The black plates – a quarter of century later

Five years ago I promised to repeat the exercise and check how many of the vehicles snapped then would have survived. I cycled around the district on Friday, 25 April after work (the long weekend in early May could decrease chances of cars being spotted) and found out that predictably, most of the vehicles have gone. Some have not been witnessed for years, others (#2, #7, #8 I last saw back last years). Only 5 out of 25 are can be found in the same venues, on the same classic plates.

#11 – Seat Ibiza sits in a car park parallel to al. KEN, south of ul. Belgradzka. Time has not borne a brunt of the vehicle despite being parked in the open air and under trees. The car seems to be in regular use, despite its age of 27.

#12 – Skoda Octavia parked between grey blocks of flats by ul. Żabińskiego has bodywork in the same colour, yet the paintwork seems to be more affected by the elements of weather, particularly by sunlight. The leaflet under the wiper suggests the car is in occasional use only.

#18 – Fiat Seicento with a disabled driver’s card has been forsaken for a while and gets slowly rotten, occupying two parking spaces by ul. Dereniowa. Conceivably, its owner either is badly ill or has passed away and none of the relatives has taken steps to take the car to the scrap yard.

#19 – Nissan Primera sits near the intersection of al. KEN and ul. Belgradzka and looks to have remained in regular use for over 26 years, although not in pristine condition. Quite an achievement, since Nissans produced in 1990s had serious problems with corrosion of bodyworks and undercarriages.

#24 – Toyota Corolla, aged only 25 sits by ul. Dereniowa and definitely is in regular use. I pass it by nearly every time I walk back from the swimming pool and each time is parked in a different spot.

While meandering around the district, I found it difficult to spot cars on black plates. Being kept by one owner for 25 years is a rarity, yet the effort I appreciate. This time I snapped all cars I ran across along the way, regardless of their condition.

The silver Ford Focus parked close to E. Leclerc hypermarket, registered mostly likely in April 2000 (WZZ 796L was the highest number issued). Rust eats it up as it has done with most Fords manufactured in late 1990s and early 2000s.

The flash-yellow (adore the colour) Skoda Felicia Estate, registered in late 1999 is parked close to the intersection of ul. Indiry Gandhi and ul. Cynamonowa. Visually – in a perfect condition (except for the mud dirt). An ideal car for a pensioner to take a weekend trip to a działka. A pity it is not parked in a cosy garage.

The plume-violet Toyota Starlet is parked by ul. Stryjeńskich. It definitely is not in regular use, but every two or three weeks it changes parking lot. At first sight condition of the vehicle is far from perfect and quite soon it is likely to end up on a scrapyard.

For dessert – like a lottery ticket won – two Japanese liftbacks on one photo, taken by ul. Lokajskiego. A Toyota Corolla from early 1998 in a splendid sand-yellow lacquer and a post-lift Honda Civic from mid-1999. Both looking decently. I saw this Honda around neighbourhood on the road a few times, but Corolla does not seem to be driven frequently.