.
I also found some arborists removing a dying tree and photographed them. The camera was a Pentax Spotmatic F. The lens that I used to photograph the engine was a Takumar 50mm f/1.8 and, for the arborists, a Takumar 135mm f/3.5.
I wouldn’t recommend high dilution development for that once in a lifetime shot, but I was rather pleased with the texture and tonality that I got from the experiment. You will find ‘Where’s Waldo’ and ‘Arborist’ in the ‘Portrait’ gallery and ‘Industrial Mortality’ and ‘Potential Energy’ in the ‘Ancient Industry’ gallery.
Great fun on a Saturday afternoon!
To create the solution with as little variability as possible, I mixed 10ml of Rodinal concentrate with 500 ml water to create a 1:50 solution. After removing 250 ml of that solution, I replaced it with 250 ml of water for the final 1:100 solution. I let the film sit in the ‘soup’ for half an hour, agitated the tank slowly three times in a ten-second interval, and then let it sit for another half hour. To stop development, I emptied the tank and then filled it with water and let it rest for another 5 minutes. This lets whatever developer is left to work on the shadow areas whereas stop bath would have stopped development in its tracks. I fixed and washed the negatives in the usual way.
Many of the images were lost to poor composition, but the ones I kept were rather extraordinary. I photographed an old diesel engine that I found sitting on a lot and rusting into oblivion. The combination of grain and high contrast gives the images a gritty, industrial feel and exaggerates the lines in the machine, especially on the exposed valve springs. I just ‘feels’ ancient.
I also found some arborists removing a dying tree and photographed them. The camera was a Pentax Spotmatic F. The lens that I used to photograph the engine was a Takumar 50mm f/1.8 and, for the arborists, a Takumar 135mm f/3.5.
I wouldn’t recommend high dilution development for that once in a lifetime shot, but I was rather pleased with the texture and tonality that I got from the experiment. You will find ‘Where’s Waldo’ and ‘Arborist’ in the ‘Portrait’ gallery and ‘Industrial Mortality’ and ‘Potential Energy’ in the ‘Ancient Industry’ gallery.
Great fun on a Saturday afternoon!
Submarines
The hardest part about shooting submarines is finding them. The Navy likes it that way, but it is frustrating for a photographer with a penchant for photographing military subjects, especially those located in his own back yard.
I live just a few miles from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the submarine base at Bangor, Washington. My day job has a bit to do with supporting their mission but I still can’t get near a sub with a camera without running afoul of Navy security officers. The best I can do is use my imagination while lingering around naval museums and, of course, the mothball fleet.
When I took my Minolta SRT-200 for a walk around the Bremerton waterfront, I came across the salvage remains of the decommissioned Sturgeon-class submarine USS Parche (SSN-683) erected as a monument in front of the shipyard gate. “Secret Savior” places the leading edge of this ship’s sail against the mid day sun. I could feel the majesty of this leviathan breaching the surface of the ocean as I framed the image in the viewfinder. “Service Record” is my favorite of the two. It displays the service history of the Parche using symbology well known to submariners. I rather like the highlights of the dive planes and raised access plates against the dark structure. The grain of Plus-X film processed in Rodinal developer provides a cold and industrial nuance to the image. Also in this gallery are photographs of the World War II veteran USS Bowfin, which is permanently docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I gave these photographs the look of color prints from the 1950s. It was the only way I could salvage them from a lousy exposure.
You can see these images in my ‘Military’ gallery. Until I can get access to the submarine mothball docks or stumble onto a ‘boomer’ passing under the Hood Canal bridge, I have to rely on what I can find within public view at the shipyard, the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, or whatever else I can find locally.
I live just a few miles from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the submarine base at Bangor, Washington. My day job has a bit to do with supporting their mission but I still can’t get near a sub with a camera without running afoul of Navy security officers. The best I can do is use my imagination while lingering around naval museums and, of course, the mothball fleet.
