Skoda 440 is a rare car these days, and rumours from Skoda Club Norway tell that E-24740 probably is the only one in Norway. Skoda 440 was manufactured between 1954 and 1959, and was the forerunner of the popular Skoda Octavia. Skoda 440 had the same chassis as Skoda 1102, (a chassis constructed in 1936), but with a more powerful engine, and a quite modern body. A body that was inherited by Skoda Octavia i 1959. (Photo: Jan Paulsen)

What is "Eastern Europe"?
The borders of Europe have changed through the years, and if we go back into the childhood of the automobile, there were countries like Preussia, Austria-Hungary and The Ottoman Empire on the map of Europe. Countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia did not yet exist. East-Germany and Yugoslavia did not exist until after World War II, and quite naturally, most new borders were created after the two World Wars.
On this web-site, we have chosen to draw the border to Eastern Europe along the line that used to be called "The Iron Curtain". The line that divided the socialistic countries of the east (The East Bloc) from the capitalistic countries of the west.  In principle, if we include the years prior to World War II, car makes like BMW, DKW, Podeus, Protos and NAG will therefore also be included in the term "Eastern European cars". All of these makes came to Norway, and they were all made in whats later became East-Germany. But in actual practice, when our members talk about "Eastern European cars", they will have cars made after 1945 , in the socialistic countries of Eastern Europe, in mind. Cars from The Soviet Union, East-Germany, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

If we use the post-1945 borders, this Podeus Type 9/24  will also be an "Eastern European" car. But in 1912, when this car was made, its  "home town" Wismar was a part of the Mecklenburg-Schwerin duchy, which again was a part of the Great German Empire. In 1945, the duchy was taken over by the Russians, and made a part of East-Germany. This car has a history as taxi cab in Oslo, Norway, and is the sole survivor of its kind in the world. The picture was taken in 1994.  Today, the car is fully restored, and owned by The Technical Museum of Oslo. Photo: Lasse Aas, "Veteran- and Sports Car Magazine" ("Veteran- og Sportsbilmagasinet")

New car import to Norway, pre-1940
In the childhood of the automobile, there were no actual importers. The cars were sold directly from manufacturer to customer.  In Norway, the first importers were established around 1908.  Among the very first cars to arrive in Norway, before 1900, were several Wartburg cars from Eisenacher Motorenwerke. And as an amazing fact, two of these still exist, fully restored.  Additionaly, we have a 1903 Wartburg of a similar kind. Out of seven preserved cars of this type world wide, three are found in Norway. But apart from these Wartburgs, the only "Eastern European" car make, (of those who still exist), to be imported to Norway prior to 1940, was the Skoda.  A few Skodas were imported during the first months of 1940, before World War II came to our country.
 
The car import from 1945 on
Right after World War II, the Norwegian Government put a ban on the use of private motor vehicles for a full year, until 1. June 1946. Petrol was rationed, there were import restrictions on all "luxury goods", including motor cars, and there were strict currency restrictions.  When buying a car, even a used car, you would need an official permit.  Our money were supposed to be used in building the country, not for buying "luxury goods". It was a good though in a badly beaten country, but many people found it too strict and bureaucratic. As an example: To build the country, new and solid trucks could have come in handy. But they were collecting dust at the dealers parking lots, because no-one were allowed to buy them.

During the 1950's, quite a lot of Eastern European cars came to Norway as a result of "Bilateral Trade Agreements". Like the Moskvich in the left picture. Other cars came quite differently to our country. The Skoda in the right picture, a 1948 Type 1101 Convertible, was imported directly to Norway through The Czechoslovakian Embassy. (Original registration was A-20311). Both cars have exiting stories to tell. The left picture is from a private foundation,  "Interessegruppen Br. Hanssens Auto A/S", a group of people working to preserve an old  petrol station and garage near Nötteröy, south of Oslo. The right picture is taken by Jan Paulsen.

