What is that, inside the car??, a person, a picture, a doll?. Either way is creepy!. Other than that, fantastic picture, I love those little cars; I so wanted to have one when I was a kid...
If, as I suspect, the image of the Isetta is lifted from a photograph at a car show, there's a disturbing practice at American classic car shows to put dolls in the cars for some reason. I've seen all kinds of monstrosities along those lines, including one car that had two of those creepy staring child dolls 'cleaning' it.
Yeah -- ironically, this afternoon I was riding my old Vespa when two other Vespas pulled out ahead of me, one of them towing a tiny, 1-wheeled trailer, in which were two small dogs (Corgis, I would guess). I couldn't take a picture, since I was driving, but it was the same type of trailer as this:
That has to be a blow up doll in there. Maybe it's an early form or air bags? I wonder what kind of gas mileage this car gets. wouldn't it be great if there were more of these and less SUV's on the road? They are SO CUTE! Actually I suppose they have to get good mileage. You can probably only put a few gallons in the tank.
Well, I presume that you're aware that, before the invention of airbags, inflatable love dolls were commonly carried on people's laps when traveling by automobile. Safety is everyone's business.
Does it seem like the people or at the very least the man is PhotoShopped in there? I mean look at his foot and his hat. I really like the car and the photo, don't get me wrong, but it just looks off to me.
You know, now that you mention it, it does look a little "off". The light sources seem to be just a little different, and the couple lacks the strong shadows that the car and trailer have. That could be explained by the photographer using a sun reflector on the couple but not on the car/trailer, or having been shot elsewhere, cut out and composted. Your guess is as good as mine.
Do you know, I didn't realise the BMW Isetta was capable of towing a caravan, much less that such tiny caravans existed that were not 'teardrop' caravans. I suspect there are four photographs used here:
BMW Isetta with background Caravan - which looks like a shrunken early 1970s 2 berth Verge in the foreground Couple and picnic blanket
This is very well stitched together, but the more I study it the more I see the lighting of the car does not match the other elements, the caravan looks a little compressed and the gap between it and the Isetta is too great, not to mention the perspective being slightly off, to render it a plausible addition. There is no reflection of the couple in the chrome rear hubcap (but there is an impossible reflection of them, or a possible reflection of something else in the front hubcap) on the Isetta and, now I look at it, the rear wheels of the car are incorrect for the four wheeled varient of the Isetta. Speaking of reflections, there is an erroneous reflection in the rear panel in the black on the Isetta too.
Still, with all that said, this remains a very talented scrapbooking of an image and I think captures a charming, retrospective image nonetheless of the ideal of European 1960s young couples. The only things missing are a small happy puppy and a picnic hamper!
I'm willing to accept that the image has been manipulated at some point, but I'm comfortable with everything other than the couple being legit. The scenery through the windows of both the Isetta and trailer look right to me (very tricky to fake, IME) and the slight distortion in perspective between car and trailer could be attributed to the camera's wide-angle lens. The couple, as reflected in the front hubcap, seems to be perpendicular to the Isetta's door, which would make the lack of their reflection in the rear hubcap acceptable to my satisfaction. That hubcap is, at least, reflecting the correct combination of grass, trees and sky to lend credence to the car being in situ. My guess is that someone wasn't happy with the appearance of the couple, so they were re-photographed, the old couple cut out and the new put in place. Of course, your guess is equally plausible.
You are also right about the trailer , such a thing , only fit for Pygmies , tiny ones at that ,has never been manufactured in the old country. The give-away of course are the shadows : fence posts on the meadow cast them to the left - the woman's knee does not. Case closed.
I suspect the picture was a spoof of some kind.
Re Isetta , somebody did an earlier posting a few weeks ago with Cary Grant standing in the open door of one of those suicide boxes. That picture I liked ...
" You are also right about the trailer , such a thing , only fit for Pygmies , tiny ones at that ,has never been manufactured in the old country. The give-away of course are the shadows : fence posts on the meadow cast them to the left - the woman's knee does not. Case closed."
Er -- not exactly. First, there were scads of tiny trailers made in Europe throughout the '50s and onwards. Take a look at the Stolz, made in Germany at the same time as the Isetta:
Also, if you've ever seen models photographed out-of-doors, you'll often see a photographer's assistant holding up a big reflector, bouncing sunlight onto the model(s), to reduce harsh shadows. Given the overall glow on the models, I think one was used here. What shadows there are on the couple, such as on the man's arms, are still predominantly from a consistent sun-location for the rest of the picture (i.e., cast towards the left). The closer parts of the couple have less shadows, which is consistent with the use of a sun-reflector.
