photo © rita parada
The private automobile, that avatar of western individualism, is difficult to square with collectivist notions. A fascinating look at automobile use, production, and urban planning behind the Iron Curtain. It reveals a system that, if far from socialist or egalitarian in origin, created a culture of automobile use distinct from the western world and once its owners were at the wheel, these socialist automobiles were often difficult to reconcile with notions of mechanical reliability.
