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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.
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Dec
31
Silvester Blues
BMW / Chrysler / Drive-by Snapshots / FIAT / Germany / Lost Places / Mercedes-Benz / Suzuki / Volkswagen Posted by Sebastian
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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?
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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.
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Jul
12
Judging by the previous posts this week, one could be under the impression that our visit to Gatebil Rudskogen was all about classic Volvos. Hell no! There was so much more to see! You walk around a corner, all the time expecting to see souped-up drift cars or a mad Amazon. Walking along the go-kart track had many a surprise to be discovered, like this old Mercedes-Benz W110. The sun played wonderful games with the green paint and chrome, but the personal touches of the owner are what made it really special.
May
20
Sleeping Beauties | Golden Brown
Drive-by Snapshots / Germany / Matching Backgrounds / Mercedes-Benz / Mitsubishi / Peugeot / Spain Posted by Sebastian
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Frequent readers know that most posts here at Drive-by Snapshots feature multiple pictures of a certain subject, most often accompanied by a little story. However, my archives are brimming with those lonely single pictures. Until recently I wasn’t really sure how to post them without boring you. A post containing one picture just isn’t really going to cut it. Last week, a good friend of mine had a great idea and suggested that I could group them for posts. While digging through the archives, I actually found many pictures that have something in common: a matching background, color or theme. Today, Drive-by Snapshots presents: three sleeping beauties – golden brown.
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Dec
02
Once upon a time, there was a beauty called Mercedes. She immigrated from a cold country called Germany decades ago and worked very hard under the relentless Lebanese sun for many years. This eventually made her very tired…
Apr
24
Cars parked under trees in South Africa
BMW / Drive-by Snapshots / Ford / Mercedes-Benz / Mini / Porsche / Renault / South Africa / Toyota Posted by Sebastian
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Sometimes, coincidences are funny. While finishing this blog post for publication, a friend sent me a link to an article over at speedhunters.com. Keith Charvonia wrote a great piece about finding project cars in the local neighborhoods of Tuscon, Arizona. I really love the article, because it described exactly what I’ve been doing for the last decade and a half: taking pictures of cars found along the roadside, without actually getting out of the car. Here is what I found during a one-week trip in South Africa. Albeit shot in various locations, all the pictures have one thing in common: the cars are parked under a tree.
Jun
03
Lost Places | Station Service Le Rousset
Drive-by Snapshots / France / Lost Places / Mercedes-Benz / Renault Posted by Sebastian
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When was the last time you found something not only totally unexpected, but also thought to be extinct by now? Trundling along the Route Départementale D27 at a leisurely pace on a hot day with no cloud in sight, we had a moment just like that, when we found the cutest rural petrol station and workshop. The icing on the cake most definitely was the color-matched Renault R5, which made the scene even more unreal.
Jun
01
If you have read the story about the star on a reasonably priced car, you already know how I found a field full of faded treasures in rural southern France.
Jun
01
Mercedes-Benz W108 | A star on a reasonably priced car
Once upon a time…
This is how most fairy tales begin. This is no fairy tale, though.
Once upon a time we traveled through France and my friend asked me whether or not I had seen the classic car behind a bush we just passed. I thought she wanted to fool me and kept driving all the way to… the next roundabout. This is what they have been invented for anyways. Turning around and driving back, all the way thinking about this (possibly nice) opportunity for a Drive-by Snapshot. Finding the bespoke classic car behind the bush was great – but discovering a whole field with literally dozens of classics, left me speechless.
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May
18
Discovering the Bretagne region in France is always a stunning experience: the wild coast, the important landmarks, unique rock formations and then some more. Driving from one interesting spot to the other never gets boring. Around every corner you turn, there is something of historical significance waiting to be looked at. Being a car aficionado that loves to take Drive-by Snapshots, I always make sure to look out for interesting vehicles. However, sometimes the interesting stuff is not around a corner at all, but rather right within your focal vision.
Sep
15
Mercedes-Benz C123 | A Comet coupled to a Coupé
Surfing makes hungry and supplies don’t last forever. Coming back from shopping groceries at the local supermarket in Lit-et-Mixe, we found this period-perfect car and trailer combination: A shiny blue Mercedes-Benz W123 Coupé with a Constructam Comet 6T caravan in tow. Unfortunately the owner wasn’t around at the time, so I couldn’t ask him, if this particular combination had in fact been together for almost three decades. And when I woke up the next day… he had already left the campground and moved on.
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May
31
In 2009 we found an abandoned service station, somewhere in the Haut-Limousin region of France. I quite like the old fashioned architectural approach and design. The service station and garage must have been very busy, at a time long gone and almost forgotten. Inside, it was completely empty. Thoughts of buying it bugged me and I couldn’t forget it for a long time. In 2013, I drove past it again – and didn’t even bother to stop and take a picture. It had been converted into a mattress store. Painted in awful colors, with ugly billboards and cheap advertising – destroying the vintage character of the building completely. It was really sad, to see it in such an unattractive condition. 🙁
Oct
20
Small boats may be launched by hand.
Medium size boats may be launched by a rusty bakkie.
Big boats need something a bit more substantial in weight an power…
This is where the mighty Mercedes-Benz MB Trac comes in handy. This being a highly sought after machine even in Europe, you can imagine how surprised I was to find such a brute at the remote beach of Sodwana Bay in South Africa. To be honest, it was spectacular how the MB Trac launched catapulted the boat into the sea!
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Jun
10
A beautiful Sunday afternoon, driving along the Doubs river in France with the convertible top down. We found this pair of Convoi Exceptionnel trucks, parked opposite the lock between Le Barre and Ranchot . The load looked quite interesting and we stopped to have a look. We could only guess the function of these impressive machines, named Sercel Nomad 65. But the internet is our friend and a quick Google search later, we knew that these machines are in fact broadband vibrators used for geological survey activities. If you want to learn more about it, check out the Sercel homepage or download the Nomad 65 Neo press release PDF.
