Menu
Apr
24
South African Nissan Bakkie 1200 & 1400
Reading the Speedhunters story about a properly built South African Nissan Bakkie 1400 reminded me of the time when I lived in South Africa. Digging through the pictures on my hard drive revealed quite a few pictures of these lovely little, but sturdy and tough, trucklets.
Read More»
Feb
28
Sunset Snapshots
After leaving my office and clocking out, I decided to go for a little sunset drive before heading home. I didn’t have any camera equipment with me – just my mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5 2017.
Read More»
Dec
31
Silvester Blues
BMW / Chrysler / Drive-by Snapshots / FIAT / Germany / Lost Places / Mercedes-Benz / Suzuki / Volkswagen Posted by Sebastian
/
0 comments
Silvester Blues | Erinnerungen an schöne Zeiten
Ein paar Stunden noch bis die Zukunft beginnt
Es ist der letzte Tag des Jahres. Nach dem obligatorischen Weißwurstfrühstück in guter Gesellschaft verbleiben noch ein paar Stunden um das fast vergangene Jahr abzuschließen. Freund Jonas entriegelt mit der Fernbedienung seine leicht patinierte C-Klasse aus den späten Neunziger Jahren und wir steigen ein. Unsere Blicke schweifen über den mit einer rot-weißen Bommelmütze bekleideten Stern. Wohin wird er uns in diesen letzten Stunden des Jahres den Weg weisen?
Read More»
Apr
02
Erinnerungen an den ersten Neuwagen meiner Eltern
Spontan sind wir dieses Jahr an Ostern über die Grenze nach Nancy gefahren und haben das Auto in einem leicht patinierten Parkhaus abgestellt. Der Weg zum Ausgang führt uns quer über das Parkdeck. Wir unterhalten uns über einen der ersten Besuche meiner Eltern in unserem wunderschönen Nachbarland. Jahrzehnte ist dieser Ausflug her und ich stelle mir vor, wie es in dem damals neuen Parkhaus ausgesehen haben mag. Anstelle von silbernen, schwarzen und weißen Einheitsfahrzeugen parkten hier damals Autos in allen möglichen Formen und Farben ― je bunter desto besser.
Read More»
Dec
20
Drive-by Snapshots Artikel jetzt auch auf Deutsch
Wer so spricht, daß er verstanden wird, spricht immer gut. Molière (1622 – 1673)
Im Dezember 2013 schrieb und veröffentlichte ich den ersten Drive-by Snapshots Artikel über einen amerikanischen Weltkriegsveteranen, der seit Jahrzehnten das abgelegte Blechkleid eines Franzosen trägt. Diesen interessanten Gesellen fand ich 2010 an einer kleinen Tankstelle im ländlichen Frankreich. Sechs Jahre später kam ich durch Zufall wieder dort vorbei und erkundigte mich nach dessen Verbleib.
Read More»
Jul
05
Which old car enthusiast has never dreamed of a barn find? How would it be to open the gate to an old garage and finding something long forgotten? Just imagine seeing the dust of decades dancing in the early morning light and inhaling the dry air.
Well the days of finding a classic car by chance are over, because most garages and barns have been treasure hunted already and are empty now. Today treasure hunting is more of a virtual game, as we are trying to find beautiful bargains that only had one caring owner, super low mileage and a full service history with all the dealer stamps in the right places. On top of that, a folder containing all the invoices is more than welcome and considered the icing on the cake.
Read More»
May
05
Different modes of transportation
Cycling in Tokyo on Golden Week sunday was very interesting because the streets that are usually very busy are almost empty. With less traffic there is a better chance for taking pictures of interesting cars with a cleaner background than usual. I found this Suzuki Swift Sport right in front of Tokyo Station and actually had to wait until the Toyota Crown taxi appeared to make the construction zone fence a little more interesting.
Read More»
Jan
10
“The marvels of daily life are exciting. No movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” Robert Doisneau
Unexpected finds put the biggest smiles on my face. Much as the Beetles in Bangkok, this sparkling red 1932 Ford 5-window hot rod suddenly appeared on the side of the road in Angeles City, Philippines. The for sale sign in the windshield told us to call Steve, but unfortunately there was no time to further investigate the details of this classic vehicle. It’s up to you to guess the engine and transmission specs and whether this is a steel or plastic body. All I can tell you from the brief glance is that it is in mint condition. Enjoy the pictures!
Read More»
Nov
09
Dear readers,
you might be wondering why I choose this quote to accompany todays post. Both the FIAT Ritmo 65 CL and the graffitti snake in the cover picture have a bewildered surprised expression on their faces, as if they are wondering about the same thing.
Jun
25
“We have had a very severe frost and deep snow this month.
