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Signage in two languages is common enough even in the most remote corners of the world.

Hmmmm. Ok. So it is not two different alphabets for the same language as i thought. But is rather two different alphabets because of two different languages???

However, when i use the Google translator for english to Russian it gives two different translations. One in Cyrllic and one in what appears to be english alphabet.

For example:

The word "Yes" in english is translated by the google translator to Russian as BOTH "Да" and also "Da".

So i thought it to be two different alphabets within the same language.

One of the reasons al of this interests me is i am expecting a alot of documentation on various collectables to become available as eastern europe begins to open up to the rest of the world. I havn't tried to explore any Russian eBay or Amazon yet. Not even sure if ebay exists in russia or not.

Note that there is now avaible something called e-shipping from China that is somekind of US post Office service. Will it extend to the rest of the world in the near future??? My guess is, Yes.

Keith, the whole country seems to be a motley mixture, which not spares its language. Wikipedia says, that "...25% to 30% [of its vocabulary] are loanwords...".
To quote Glanville Price, Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000), p.45:

"...Following the efforts of some figures of the National awakening of Bulgaria ... there had been many attempts to codify a standard Bulgarian language; however, there was much argument surrounding the choice of norms. Between 1835-1878 more than 25 proposals were put forward and linguistic chaos ensued..."

But now let's have a look at the cars.



Instead of overtexting you, Richard Widmark will put you in the right mood to open up your heart for the German Messerschmitt Kabinenroller KR 175 with bubble canopy - well, it unmistakably is a Messerschmitt.

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Often our discussions base on the tacit agreement that WW2 has been a game changer in car design. The next exhibit in Sofia stands for a design which has been succesfully offered from 1936 to 1955, the Fiat Topolino with 13 bhp and 39.2 miles per US gallon.

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The car came without pumps (fuel, water, oil) and cost nearly twice as much as planned. Nevertheless more than 500,000 were sold.
For reasons of illustration I added a contrasting juxtaposition with a ZIL. Click to enlarge!

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The last car was surrounded by something special, a statement, which is rather unusual, related to an epitome of mass motorization: the Ford Model A. It wasn't the car itself but its great shape amidst the poor circumstances.
Go -> this way for getting the whole story.

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At the bottom attached are the last pictures, taken a few moments before realizing the ban on photography.
From left to right we see two two-stroke stench bombs "Balkan", the light brown bicycle in the middle is made of plasic and to the left stands a self-made solar-powered bicycle.

Without own car industry, Bulgaria experienced an interesting attempt to establish a French licensed production in the second half of the 1960s. The products were labeled Bulgarrenault.




Every single public appearance of one of the very few Bulgaralpine A110 amidst donkey carts should have been tantamount to a Marian apparition.




sources
image #1: onlycarspictures.com
image #2: balto-slavica.com

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Quote:
David (Flackmaster), in two weeks I will make a stopover in Bulgaria to visit a car museum in Varna, which looks promising.






source: tripadvisor.com

At the moment, Wikipedia says nothing about the Retro Museum in Varna. This will change. What I have seen was a museum with good genes.
Let's start the virtual tour with a remark related to an important part, the private financing. The young owner obviously holds shares of the largest shopping center in town: the mall. Unusual but logical, the museum forms the core of the mall.
Sorry for the bad quality of my cell phone photographs.

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Lada (USSR)

They were regarded as dream cars in the Eastern Bloc. In the German Democratic Republic they had been reserved for the secrect service (Stasi), police, high ranking politics on local level, plant managers and other "firsts among equals". Usual people had been well adviced to keep a certain safe distance.

Take note to the wiped floor, spick and pan everywhere.

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