When I took my Minolta SRT-200 for a walk around the Bremerton waterfront, I came across the salvage remains of the decommissioned Sturgeon-class submarine USS Parche (SSN-683) erected as a monument in front of the shipyard gate. “Secret Savior” places the leading edge of this ship’s sail against the mid day sun. I could feel the majesty of this leviathan breaching the surface of the ocean as I framed the image in the viewfinder. “Service Record” is my favorite of the two. It displays the service history of the Parche using symbology well known to submariners. I rather like the highlights of the dive planes and raised access plates against the dark structure. The grain of Plus-X film processed in Rodinal developer provides a cold and industrial nuance to the image. Also in this gallery are photographs of the World War II veteran USS Bowfin, which is permanently docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I gave these photographs the look of color prints from the 1950s. It was the only way I could salvage them from a lousy exposure.
You can see these images in my ‘Military’ gallery. Until I can get access to the submarine mothball docks or stumble onto a ‘boomer’ passing under the Hood Canal bridge, I have to rely on what I can find within public view at the shipyard, the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, or whatever else I can find locally.
HDR and The Zone System
I set up a new gallery today just for monochrome photographs. Monochrome, otherwise known as ‘black and white’, is my favorite medium because it uses shape and texture to form an image rather than color. Monochrome conveys a feeling of nostalgia or timelessness and communicates mood with form and texture. It is also easier for the ‘analog’ photographer to control image contrast and tonal width using exposure, chemistry temperature, and development time.
While at the Silverdale Art Walk last Friday, a photographer who works with digital processes visited my venue. He explained high dynamic range (HDR) imaging to me. This process involves taking a series of digital photographs using successively low to high exposure values. I assume that those exposures are 1/3 to a full stop apart from each other. Using Adobe Photoshop, the RAW format images are blended together so that the lowest exposure values can be printed closer to the highest exposure values to minimize darkened shadows or blown-out highlights, thereby controlling contrast. This requires expensive high-end digital equipment, computers, and imaging software to create the final print.
The Zone System, developed by Ansel Adams, produces a similar effect. Density values on developed film range from Zone I, or pure black on the finished print, to Zone X which is pure white. Zone V is middle grey. Each zone is different from the next by one exposure value, or f-stop. By exposing the shadows at about Zone V and decreasing development time, a photographer can do essentially the same thing. The increased exposure brings out the details normally hidden in the shadows while the reduced development prevents details in the highlights from blowing out into Zone X, or pure white in the final print. Although this process was developed for sheet film, a photographer can make a series of exposures at various exposure values on roll film and choose the best image from the scan or contact sheet. Each film formulation is different so it takes a bit of experimentation to find the right exposure/development combination for a particular film. Modern film quality is consistent, so one roll of Plus-X film will behave like another roll of Plus-X film under the same exposure and development combination.
Although I have never used the HDR method, I can practice the Zone System with a film camera, a daylight processing tank, standard chemistry, a Nikon scanner, and my Macbook Pro. Best of all, I don’t have to worry about my hard earned money fading into obsolescence when the next digital innovation hits the market.
Not better, just different. I do wonder just how long a digital image will last over time, however.
While at the Silverdale Art Walk last Friday, a photographer who works with digital processes visited my venue. He explained high dynamic range (HDR) imaging to me. This process involves taking a series of digital photographs using successively low to high exposure values. I assume that those exposures are 1/3 to a full stop apart from each other. Using Adobe Photoshop, the RAW format images are blended together so that the lowest exposure values can be printed closer to the highest exposure values to minimize darkened shadows or blown-out highlights, thereby controlling contrast. This requires expensive high-end digital equipment, computers, and imaging software to create the final print.
The Zone System, developed by Ansel Adams, produces a similar effect. Density values on developed film range from Zone I, or pure black on the finished print, to Zone X which is pure white. Zone V is middle grey. Each zone is different from the next by one exposure value, or f-stop. By exposing the shadows at about Zone V and decreasing development time, a photographer can do essentially the same thing. The increased exposure brings out the details normally hidden in the shadows while the reduced development prevents details in the highlights from blowing out into Zone X, or pure white in the final print. Although this process was developed for sheet film, a photographer can make a series of exposures at various exposure values on roll film and choose the best image from the scan or contact sheet. Each film formulation is different so it takes a bit of experimentation to find the right exposure/development combination for a particular film. Modern film quality is consistent, so one roll of Plus-X film will behave like another roll of Plus-X film under the same exposure and development combination.