My thermometer was one day fourteen degrees and a half
below the freezing point, within doors.” Gilbert White
Utilizing surplus WWII machinery with canvas tops for towing wrecked cars in the winter at high altitudes with plenty of snow has certain disadvantages. The canvas covers freeze and eventually break when you move them. Scraping the ice of the plastic windows sratches them permanently and you never get warm and comfortable inside the vehicle, even with the heater on at full blast. To solve these problems and to make his live easier, Monsieur Negre could have bought new tow trucks. But hey! This would have been too easy. Men capable of creative thinking get pencil and paper out instead of the checkbook. Why should you throw away perfectly good vehicles just for the sake of being more comfortable?
Jun
25
Six years ago I discovered a Willys MB Jeep with a Renault 4 body conversion and took some pictures.
Two and a half years ago I started to write this blog and decided to kick it off with the story about the converted Jeep.
A week ago, on a roadtrip home from Malaga, we spontaneously decided to cross the Massif Central instead of driving through the Rhône valley.
Jun
07
“The world is so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways we are, in some ways we’re not. We are ruled by the forces of chance and coincidence.” Paul Auster
Fellow photographer Marco Spalluto (spallutography) and I once discussed the influence of the various factors when taking photographs. Spotting the opportunity, composing the picture, getting all the settings on your camera right and pressing the button at the right time. All of them are essential, but to get everything anywhere close to what you think is perfect takes a lot of time. However, many awesome moments are exactly what the name suggests: moments in time. Capturing a moment in bright daylight is more often than not measured in thousands of a second shutter speed.
May
20
“Don’t become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.” Ivan Pavlov
Avid readers might remember the JDM goodness I found in Muscat right the sun rose out of the ocean. Driving northwest along the coast on a Friday was a great opportunity to take pictures of vehicles that wouldn’t be there any other day of the week. More on all the 4×4 vehicles I found there will be covered in a different story here on drivebysnapshots.com. I circled the new airport development and just before I reached the city limits, a baby blue vehicle caught my attention. Naturally, I turned off the main road to check it out.
Read More»
May
20
“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” John Lennon
We all agree that anything is better than spending twelve hours between flights at a boring airport, don’t we? In order to enjoy it and make the most of the time I had to waste anyways, I spontaneously bought a five day visa, went outside and rented a car. Nothing fancy to write home about – just a plain and dull Chevrolet Malibu. But hey – the A/C worked and the seats are way more comfortable than the benches in the transit area of the airport. OK then, let’s go! No GPS, no map, no plan. This is the way I love to start an adventure!
Read More»
May
19
Most people prefer an air-conditioned taxi cab to get around in the sweaty heat of Bangkok. However, for car-spotting purposes a tuk-tuk is the far better alternative. Why? Because of the better all-round visibility. And if you are a lucky chap, something interesting gets stuck in traffic besides the tuk-tuk. In this case, on our way to the airport, I spotted this Isuzu D-Max SLX crew-cab. First I noticed the nice-looking set of Cosmis Racing Wheels (RG-06). The offset works great to accentuate the lines of this vehicle. The front-mounted intercooler and the brake set-up give a hint that there might be a little bit more than stock power under the hood. Oh… and there is that Pro Speed Racing sticker.
Read More»
May
19
“Let it be, let it be. There will come an answer, let it be.” The Beatles
Eight hours layover between flights at BKK, recovering from a sea kayak accident and barely being able to walk I asked myself what to do with the time? Sitting idle at the airport wasn’t really a choice and while dragging my suitcase around the lively airport, I stumbled accross a sign pointing to the Airport Rail Link that ends in downtown Bangkok. Sitting in a train means not having to walk and so I bought a one-way ticket. At the downtown terminal I found myself looking at a rather large intersection. Hmm…
May
18
“Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.” Thich Nhat Hanh
Every breath taken and every step made during my stay in Thailand eventually led me to taking this picture, which is filled with peace, joy and serenity. Even though I’m a photographer specializing in cars, this photograph is not about the vehicle at all – but rather about the people living a relaxed and happy life. It was very quiet when I took it and made me very emotional just by absorbing the peaceful atmosphere.
Read More»
Nov
15
Whenever I take a road less traveled, there seems to be something interesting hiding behind a tree just around the corner. En route to the Parc de l’Orangerie in Strasbourg with my girlfriend, we found a somewhat sad looking Peugeot 504 Pick-up.
Jan
15
Fishermen’s Friends
Drive-by Snapshots / Isuzu / Jeep / Lost Places / Nissan / Oman / Toyota Posted by Sebastian
/
1 comments
Imagine you’re driving along a brand new and perfectly fine highway which, without prior warning, abruptly ends at a beach. Mind you, the beach was not the intended destination!
