Wankel-Engine (rotary piston engine) a dead-end invention (for cars) 50th anniversary.The car:NSU RO 80.
Issued March 12th,2009,commemorating Gottlieb Daimler´s 175th birth anniversary. The car is Daimler´s "Steel-Wheel-Car",from 1889.
A "happy" stamp, indeed. The jester-like character on the right side comes close to fulfilling the quest for a horse riding a bicycle! @anglobob may remember that quest. Don
The "jester-like" character is the "Münchner Kindl". She derives from the (small) coat of arms of München (Munic). Here on a stamp from a set of 6,issued April 2nd,1922: It shows a monk (in German: Mönch <=> München) holding a book in his right hand.It is an "oath-book" on what he is swearing.(Although some historians claim,it is not an oath-book (something like the constitution),but a religious book,likely the New Testament.But as the coat of arms is more than 700 years old,nobody really knows. Anyway,about 150 years ago,an artist converted the monk into a little boy (his own son),but soon it became a little girl,now with a Maßkrug (litre tankard) in the right hand. The Münchner Kindl now is the popular symbol for Munic.
"Classical" cars,issued April 2nd,2015. Upper stamp water activated gum,lower stamp self-adhesive. The pictorial cancel on the upper stamp,might be slightly confusing.
To the Porsche 911 Targa: Isn´t it amazing that a car desinged 60 years ago and had minimal alterations only since then,still sells more than very well ? The original design dates back even longer right back till the late 1940th... I just checked the list-prices here in Germany,incl. V.A.T. They start with the "cheapest" at about US-$ 130.000.- and end at $ 280.000.- for a turbo-loaded convertible.
Audi quattro (Vorsprung durch Technik),issued March,1st,2018 and April 12th,2018 (self-adhesive,lower stamp).
Self-adhesive stamp,issued April 13th,2017. Missing is the water-activated version of this stamp,what was issued on the same day.
Another car-type,what has survived for decades,the Volkswagen Golf. Again I own the self-adhesive version only,issued April 13th,2017.
A "socialist dream-land": A Wartburg,a tent at the beach and two ladies.The delivery-time for a Wartburg was never ever less than fourteen years.Orders were accepted from adults (18 years) only. Issued Aug.29th,1960; from a set of 2;
Socialist dream-land with two ladies ? Two ladies leads to two wives ......and two mother-in-laws..... Didn,t Wartburg build the Trabant -the only car built with a heated rear window so you could keep your hands warm while pushing it ??
The Wartburg was built by the "VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach" in Thuringia.While the Trabant was built by the "VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau" in Saxony. The Trabant had no heated rear window.That was not necessary, because the bodywork was made of plastic instead of iron plate. So it felt nicely warm when pushed. The dream did not include marriage,except if it turned into an incubus. Anyway the real object of the dream was,of course,the car !