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September 16 2007, 00:42:09 UTC 4 years ago
Either way is creepy!.
Other than that, fantastic picture, I love those little cars; I so wanted to have one when I was a kid...
September 16 2007, 00:55:55 UTC 4 years ago
Maybe they bring it along to qualify for the carpool lanes...
September 16 2007, 16:34:01 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 16:39:20 UTC 4 years ago
If, as I suspect, the image of the Isetta is lifted from a photograph at a car show, there's a disturbing practice at American classic car shows to put dolls in the cars for some reason. I've seen all kinds of monstrosities along those lines, including one car that had two of those creepy staring child dolls 'cleaning' it.
September 16 2007, 00:46:51 UTC 4 years ago
Deleted comment
September 16 2007, 01:02:30 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 01:09:37 UTC 4 years ago
Exact same shade of orange.
September 16 2007, 02:15:16 UTC 4 years ago
4 years ago
September 16 2007, 01:10:10 UTC 4 years ago
but speaking of isettas, make a paper one.
September 16 2007, 02:16:00 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 04:47:19 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 01:28:36 UTC 4 years ago
I wonder what kind of gas mileage this car gets. wouldn't it be great if there were more of these and less SUV's on the road? They are SO CUTE! Actually I suppose they have to get good mileage. You can probably only put a few gallons in the tank.
September 16 2007, 02:26:51 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 15:31:12 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 02:03:30 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 02:18:34 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 02:21:01 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 06:17:19 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 16:35:16 UTC 4 years ago
September 16 2007, 16:37:12 UTC 4 years ago
BMW Isetta with background
Caravan - which looks like a shrunken early 1970s 2 berth
Verge in the foreground
Couple and picnic blanket
This is very well stitched together, but the more I study it the more I see the lighting of the car does not match the other elements, the caravan looks a little compressed and the gap between it and the Isetta is too great, not to mention the perspective being slightly off, to render it a plausible addition. There is no reflection of the couple in the chrome rear hubcap (but there is an impossible reflection of them, or a possible reflection of something else in the front hubcap) on the Isetta and, now I look at it, the rear wheels of the car are incorrect for the four wheeled varient of the Isetta. Speaking of reflections, there is an erroneous reflection in the rear panel in the black on the Isetta too.
Still, with all that said, this remains a very talented scrapbooking of an image and I think captures a charming, retrospective image nonetheless of the ideal of European 1960s young couples. The only things missing are a small happy puppy and a picnic hamper!
September 16 2007, 18:35:26 UTC 4 years ago
I'm willing to accept that the image has been manipulated at some point, but I'm comfortable with everything other than the couple being legit. The scenery through the windows of both the Isetta and trailer look right to me (very tricky to fake, IME) and the slight distortion in perspective between car and trailer could be attributed to the camera's wide-angle lens. The couple, as reflected in the front hubcap, seems to be perpendicular to the Isetta's door, which would make the lack of their reflection in the rear hubcap acceptable to my satisfaction. That hubcap is, at least, reflecting the correct combination of grass, trees and sky to lend credence to the car being in situ. My guess is that someone wasn't happy with the appearance of the couple, so they were re-photographed, the old couple cut out and the new put in place. Of course, your guess is equally plausible.
September 17 2007, 06:27:44 UTC 4 years ago
You are also right about the trailer , such a thing , only fit for Pygmies , tiny ones at that ,has never been manufactured in the old country.
The give-away of course are the shadows : fence posts on the meadow cast them to the left - the woman's knee does not. Case closed.
I suspect the picture was a spoof of some kind.
Re Isetta , somebody did an earlier posting a few weeks ago with Cary Grant standing in the open door of one of those suicide boxes. That picture I liked ...
September 17 2007, 07:32:36 UTC 4 years ago
You are also right about the trailer , such a thing , only fit for Pygmies , tiny ones at that ,has never been manufactured in the old country.
The give-away of course are the shadows : fence posts on the meadow cast them to the left - the woman's knee does not. Case closed."
Er -- not exactly. First, there were scads of tiny trailers made in Europe throughout the '50s and onwards. Take a look at the Stolz, made in Germany at the same time as the Isetta:
Also, if you've ever seen models photographed out-of-doors, you'll often see a photographer's assistant holding up a big reflector, bouncing sunlight onto the model(s), to reduce harsh shadows. Given the overall glow on the models, I think one was used here. What shadows there are on the couple, such as on the man's arms, are still predominantly from a consistent sun-location for the rest of the picture (i.e., cast towards the left). The closer parts of the couple have less shadows, which is consistent with the use of a sun-reflector.
4 years ago
September 17 2007, 22:14:54 UTC 4 years ago