BMW 1602 (II)

1976 – A driver and his son pose for the camera in a white BMW 1602 near Kiel, Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com

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The story behind the image

Since they got married in 1965, my parents always had a car. In the beginnings it would be a Volkswagen Beetle, later on a VW 1600 Squareback, and a Fiat 124. That Fiat was simple, reliable and robust – a pragmatic car. But my father had always yearned for a ‘real’ car, a BMW.

Then, in spring 1976, he discovered a four-year old used BMW 1602 at a dealer in Kiel, Germany, and he (as well as my mother) fell in love with that car right away. It was expensive, yes, but they could somehow afford it. It would also signaling to the neighbors that they ‘had made it’. And so the Zanzig’s owned a snow-white 1602 from then on.

The very first action my mother asked for was a test drive and a photoshooting. After all, the new family member had to be documented for eternity! We drove across the countryside between Kiel and Eckernförde and stopped the car on a small road. The car was looking good in the warmish light of the late afternoon sun. Yes, the trees were still not yet blossoming, but that was all OK. The car was the hero.

The negatives of this shooting have long been lost, and the prints have terribly faded over time. The dotted satin raster does not help either. Soo, this restored version is probably as good as it gets. I’ve considered converting it to black & white but that wouldn’t show the fabulous warm light of the late afternoon sun.

Anyway, fond memories of my father and that BMW 1602.

By the way, the boy sitting on the back seat is me. 🙂

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The high resolution image

Capture Date & Time	Spring 1976
Location	Near Kiel, Germany
Camera	Kodak Retinette 1B (Typ 045)
Image Source	9 x 13 cm color print
Digital Image Source	EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo
Digital Image Source Format	TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB
Edited Image Format	JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB
Edited Image Dimensions	3769 x 5654 Pixels
Copyright	© by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com