Exhibition of retro cars from late Communist period opens in Bucarest, Bucharest, Romania - 07 Oct 2023

Visitors pass a 1964 Fiat 600D car (R) as they attend an exhibition of vintage automobiles from the Communist era held in front of the National Opera building in Bucharest, Romania, 07 October 2023. The 2023 edition, called 'The Socialists of the City,' offers to enthusiasts a selection of representative vehicles from the period 1947-1989, following the automotive phenomenon of the Socialist era, in three distinct periods: Stalinism (1947-1965), De-Stalinization, characterized by the democratization of the automobile (1965-1980), and National Communism of Nicolae Ceausescu (1980-1989). The exhibition organized by Retromobil Club Romania is open to the public over the weekend, and all the vintage cars, motorcycles or trucks belong to club members. In 1965, the Romanian automobile industry managed to produce around 3,600 automobiles, while in 1988 the production was 121,000 cars and over 17,000 trucks, 50-80 percent of the automotive industry's production being exported. The poor quality of the automobiles damaged the international reputation of Romanian cars, especially after 1985, the year in which the Dacia car factory produced the 1,000,000-th vehicle. Automobile Dacia S.A. is the only Communist factory that survived until today, as part of the Renault group.