EUROPA - Aland - Smugglers' Bus and Tired Theodor 19.9.2012

The history of public transportation in Åland started some 90 years ago. Quite a few buses have rolled on the Åland roads since then. Two stamps issued on  19.09.2012 now feature two of them - a Ford TT and a Volvo L224. The Ford TT from 1924 was initially owned by Rafael Virtanen in Saltvik. The nickname ‘Smugglers' bus' derives from an incident in August 1925, during the Prohibition when it was illegal in Finland to sell alcoholic beverages. One night, the bus, its passenger and driver Rafael Virtanen were stopped in a small road in Saltvik by a police constable, the head of the enforcement district and the county sheriff. The bus as well as the cargo of "crayfish", which proved to be liquor, was confiscated. The case was treated in the district court twice, Mr Virtanen and his partner being sentenced to pay a fine for complicity in trickery with liquors. The other bus stamp shows a Volvo L224 from 1954. It had 29 + 1 seats and was owned by Toivo Williams in Lumparland between 1954 and 1967. The bus was out of use until 1978, parked in a coach house in Lumparland. It was later displayed at various shows in Stockholm and Helsinki, and in 1999 it was inspected to operate as a classic bus. It is currently owned by Roland and Rolf Lundström in Inkoo in southern Finland. Tired Theodore got its nickname because of its original weak 90 horsepower engine. Presumably, the vehicle was not meant for quite as heavy loads as it turned out to carry.

Thank you Ella for these pretty cards and the FDC. The vehicles do tell a good story!

50th Anniversary of Racing in Berlin

Maria sent me this nice FDC about the 50th Anniversary of the Automobile Races or the Grand Prix in Berlin which started in 1921. The block of four stamps on this cover portray the racing cars through the years. There seems to be some sort of Dichotomy in the postmark which shows a motor cycle with a sidecar, whereas a racing car would have been more appropriate.  However, this could well be explained by the meaning of Avus.

The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße (Automobile traffic and training road), better known as AVUS, is a public road that was also used as a motor racing circuit. It is located in the south-western districts of Berlin, Germany, between Charlottenburg and Nikolassee, and is nowadays an important part of the public highway system, as Bundesautobahn 115.

While normal for a road, it is unusually shaped for a race track as it is essentially just two long straights in the form of a dual carriageway, with a hairpin corner at each end. The north curve featured a steep banking from 1937 to 1967. While the original layout was 19 km long, the southern turn was moved several times, to shorten the track to 8.3 km, then 8.1 km without the banking, 4.8 km and finally 2.6 km.

The circuit through the Grunewald forest was devised by the Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD), in 1907, as both a motor-sport venue and a testing track for the motor industry. A lack of finances delayed the start of construction for six years, and construction was halted in 1913 for the same reason. During the Great War, Russian prisoners were employed in AVUS's construction, but the track was still unfinished by 1918. The remaining work was financed by business man Hugo Stinnes, and the circuit opened in September 1921.

In 1999, a farewell event with veterans was held. From 2000 on, the new EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Brandenburg is considered the replacement for AVUS.

The round race control tower (with prominent Mercedes-Benz and Bosch sponsorship) still remains at the north end, and is used as a public restaurant and motel. The old wooden grandstand is protected as a historic monument.

Vintage Cars

This lovely sheet of stamps featuring Vintage cars was issued by Equatorial Guinea in 1973. It shows almost all the vintage cars one could ever hope to see. And for James Bond fans such as myself, there is even the Aston Martin!

Vintage cars

Aland Postal Service issued four new stamps that each have a postage value of 1st Class named "Vintage Cars in Aland" on the 4th of March 2005. The four stamps depict four different vintage cars found in Aland. Each of these wonderful cars is described below.

• Oakland Sport Convertible - Was the first car out on the road in 1928 and is now owned by Gustaf Sauren who lives on the island of Sottunga in the Aland archipelago. It was first registered in Turku and had the same owner for 40 years. The car has been completely restored and is being used by its owner to drive around the island.
• Ford V8 - on the road in 1939 this shining black Ford was purchased by Anders Hedenberg and his father in Turku in 1943. In 1952, the car was sold to Bjarne Jannson who sold it to another owner. Then in 1984 Anders Hedenberg and Bjarne Jansson repurchased the car and restored it to its original condition.
• Buick Super 4D HT - is a classic red-and-white American car owned by Sune Mattsson in Aland. It was imported from Sweden from the USA in 1978, and has won first prize in a show in Mariehamn.
• Volkswagen 1200 - everyone has heard or seen a Volkswagen Beetle at one time or another. It is still a very popular model and is seen in almost every country. This beige Beetle was brought to Aland brand-new in 1964. It is now owned by a car company named Tor-Rolf Karlsson.

This wonderful cover was given to me by Pia.

Ferrari F1

These stamps are most timely, as this week the first Formula 1 (F1) motor car races will be held in India, in Delhi. And, naturally Ferrari will be an important part of it. Ferrari symbolizes passion, style, and technology to many. It is the oldest surviving, the most well known, and arguably the most loved team in Grand Prix motor racing history. Ferrari’s founder, Enzo Ferrari, was born in 1898 in Modena, Italy. He claimed that when competing in Ravenna in 1923 Countess Paolina Baracca, the mother of Italy's World War I flying ace Francesco Baracca, asked him to put his son's prancing horse emblem on his car for luck. Thus the legend was born. The ‘Prancing Horse’, or ‘Cavallino Rampante’ is one of the most well known and instantly recognisable symbols in global motorsport, a symbol of style and speed to many.

