Automobiles have become so common
\ntoday that it is almost impossible to imagine a world without them. Like any
\nother invention in its early days, the automobile was present only in the lives
\nof the affluent. However, in time, its rising popularity made it affordable to
\nother people and thus it stopped being a symbol of belonging in a certain
\nsocial category. Between 1945 and 1989, the automobile’s evolution in Romania saw
\nsome stages beginning with the restrictive one, when it was exclusively used by
\nthe state and the communist leadership, to a period when it was desired by the
\ncommoners as well. It went through a period of democratization as Serban
\nCornaciu, vice-chair of Retromobil Club Romania said. This period was kicked
\noff by a low number of people, the ones who could afford it at that time. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Serban Cornaciu: We cannot
\nspeak about this period of democratization, without speaking about car imports
\nfrom the West. Those people were privileged because they had the courage to apply
\nfor buying such a luxurious product and they had well-paid jobs, being doctors,
\nlawyers, artists. Most of them were interested in buying a Fiat 850 or a
\nRenault 16 as Romania hadn’t started its car production yet. There were also very
\nexpensive models like Fiat 1800 and many of the applicants were being visited
\nby officers of the former political police, the Securitate, because the state
\nhad a tight control on people’s incomes at that time and only a few could afford
\na car in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania’s economy just like the others in Central and
\nEastern Europe was slowly recovering after the war and the process was also hindered
\nby its being reorganized after the centralized soviet model. Furthermore,
\nRomania wasn’t allowed to benefit from the Marshall plan and its economic
\nrecovery was dragging on. It was only in the late 60s, that two plants were
\nbuilt in Pitesti, southern Romania for the production of two models, Renault 8
\nand 12, under the name of Dacia 1100 and Dacia 1300. At that time the then
\ncommunist authorities wanted to give an impetus to the car market by producing
\nlocal brands and importing some models from the other communist countries. Here
\nis Serban Cornaciu at the microphone again<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Serban
\nCornaciu: At that time, you could
\nsubscribe to a waitlist for buying a car, apply for a loan and eventually you
\ngot it. In 1974, three versions of Dacia 1300, not very different from one
\nanother, became available. The cars used to come in a wide range of vivid
\ncolours until 1984 when a new model, Dacia 1310, had rolled off the assembly
\nline. Cars from the communist bloc were also available on the market but
\nimports from the West ceased shortly after the local production had begun. No
\nWestern brands were imported since 1971-72. One could only apply for a Lada
\n1200, a Moskvich or a Trabant, produced in East Germany. Delivery periods for
\nTrabant were shorter, though after 1988, applicants could wait even up to three
\nyears to get one.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
However, the systemic crisis that started to affect
\nthe communist regime in late 1970s, inevitably affected Romania’s car industry.
\nHere is Serban Cornaciu again. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\u0218erban
\nCornaciu: The models produced by
\nDacia Pitesti in the 1980s were changed and imports became increasingly
\ndifficult. Wait lists could no longer be made at the local dealers and people’s
\noptions started being trimmed in 1982-83. The plant in Pitesti started having
\ndelivery issues on the domestic market, because exports had become a priority.
\nOne can wait up to five years for a car and there were no colour options. They started
\nusing two-three colours back then. One year they were all painted in blue,
\nanother year green or white and so on. Vivid colours were no longer available.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Restrictions for the drivers came one after the other
\nand in 1978, Romania’s communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu issued orders that
\ndignitaries and institutions use only Romanian cars. The crisis deepened in
\nmid-1980s, with fuel shortages, driving restrictions at night and on Sundays.
\nWe’ve asked Serban Cornaciu about the used cars market in communist Romania. <\/p>\n
Serban Cornaciu: Cars were being sold by their owners; there was supply, there was
The real democratization of the automobile in Romania
(bill) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A history of the automobile during the communist regime in Romania<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":131407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41141],"tags":[32792,35248,34299,28974,35250,42910,29797],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-131406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-history-show","tag-cars","tag-ceausescu","tag-communist","tag-dacia","tag-dictator","tag-fiat","tag-renault"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\ndemand and a second-hand market flourished back in the 80s. However, prices
\nremained high in spite of the driving restrictions imposed by the communist
\nauthorities. Things went on like this, someone would buy a car but at the first
\nsnowfall authorities would issue a temporary driving restriction and the new
\nowner had nothing to do but wait until the restrictions were lifted. Only
\ncommunist leaders were allowed to travel in cars with yellow plates as well as members
\nof the diplomatic corps or foreign residents in Romania whose number plates
\nbegan with 12 B. For instance, famous Romanian director Sergiu Nicolaescu, who
\nwas shooting a lot of films back in the day, had to use this special type of
\nplate in order to avoid being pulled over by the then road police which was known
\nin Romania as ‘militia’.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ncame only after 1989 and the change in the political regimes also brought
\nchanges to the relationship between cars and their owners. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n