Although I have never used the HDR method, I can practice the Zone System with a film camera, a daylight processing tank, standard chemistry, a Nikon scanner, and my Macbook Pro. Best of all, I don’t have to worry about my hard earned money fading into obsolescence when the next digital innovation hits the market.
Not better, just different. I do wonder just how long a digital image will last over time, however.
Infrared Anyone?
Following a good suggestion, I decided to add a new gallery to VoV. The images come from a Fuji Finepix S2 Pro digital SLR. I bought this camera a few years ago thinking that I would instantly fall in love with digital photography. Although it is more convenient and much faster than traditional film photography, I seem to revert to the older, yet more familiar, technology. By attaching an R72 filter to the lens, I found that I can get surreal false color images from light recorded in the near infrared spectrum, that is from wavelengths of 720 nanometers or longer. The composition of these images is not my best, but I like how the camera’s CCD sensor interprets the color of full foliage and non-living subjects. Trees and grass appear as snowy masses tinted blue or light purple while steel and concrete appear in copper or blue-grey tones. Of course the images can also be monochrome, but sometimes the unusual colors of digital infrared images are more intriguing.
Why The Bother?
It seems that most photography that I see on the web or displayed in local exhibits began as a digital image. If you see a photograph on the web it has to be digital, but some do not start that way. I see many people with digital cameras taking pictures and publishing them on a website somewhere, like Flickr, Picasa, or Facebook. The photographs that you see on this website are also digital images, but most of them came from scanned ‘analog’ slides or negatives.
Firing the shutter on a camera is just the first step. If you are a digital photographer, the images still need to be downloaded into a computer and then manipulated somehow with Photoshop or similar software. The result can be surreal dreamlike images, false colors, absurd composites, mosaics, or other fragments of the photographer’s imagination. Sometimes digital images are only cleaned up a bit. The color is adjusted or the edges sharpened. These manipulations can culminate into a work of art, but somehow I think a photograph that begins as a digital image is a derivative of photography that I would rather not explore, at least not yet.
I shoot slides or monochrome print film most of the time. Occasionally I’ll shoot color print film, but I prefer the saturated reds, blues, and yellows of chromes, also known as slide film. Chromes are predicable. As long as the film is fresh, Velvia 100 from one batch looks very much like Velvia 100 from another batch. Monochrome film on the other hand, holds a special fascination for me.
Forrest Gump could have said that monochrome photographs are like a box of chocolates. You never know just what you’ll get. A lot depends on the film and developer combinations. Some of it depends on the temperature of the developer, how the film is exposed, or the length of time that the film is in the ‘soup’. Medium format film, of the 120 or 220 types, gives better definition and finer grain than 35mm negatives can on the same emulsion, but often the characteristic grain of 35mm film contributes to the texture and quality of the resulting photograph and the statement that the photographer is trying to make.
Digital? It is very predictable. It is static. It begs to be manipulated post-production. Digital photography is a legitimate art form, but it is not what I consider authentic. I need a certain level of random variability to make photography exciting. It is one thing to get instant gratification seconds after an image is shot, but it is quite another to savor the anticipation of what I think I have captured on film compared to the photograph that is really on the negative. In one instance, I kinked and damaged a roll of 35mm Fomapan 100 because I had a hard time winding it on the processing reel when I processed it. To make matters worse, the film had doubled up on the reel and the emulsion surfaces of the film contacted each other and stuck together during development, leaving only a few printable frames. Winter Rails was on that roll. It remains one of my favorite prints.
That’s why I bother.
Firing the shutter on a camera is just the first step. If you are a digital photographer, the images still need to be downloaded into a computer and then manipulated somehow with Photoshop or similar software. The result can be surreal dreamlike images, false colors, absurd composites, mosaics, or other fragments of the photographer’s imagination. Sometimes digital images are only cleaned up a bit. The color is adjusted or the edges sharpened. These manipulations can culminate into a work of art, but somehow I think a photograph that begins as a digital image is a derivative of photography that I would rather not explore, at least not yet.