This highly collectable issue, a ‘Ferrari official licensed product’, depicts the evolving design of the Ferrari Formula 1 car that has been driven to victory in Formaula One Grand Prix circuits around the world. The issue comprises a Miniature Sheet containing 6 stamps and 6 individual Sheetlets each dynamically depicting the year’s car design from 1999 through to 2004. It is interesting to see through the stamps, how the car has developed taking on board advancements in technology and aerodynamics whilst adhering to FIA (Federation Internationale de l' Automobile) rules and regulations. The 2004 rules state cars must be no wider than 180cm. The length and height of the car are effectively governed by other specific parameters. For example, bodywork ahead of the rear wheel centre line must be a maximum of 140cm wide. Bodywork behind it must be no more than 100cm wide. Front and rear overhangs are limited to 120cm and 60cm respectively from the wheel centre lines. Thus, the Ferrari F2004 measures 454.5cm by 179.6cm by 95.9cm.
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing. The team was founded by Enzo Ferrari, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo, though by 1947 Ferrari had begun building their own cars. It is the oldest surviving team in Grand Prix racing, having competed since 1932, and statistically the most successful Formula One team in history with a record of 15 drivers' championships. As a constructor, Ferrari has 16 constructors' championships.
Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen have all won drivers world championships driving for the team. The team's current drivers are Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, and its test drivers are Jules Bianchi, Marc Gené and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Ukraine - Zaporozhets

ZAZ Zaporozhets, was a series of subcompact cars designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine "Zaporizky Avtomobilny Zavod", or Zaporizhian Automobile Factory. Different types of Zaporozhets were produced until 1994. The name Zaporozhets means a Cossack of the Zaporizhian Sich. It can also mean а man from Zaporizhia oblast.

Zaporozhets is still warmly remembered in many ex-USSR countries. Like the Volkswagen Beetle or the East Germany's Trabant. The Zaporozhets was destined to become a "people's car". It was the cheapest Soviet car and so the most affordable to common people. At the same time, it was rather sturdy and well suited to Soviet roads. They were known for good crossing performance on poor roads; better, than bigger Soviet passenger cars. Among the main differences was an air-cooled V-engine of indigenous design, bigger wheels and front suspension on torsion bars. One of the reasons of choosing rearwards-opening doors was easier access for disabled persons. It introduced significant "ears" - air intakes on sides. Also a rear suspension was new.

My friend Stan who sent me the FDC and the card travelled 500 kms to get to the Zavod, I mean factory for the Anniversary celebrations. Actually, he himself created the card and the personal stamps on the cover. Well-done Stan. Keep it up. And many many thanks.

Monaco - Brass Era Cars

Prashant from Pune contributed these five beauties to my blog. A vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930. There is little debate about the start date of the vintage period—the end of World War I is a nicely defined marker there—but the end date is a matter of a little more debate. The British definition is strict about 1930 being the cut-off, while some American sources prefer 1925 since it is the pre-classic car period as defined by the Classic Car Club of America. Others see the classic period as overlapping the vintage period, especially since the vintage designation covers all vehicles produced in the period while the official classic definition does not, only including high-end vehicles of the period. Some consider the start of World War II to be the end date of the vintage period. But the cars that I am displaying are undoubtedly senior(sic) to the cars that fall in the Vintage category. So what do we categorise them under? A small period called the Brass Era for cars comes handy. Brass Era car.
Named for the widespread use of brass in the United States, the Brass (or Edwardian) Era lasted from roughly 1905 through to the beginning of World War I in 1914. 1905 was a signal year in the development of the automobile, marking the point when the majority of sales shifted from the hobbyist and enthusiast to the average user. Within the 15 years that make up this era, the various experimental designs and alternate power systems would be marginalised. Although the modern touring car had been invented earlier, it was not until Panhard et Levassor's Système Panhard was widely licensed and adopted that recognisable and standardised automobiles were created. This system specified front-engined, rear-wheel drive internal combustion engined cars with a sliding gear transmission like the 1910 Buick and the 1912 Chevrolet shown above. Traditional coach-style vehicles like the 1901 Fiat and Mercedes, and the 1903 Rolls-Royce in the picture. These were rapidly abandoned, and buckboard runabouts lost favour with the introduction of tonneaus and other less-expensive touring bodies.

Alex sent this lovely miniature sheet from Germany on Motorsport. Some of you racing car fans may be able to identify these historical beauties.

Vintage Cars.

Let me wish all of you a Very Happy ONAM

Vintage car rallies are held quite regularly in India. But, I don’t think a stamp, or a set of stamps has ever been published by India Post on this magnificent theme. I had displayed some vintage cars from the erstwhile USSR earlier. Today I want to place before you some stamps portraying the World’s most prestigious car in its vintage ‘Avatar’. These cars from the early 1900’s are very avidly sought after masterpieces, by the rich and famous around the world. As far as we commoners are concerned just staring at them wide-eyed should suffice ;-))
One of the world’s most spectacular Rolls Royce collections includes the STAR OF INDIA. The price is a cool 5 Million Euro. I am not sure if any haggling is permitted.
Those who want more info on this famous family of cars, may like to drop in on

http://www.bentleyboys.com/Rolls-Royce%20History.htm