Popular Mechanics 1957 Ford introduction, but different !

[djfordmanjack]

Here's some 1957 Ford trivia that most probably nobody on here has seen before.
the January 1957 PM magazine, but in GERMAN ! 

Incredibly an old friend of mine from Germany found this and sent it as a present. ( Believe it or not, his second name is Porsche...but that's another story....hahaha). The magazine is in great condition and makes a great addition to my '57 Ford brochure collection, which also includes German, French, Dutch and Swedish among many US originals. I love this rare stuff.

I also include scans of the Mercury and Lincolns.

Jay, if you want to read the full report, I will also add the Fortsetzung auf Seite 117 later on...haha!

[FiveSevenLiter]

Das ist gut!
Terry
 

[djfordmanjack]

 
jawohl,
Sure is !

Interestingly enough the cover ( story) is from the Dec 56 English (US) edition. The content isn't exactly the same (translated) either. The German version was probably rather a digest of translated US articles from prior months, and some self penned German content.

[djfordmanjack]

another fun fact, the German edition seems rather expensive compared to the US.
1.50 Deutschmarks would be roughly 75 US ct (compared to the 35cts of the US issue) and 12.- österreichische ( Austrian) Schillings would even be 88ct.
It seems that Populäre Mechanik was rather aimed to the medium or upper income adult hobbyist back then.

[RICH MUISE]

Vry cool, DJ, thanks., or danke

[djfordmanjack]

You're welcome. imho it's always interesting to find some historical info and trivia connected to our cherished rides.
Austria and Germany has quite a history with American cars, which much of it has been wiped out or even banned from public consciousness. Ford and GM (Opel) had small factories in Germany even before the great depression and Henry Ford himself laid the foundation of the German Ford Facility in Cologne in 1930.
After the war Germany was working hard to rebuild their own economy and car factories, so US import cars were rather rare and expensive.
You have to understand that an everyday car like a 6 cyl 1957 Ford Custom, that was a cheap family car in the US, would have been an upper class car in central Europe, that only a company owner or wealthy politician or organisation could afford. That was because of the huge cost of shipping and customs and taxes. also back then spare parts would have been mostly special order, expensive shipping.
When I started my first employment, I had an older co worker, who was an avid car enthusiast. of course when he saw my 57SD he immediately started talking about his younger years and how he bought a 57 4dr Fairlane V8 here in Graz, Austria (in 1958, so it was a fairly new car by then) from a GI serving in Germany. He told me how he was the 'King of the Road' in our 250k population town. His car had probably 4 times the hp as the average Volkswagen or Opel ( of the wealthy car owners), when most of the people still only were riding small 2 stroke motorbikes for daily transport. He told me how he was literally tearing up the streets with his Y block V8 1957 Ford and how he spent all of his earnings on gas and insurance! All of that fun lasted but one summer, when he broke the automatic transmission, and there was literally no way for him to order a replacement from the US or finding and paying a shop that could fix it locally.

When I started my interest in vintage American cars back in the late 1980s/early 90s, the local collectors often acted as if they didn't know them and to this day the officials are often giving us a hard time. The usual saying is ' those cars weren't around over here', or 'these big V8s didn't have that much hp back then', and in general how the hot rodding scene is a menace to classic cars and must be banned all together.

So that's why it peaks my interest, when something like this mag comes up, showing evidence, how the cars and information were around also in Europe, back in the day.
This German 1957 edition of PM also has pics of drag racing in it, along with a Cadillac powered 32 Ford roadster and a description of how fast these 'vintage' cars are running (by 1957).

All of you guys probably have no clue at all what I am talking about....haha.... but German magazines like this are really important to prove the originality and availability of our cars , when we have to take them in for inspection. Hopefully this can help allowing those vintage cars for street use for a few more years....

In my collection of 57 Ford brochures, I also have the original paperwork/title ( including og photo) of one of the cars the US American embassy in Vienna/Austria had. A 1957 Ford Country Sedan !!!

[RICH MUISE]

Well, you are right, I (we) didn't have a clue, but we do now. interesting. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[lalessi1]

Just awesome! Thanks. At a job I had quite a few years back the was a Popular Mechanics magazine article from 1949 posted on the bulletin board. It was talking about computers and the reasons why we would never have them in our homes....

