German Nightcrawling Part II

"Mark - Sixpots None The Richer" (marklinde) 04/12/2014 at 13:10 • Filed to: Goodnight, Car spotting

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(Opel Astra Caravan parked in front of a massive bastion of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Erfurt)

For those who missed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , this is my second night stroll through the dark streets of Germany.

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( Full Disclosure: This project is meant to be simple fun. I'm still not an experienced photographer, and my - still borrowed - equipment is very basic. I had no interest in post processing the pictures although some might desperately need it. I also realize that some of the images could be too dark for your taste. This is partly pure incompetence and partly a conscious choice, since I favored a certain mood over details. You might have to toggle the brightness of your screen.)

This foreigner seems lost.

The Camaro looks - in a good way - like a toy. This is what I like about Pony and Muscle Cars. They are not trying to be "tasteful" and serious - they are fun!

It's a concept the Germans don't get. They quite often have the golf club or opera like the one below in mind when they are building powerful coupes. And while sometimes the result is spectacular, this is the reason I couldn't see myself owning a F12. Would you agree?

Whatever this is, it came here by beaching on a shore somewhere.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and you can see why:

Kombis are quite often more attractive than sedans to me. Imagine those rims on the Avant...

This ominous night fighter also sports lusciously dished wheels.

It's, you guessed it already, an E32. Whatever you think about the whole murdered out thing, this BMW with matching black leather interior looks menacingly terrific.

(Btw., you can clearly see my talent and equipment limits here)

Maybe the next blacked out car is even more interesting: A Brabus W 211. But apart from the obvious exhaust tips and the small spoiler I've found no clue about what Brabus actually modified. The wheels, however, are hideous. I hope these are only the alternative rims for the winter tires.

What about the following rims then? I haven't decided yet. By the way, this Merc sounds great. I'm sure it has a V8 tucked into the engine bay. Unfortunately there are no bagdes, so I can't tell you what's what.

Unbeknownst even to most Germans, Erfurt is a beautiful city. The historic center offers loads of unique and picturesque sights. This is for example one of the oldest profane buildings in Erfurt right in front of a modern hotel. Philistines do overlook it because its simplicity doesn't capture their attention. Those who are less ignorant, however, have to admire the architects for creating something that was as perfect back in the day as it is now.

This is a good moment to give you an insight into the brand perception of Mercedes Benz. It's my understanding that in the US Mercedes is perceived as a premium brand producing luxurious and/or sporty cars. Hence the introduction of the CLA isn't without risks. In Germany Mercedes has a different standing. They are definetely an upmarket carmaker, but the famous star can be seen on vans, trucks, tractors, Unimogs and - as you saw in my previous article - taxis too. The image is more centered around heritage and engineering excellence. Since the introduction of the W 201 Mercedes was thus able to offer smaller cars like the A-Class without significantly weakening their position in the premium segment.

Some say about the following car that its design blueprints were found in a cave in the Neandertal and that its angular shape inspired Walter Gropius to found the Bauhaus. All I know is, it's called the T1.

One of the profound differences between the US and Germany can be explained by the VW Scirocco II.

While young car guys in the US could easily pick up and run V8s, most of the young German car crowd was stuck with small FWD buckets like the one above. In top spec it had a 1,8 L l4 engine with 129 horses. It doesn't exactly pull the Schnitzel off the plate, does it? But most were sold with even less hp, and the missing enthusiasm enhancers were replaced with cheap body kits and the "evil stare" you can admire here.

This seems to be an early stage of a zero-fucks-given Skoda Forman project. 54 carburated horses will never make you smile more. I love the "Pilsner Urquell" (Czech beer of course) and "Skoda Sport" stickers. Furthermore, Black Sabbath adds the punch the car is lacking in torque.

This should be enough for today.

Thanks for coming with me!

Klaus Schmoll > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 04/12/2014 at 14:27

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Hey, I was born in Erfurt. Still go there from time to time.

Apollon > Mark - Sixpots None The Richer 05/03/2014 at 18:48

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Cadillac STS?

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > Apollon 05/04/2014 at 14:34

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Yupp!