I acme cross this vintage shot of a parking lot in Stockholm, which I’m guessing is from about 1963 or so. There’s quite an assortment of cars there, including two Americans near the front, as well as a healthy sprinkling of vintage Volvo’s. Anybody going to try to ID them all?
And with an Edsel front and center!
A sign of things to come……
http://www.edsel.se/default.htm
Edsel ownership in Europe would have had an advantage over Edsel ownership in North America because in Europe most people would perceive it as just another big flashy American car, but without the stigma that became attached to the name Edsel on its home turf. A Scandinavian might have no idea that, back in the States, this car’s name had become synonymous with failure, and see only a huge and imposing (if rather odd looking) exotic from the New World rather than the rolling punchline the Edsel had turned into for Americans.
Also, this ’58 red-and-black four-door h/t in the Swedish parking lot is like the negative image of the one on the cover of my Oct/57 “Motor Life” mag.
It is difficult to see clearly, but I would say 6.
That’s Brommaplan, the square of the semi-affluent garden city of Bromma just north of Stockholm. There’s a large part of quite expensive cars, not really representative for the country as a whole. But perhaps representative for that kind of bourgeoisie lifestyle? The time and place reminds me of the Drapers residence in Ossinning in Mad Men, and Bromma could be seen as the Swedish version of those towns along the Hudson.
Interestingly, the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme lived just a couple of stops away from that metro station in just about the time that picture was taken. Though, he wasn’t prime minister at the time, but he worked in the government. And, obstinate as he was, he could never be seen driving as expensive cars as those. He couldn’t even make do with the cheapest Swedish built car, he had to have the cheapest car on the market, period. And that was a Zastava, the Yugoslavian built Fiat 600. It boggles my mind trying to imagine that compared to all those cars at that parking lot.
I found Brommaplan on Google Street View. Mostly because the trees now obscure the view, I was not able to get the same overview of the plaza. The screen shot below was taken from a spot half-way up on the right side of the original photo. The same multistory building is on the right side of both views. The elevated railway is just visible in the background.
I ‘walked’ a bit around the plaza, and the biggest change is the disappearance of British cars and the appearance of Japanese cars. And there are a lot more station wagons. Most American and Japanese vehicles appear to be SUVs.
Olaf was a good socialist, so it sounds reasonable.
Somewhere between ten and twelve.
That Edsel is sort of mind blowing. Of all the cars, and a rather rare short wheelbase four door hardtop to boot!
I assume the other American is a Fairlane – just across from the Edsel.
Short WB only in comparison to the other Edsels–what was it, somewhere around 118″?
Don’t know about the Volvos, but I do see at least eleven Volkswagens…
Second to last row, the light blue 8th car up; is that a DKW?
Yes; the Auto Union 100 version, I think.
Dunno about Volvos but MK2 loline Zephyr and Consul facing eachother is kinda cool and a Zodiac just a little further along.
Interesting mix of stuff, the Edsel, there is a Fairlane too. I think there is a 56 Chevrolet further back, several English Fords, the Mini, a DKW in background, there are American, Swedish, Italian, English, German and French represented.
Edsel,Mini,Ford Taunus & Consul Mk2.The only Volvo I’ve ever driven was the number 14 bus which went from Putney Heath to Shaftesbury Avenue though I think it’s since changed.The Volvo bus probably has as it was rather old then and has probably been relegated to training or a school special
Ive driven a few of their trucks the manuals have a stupid V shaped pattern that catches me out every time for a while, but I like the I-shift not at all too much computer interference.
Most of the buses I’ve driven were autos though I’ve not so fond memories of Leyland Atlantean semi automatics
There’s a man powered pick-up truck with a nice low bed, brand unknown.
….and it is parked illegally!
Was 403 (1st row, next to Edsel) hat much bigger than 404 (2nd row next to Mini)?
No; essentially the same size. Perspective, color and other factors can make things look bigger or smaller than they really are.
Is that a Chevy behind the Simca to the left of the big P sign? Or an Opel Rekord that just looks large compared to its stall-mates? The white car pointing out a bit further to the left is certainly an Opel.
Looks to me like one of the big Opels, Admiral or Kapitan.
That’s the car I thought was a 56 Chevy, but now that I look at it more, it could be a big Opel.
Can anyone find the Fiat 500?
500 second car from the green mk2 Consul far right. 12 cars along the same row is a little Autobianchi next to the black PV544. What is that red coupe four cars from the green Consul?
Giulietta Sprint?