I shoot slides or monochrome print film most of the time. Occasionally I’ll shoot color print film, but I prefer the saturated reds, blues, and yellows of chromes, also known as slide film. Chromes are predicable. As long as the film is fresh, Velvia 100 from one batch looks very much like Velvia 100 from another batch. Monochrome film on the other hand, holds a special fascination for me.
Forrest Gump could have said that monochrome photographs are like a box of chocolates. You never know just what you’ll get. A lot depends on the film and developer combinations. Some of it depends on the temperature of the developer, how the film is exposed, or the length of time that the film is in the ‘soup’. Medium format film, of the 120 or 220 types, gives better definition and finer grain than 35mm negatives can on the same emulsion, but often the characteristic grain of 35mm film contributes to the texture and quality of the resulting photograph and the statement that the photographer is trying to make.
Digital? It is very predictable. It is static. It begs to be manipulated post-production. Digital photography is a legitimate art form, but it is not what I consider authentic. I need a certain level of random variability to make photography exciting. It is one thing to get instant gratification seconds after an image is shot, but it is quite another to savor the anticipation of what I think I have captured on film compared to the photograph that is really on the negative. In one instance, I kinked and damaged a roll of 35mm Fomapan 100 because I had a hard time winding it on the processing reel when I processed it. To make matters worse, the film had doubled up on the reel and the emulsion surfaces of the film contacted each other and stuck together during development, leaving only a few printable frames. Winter Rails was on that roll. It remains one of my favorite prints.
That’s why I bother.
Industrial Baltimore
February 04, 2010 - 21:34 Filed in: Assignments
One of my favorite places to shoot is Baltimore. Although access to this marvelous city is not so easy since I returned home, I learned much about Baltimore’s contributions to industry, and ultimately our quality of life. In addition to the legendary advancements in transportation, railroads in particular, the first practical refrigerator was invented in Baltimore. ‘Off the rack’ clothing was developed by Joseph Banks in Baltimore. Edgar Allen Poe lived and died in Baltimore. Paint. Skin cream. Neon lights. Industries involving canning, printing, metalworking, cargo-handling, ship-building, transportation, food processing, baking, machine tooling, banking, pharmaceuticals, and public utilities if not invented in Baltimore were perfected or industrialized there. It is truly a fascinating place for an engineer or someone old enough to ‘remember the day when . . . ’
With the exception of a few photographs shot with Fuji’s Velvia 100, I used monochrome film throughout my adventure. I tend to favor railroad subjects, but I also enjoyed wandering through industrial museums, historic sites like Fort McHenry, and famous landmarks like the Bromo Seltzer Tower and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Monochrome gives images of our history an ethereal quality. Velvia film is warm enough to give the color images a warm and familiar feel. Perhaps it is because gas or incandescent lighting was popular way back when.
Part of the experience of using film is seeing what happens next after it is processed. How did the grain in the negative contribute to the texture of the print? Was the depth of field too deep or too shallow? How did the colors in the viewfinder translate into the monochrome tones that I saw in my mind’s eye? Did the HC-110 developer work better than the Edwal FG7? Did the Rodinal developer bring out just enough grain and acutance in the negative without too much contrast?
All part of the adventure.
Railroads
January 22, 2010 - 06:22 Filed in: Assignments | Monochrome
The Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad Museum is an amazing place for anyone who loves railroads and railroad memorabilia. From the earliest demonstration locomotive to the great steaming giants, the B&O museum begins with the very spot where the first mile and a half of commercial railroad was built.
I shot a lot of monochrome there because that is how to shoot the Age of Steam. The 20th Century Limited. The Capitol Limited. The Empire Builder. That was the way to travel in style back in ‘the day’. People used to dress up to travel on the rails. Champagne. Smoking cars. You don’t just get to your destination. You arrive.
