Day: Oct 25, 2015

Another Photo for Sunday: 1991-1998 Opel Astra

The light picked out the shape of the rear wheel arch flare.  

Opel Astra F seen in Denmark.
Opel Astra F seen in Denmark.

This is a grossly under-rated piece of industrial design. The saloon is especially dismissed. And unfairly too. I think it’s superb and very subtle.

A Photo Series for Sunday: 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

This makes a change from cars seen around my neighbourhood. It’s a 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, sighted in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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Much to my surprise, some of Sweden’s older city centres have a rather American feel, specifically that part of the US in the north east such as Upstate New York. Gothenburg, where this car was seen, has stone and brick houses on streets lined up in grids. That immediately suggests an American way of town planning which is supposedly rational but disrespects topography and leads to stupidly steep roads among other ill-effects. The major roads of the mid-20th century in Sweden are styled after American freeways and have a similar brutal character: ugly to look at and confusing to drive on.

Looking at the map you realise they are designed to Continue reading “A Photo Series for Sunday: 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis LS”