[djfordmanjack]

haha, Lynn, Id's say they got that one  wrong... ....

Rich, thanx for taking the time to read my last post. It was really a long and boring explanation, but I think that some of you US guys are also wondering how classic cars are approached in Europe. The countries policies are VERY different and while some countries have been quite open and friendly (UK, Sweden, Netherlands) others have been very restrictive ( Germany, Austria, Portugal, Italy). Because of that history, our countries have a VERY strong (but small) following of US cars. Driving a US made car in Austria in the 1950s, 60s, 70s 80s, meant that you were either kind of wealthy, or had a different ( more open) mindset. When they show those old cheesy Austrian 1950s films in TV, the hero, Lady or singing star will most probably drive a Cadillac or Mercury convertible, while the rest rides a bike, takes a VW bus.
  Up to this day people driving that old American iron feel somewhat connected 'in the same club' over here.
American cars were really special here in the 1950s, 60s.
check out this typical Austrian parking lot ( mid 1950s Linz railroad station). Lots of Volkswagen, and small compact cars, but there is also a 49/50 Shoebox convertible ! Pics like that get us Euro guys dreaming of who owned the car back then, whether or not it survived and if it may still be waiting somewhere in a tiny garage or shed....

[djfordmanjack]

Well, here's the American embassy of Vienna Country Sedan !





the main 57 brochure in DUTCH ( Netherlands):


some German brochure detail


German Hobby magazine advertising for 1957 Fords





This is a German language 1957 Ford brochure:






This is an Austrian sales brochure/dealer pricelist of the main Ford dealer Hinteregger in capitol Vienna. as you can see the 57 Fairlane and Custom are prominently featured to the right top and even on the front cover (among many other German, British and French built Ford products).

[mustang6984]

Just awesome! Thanks. At a job I had quite a few years back the was a Popular Mechanics magazine article from 1949 posted on the bulletin board. It was talking about computers and the reasons why we would never have them in our homes....

Makes you wonder if any of those who made that prediction lived long enough to need salt in order to make eating those words a bit more palpable! LOL!!!

[djfordmanjack]

This is going off topic here quickly, but in my collection, I have an original Ford Hinteregger (Vienna, Austria) dealership giveaway Ladies silk bandana/hair lace with imprinted car renderings of the 1951 FoMoCo line, with among others a 1951 Mercury and Shoebox convertible. Considering of how few of these cars were sold and driven over here, it may be rare....  

in case you are wondering, the Comete was a Flathead powered sports car built for Ford France by Facel Vega, the company who later on ( late 50s early 60s) built fashionable avantgarde fullsize coupes with Chrysler engines.

[mustang6984]

I'd say that probably is rare...no matter how many were made. No one thought about things as having possible value as collectibles down the road in those days. This they were used until worn out, then tossed.

[Ecode70D]

Guenter
     Picture #8 is the way that the streets looked when I was over there in the early 50s It was also normal to see an occasional
 American car.  They mostly belonged to American soldiers who were stationed there and they had American plates on them. But as you know, 
  I was not in the  military. 
      Popular Mechaniscs was my fovorite book back in the 40s and 50s.  That's what got me started in building things.  That hobby switched over to
building cars from pieces of scrap metal.
Jay

[djfordmanjack]

Thank you for your input Jay. your firsthand witness of mix of cars in 1950s Germany. Certainly a lot of military person brought their own (US) cars also with the PX system. (that also allowed some of them to bring back their new German cars upon release, mostly VW and Porsche).
The army members had US plates, designated with the region of Germany. My old co worker bought his 57 from a GI serving in Germany.
The occupation/ military enforcement in Austria only lasted up to 1955, when foreign military (all 4 nations) left. So basically all US vehicles left by army personnel in Austria were pre 1955. I was able to check out an old wrecking yard that had been around since the 1950s, and the oldest cars in the far corner were late 1940s, early 50s Dodges, Chev**s. Nash from ex military. A friend of mine has an extremely rare and collectible set of 'US FORCES in AUSTRIA' license plates (pre 55).