On a pedestal

On this afternoon’s walk I discovered this beautiful car enjoying the autumn sunshine near the railway bridge in my neighborhood. I haven’t seen it before. The tall person said it is a Soviet era Volga Gaz-21 from the mid 1960s.

The car’s external design was made by Lev Yeremeev and was largely influenced by Western vehicles of the same period, American in particular.

I think it has a very happy face.

It’s owner must be very proud of it because it has been parked on a pedestal overlooking the road.

The tall person said “They don’t make cars like this anymore”. I know tall person, they stopped production in 1970!

Victory!

I am just back from my evening walk and have lots to tell you. Early in the walk I met a lovely black poodle. She was much smaller than me but was not afraid to come up and say hello. She was very nice. I then met a pack of four street dogs. There are a number of these packs in the neighbourhood and they can be a bit of a problem but this particular pack ran away when they saw me. On the way back I met two little dogs who are a bit of a nuisance. They live a couple of streets from my home and whenever they see me they growl and snarl but they always hide under a car to do it! I have always ignored them, which I think makes them more angry knowing that I am walking with impunity through ‘their’ territory. Well, little dogs, I have news for you – I am a Caucasian Shepherd and this is my territory and if I ever choose to bark at you I am sure you will never forget it.

Anyway, the highlight of my evening walk was the discovery of a Soviet era Pobeda car. The little person was very excited. He told me that Pobeda means victory and the Pobeda car was made in the Soviet Union just after the second world war ended and continued to be made until 1958. The one we saw this evening was not in very good condition but the little person said that if it was restored it would sell for a lot of money. Wow!

Zhiguli or Lada? Italian or Soviet?

On my walk this morning I came across another Soviet era car. The tall person said that it looked familiar but he didn’t know its name. Fortunately, the little person was with us. He knows everything about cars and told me that it was a Zhiguli, also known as the Lada. It was first made in 1970 and was produced as part of a collaboration between the Italian car maker Fiat and the Soviet government.

I never knew that!

The Zaporozhets is younger than the tall person?

I may have told you that the little person is crazy about cars. He has hundreds and hundreds of model cars and knows everything about them. He likes sports cars most of all but he also likes old Soviet cars. You can still see them in Tbilisi and there are several in my neighbourhood. Coming back from my afternoon walk today I came across a Soviet era car called the Zaporozhets. It was parked near my house (you can see the toy room balcony in the background of the photo). De and me stopped to look at it and the tall person took a picture. The tall person told me that it was the cheapest Soviet car and was made in Soviet Ukraine from 1958. He also said they are sturdy cars and easy to repair, which is why there are still quite a few on the road today. I asked the tall person if the car is older than him and he said ‘probably not’. I was surprised because the tall person is in much better condition than that Zaporozhets car!