Dunno. My take on the windscreen says no, too deep. Every time I look at it fresh my first thoughts are Abarth Zagato or Apal, but I don’t think its those either.
Good! Good eye catching the Bianchina too!
Is the little red car in front of the building at the right a Renault 4? or another 500? 600? I can’t tell
Carmine; Seicento or Olof Palme’s Zastava is my guess.
Interesting, I read the post a couple rows up about the Zastava, that little red car could be it.
Opel Kapitän P1 ?
back to the question at hand — I see six PV sedans and one wagon, put
the resolution of the image on the rows down by the tracks makes it
difficult to tell what’s really going on down there.
what’s that white car in the front row right where the image stops?
(after the edsel, 403, vw, pv, and the dauphine)
I think a Mercedes W111/W112.
Judging by the lack of chrome (or at least the appearance of the lack of chrome), I’d say W111.
I saw one Volvo Duett. I saw several 122S Amazons. I saw one American Ford Edsel. Several PV544s. Several VW Beetles. One VW Bus. I see one Mercedes-Benz Ponton, either a 180D or a 190D. It’s difficult to tell from this vantage point. Most of the cars would be considered classics or collectible by today. 🙂
What really stands out is the number of “foreign” cars, for a scene in a car-producing nation in that era. You’d probably have had to looked in the parking lot of a car show or race near NYC or LA to find that percentage of imports in the US at the time.
I see 10 but there likely are more
Love the ’60s and the ’50s, it was so colorful, there were all kinds of color in that parking lot.
I counted 12 black cars balanced with 11 red ones, 2 yellow and a white DKW with red roof. Today, the same parking lot would be filled with some sort of silver and almost nothing else.
I’ve had a lot of fun looking at this photo and the mix of cars in it today. Then it occurred to me, it’s interesting to note what I’m not seeing as well. Plenty of German cars, but no BMW 700 or 1500 to be found. A fair amount of French cars as well, but not a Citroen DS/ID in sight. And you’d think there might be a DAF 600/750 somewhere seeing as they are Dutch, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Peculiar, indeed.
I think there’s a DAF in the row that starts with the black mk2 Zephyr/Zodiac. Could even be a BMW 700. Move towards the other end of that row and you’ll see a yellow car just after the red and grey beetles.
+1 on the carspotting fun.
I think it’s a BMW 700. DAFs from the early sixties had smaller tail lights and a more rounded roof.
Looks like a Trabant to me.
hmmm… the plot thickens
And I can make out only one Saab (red, near the left end of the furthest row).
I never thought that Edsels were that bad looking, the one in the pic looks to be a low end Ranger hardtop, but it has the 2 toned insert like a high end Citation.
Interesting that most Edsel models became other car models late, Ranger, Pacer, Citation.
And the ones that became actual cars were also flops which make you wonder why GM and AMC borrowed names from one of, if not the biggest flop to date. I can understand why Ford didn’t maintain the trademark on them. The Ranger did fit better with trucks and of course it started off as a trim level before being spun off as a model.
I never got calling a car a Citation I always thought a citation was what a traffic cop handed out for speeding or bald tyres
And why has nobody else offered a Corsair – I always considered that the strongest of the Edsel model names.
There was the Ford Corsair from Dagenham,a stylish 60s 4 door sedan which looked a bit like a shrunken T bird.They were posher than a Cortina but cheaper than a Zephyr.The much disliked V4 engine put a lot of buyers off,I’ve seen a few with Pinto and V6 transplants.
It’s possible that it’s a Canadian Edsel.
http://www.edsel.com/gallery/gallerycanadian.html
+1 another long time Edsel fan here,they were a lot better looking than many other American cars especially the much more expensive 58 Buicks,Imperials and Lincolns.
Interesting that there’s a library as part of this development (to the right of the red-awninged storefront).
When the towns expanded, they built those ready made town centers. Often around some sort of larger bus- and subway station. In this photo, we can see a laundrymat, a bakery, a convenience store, and the name of the mall, Bromma Metro. Often, they also had a library or some sort of community center, often a church. The larger the place, the more functions it got.
Also, I believe this isn’t only people shopping, but the lot would function as a commuter parking lot also. People took their cars from their homes, parked it there, and took the subway into the city for their everyday office work.
My favourite car is the salmon Taunus with the white roof. That is one of the best shapes to come out of Germany, really really well conceived. Its an almost perfect interpretation of the Quicksilver ‘in the small’. And what a great colour.
+1. Always liked that generation of Taunus. Baby T-Bird!
What’s wrong with this picture? Sweden and no SAABs?