Today we are reduced to long lines and security checkpoints. Blue jeans full of holes. Tattooed teenagers and young adults also full of holes. United. Continental. Delta. Get in line. Get on the plane. Sit in a space no larger than a typical office chair, but without the leg room. Get off the plane. Stand in line to watch the parade of luggage, praying that yours will be there. So much for the romance of travel.
Take a look in the Railroad gallery. More will be coming.
I shot a lot of monochrome there because that is how to shoot the Age of Steam. The 20th Century Limited. The Capitol Limited. The Empire Builder. That was the way to travel in style back in ‘the day’. People used to dress up to travel on the rails. Champagne. Smoking cars. You don’t just get to your destination. You arrive.
Today we are reduced to long lines and security checkpoints. Blue jeans full of holes. Tattooed teenagers and young adults also full of holes. United. Continental. Delta. Get in line. Get on the plane. Sit in a space no larger than a typical office chair, but without the leg room. Get off the plane. Stand in line to watch the parade of luggage, praying that yours will be there. So much for the romance of travel.
Take a look in the Railroad gallery. More will be coming.
Washington DC
January 18, 2010 - 09:08 Filed in: Gallery
After processing the many rolls of film that have accumulated over the last several months, it became obvious that I would need to create at least one new gallery. Late last year, my day job required that I spend much of 2009 in the Washington DC area. I worked in Annapolis, but I did have time on the weekends to explore the region where our nation grew its roots. Processing film in a hotel room is impractical at best and my scanners wouldn’t fit in my carry-on luggage so I left my darkroom at home. I simply mailed the exposed film back to my understanding wife to throw in the freezer until I could get to it.
Most tourists visiting our nation’s capitol photograph the many museums and monuments and I was no exception. For the night shots, I used both color and monochrome. For shooting structures, I use monochrome film to highlight the tones and lines of the masonry. Color film was best for capturing the red, white, and blue colors that symbolize the United States.
It’s good exercise to walk around DC and Baltimore lugging around a Domke bag full with a Mamiya M645, three lenses, film, and the usual accessories. It keeps my massage therapist in business anyway.
I still have several rolls of film to work through, so more galleries may pop up. It is a work in progress.
Most tourists visiting our nation’s capitol photograph the many museums and monuments and I was no exception. For the night shots, I used both color and monochrome. For shooting structures, I use monochrome film to highlight the tones and lines of the masonry. Color film was best for capturing the red, white, and blue colors that symbolize the United States.
It’s good exercise to walk around DC and Baltimore lugging around a Domke bag full with a Mamiya M645, three lenses, film, and the usual accessories. It keeps my massage therapist in business anyway.
I still have several rolls of film to work through, so more galleries may pop up. It is a work in progress.
Trabant
January 14, 2010 - 22:24 Filed in: Assignments
I happened upon a Trabant convention at the International Spy Museum in our nation’s capitol. This vestige of communist industrialism has become a cult favorite among immigrants of the former East Germany. Two cylinders. Four passengers. Freedom for the oppressed. Babe magnet. Certainly a curiosity, especially in Washington DC.
The owners of these little wonders are a passionate lot. One of them drove his communist conveyance all the way from Indiana to the convention. When I asked him how he found parts to restore his car, he said that he has a cousin in the former East Germany who was more than willing to help out. I wonder how he could handle a road emergency without carrying a trailer full of spark plugs, belts, hoses, and other hardware? Then again, the engine has only 7 moving parts so that may be a moot point.
Even though the Trabant is capable of highway speeds, I don’t think it would be much of a match for a modern SUV vying for its physical space at that speed.
The owners of these little wonders are a passionate lot. One of them drove his communist conveyance all the way from Indiana to the convention. When I asked him how he found parts to restore his car, he said that he has a cousin in the former East Germany who was more than willing to help out. I wonder how he could handle a road emergency without carrying a trailer full of spark plugs, belts, hoses, and other hardware? Then again, the engine has only 7 moving parts so that may be a moot point.
Even though the Trabant is capable of highway speeds, I don’t think it would be much of a match for a modern SUV vying for its physical space at that speed.