During the 1950's, the term "Bilateral Trade Agreements" came into the bureaucratic language. In a normal language, the words are "exchange of goods", and it was these agreements who started an increased import of Eastern European cars to Norway. As an example, a "Bilateral Trade Agreement" between Norway and The Soviet Union were done in the autumn of 1953. The Russians got Norwegian herring, we got a shipload of Moskviches.
While the general import restrictions on cars were maintained until 1. October 1960, exceptions for cars from Eastern Europe (and Israel) were made from the autumn of 1954. And in 1955 the Norwegian Prime Minister, Einar Gerhardsen, and his Minister of Trade, Arne Skaug, went to Moscow to sign a more permanent trade agreement between Norway and the Soviet Union. But there were still currency restrictions, meaning that even if you didn't needed a permit to import Eastern European cars, you might still not get the correct currency to pay them. Therefore, there were several of these "Bilateral Trade Agreements" during the 1950's. And the Eastern European authorities were straight business partners. If you didn't have the cash, fish or lumber was legal tender.
 

Three of some ten EMW-cars registered in Norway today. (Photo: Kjell-Ivar Söreng)

Some figures and statistics:
The "Motorliv" Magazine had a feature in July 1954, covering the news of the upcoming removal of the import restrictions on cars from Eastern Europe.  (A reprint of the feature is found in ^© no. 21). The feature has a list of eleven cars that from now on can (in principal) be imported to Norway without any special permit: (The right column shows the prices, figures are from a book issued annually by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten,  (called "Hvem Hva Hvor"), 1954 and 1955 issues. The prices are per 1. September of the year before.)

NOK 11.780 was its price in Norway when this IFA F-9 was new in 1954. The Moskvich was less than NOK 1000 cheaper. Cars like Morris Minor, Standard Eight and Citroën 4CV had similar price tags. Photo: Gunnar Bang

The Eastern European cars are given good characters in the feature, but these cars did loose market shares when the general import restrictions were removed in 1960. East-European car makes introduced to the Norwegian market after 1954 were Volga, Warszawa, (a Pobieda built under license in Poland), Jalta (Zaporozhez), Praga, Wartburg and Trabant. If looking at the year 1958, cars built in the USSR counted for more than 20% of all new cars sold in Norway that year.
In its 1968-issue, (printed September-October 1967), the same book as mentioned above, ("Hvem Hva Hvor"), have five Eastern European car manufacturers (six models) on their list of the Norwegian car market. Skoda is ranked as no. 11 on the new car sales statistics, 760 cars sold during the six first months of 1967. (300 cars behind no. 10, Saab, and 20 cars before no. 12, the Peugeot 404). The six models were as follows: (Prices are per August 1967).

This car is Danish, but the East-German Trabant 601 could be bought in Norway as well, during the 1960's. As per August 1967 it was priced at NOK 10.550, cheapest new car for sale in Norway. Its nearast competitor was the Citroën 2CV, at NOK 12575. The Volkswagen Beetle, the most selling car, was in its 1300-edition priced at NOK 16.200. Photo: Jan Paulsen

Several new car makes from Eastern Europe was introduced on the Norwegian market during the 1970's and 1980's. IZh, Polski-Fiat, ARO, Dacia, Zastava and last, but by no means least, the Lada. Several of these makes were Western European cars made under license, and low price was an important sales argument. One by one however, the East-Europeans disappeared, and since the import of Lada cars to Norway was discontinued in 1999, there is now only Skoda left of the "traditional" Eastern European makes on the Norwegian new car market. The Skodas of today are more or less Volkswagens, as the passenger division of Skoda is now bought by Volkswagen , but on the other hand, don't be so sure that your new Opel or Volkswagen is made in Germany. Or that Fiat is made in Italy. They might as well be built in Poland or The Czech Republic, or another Eastern European country. As the Eastern European car manufacturers have disappeared from the scene, one by one, during the brutal changeover to a free and competitive market, West-European car manufacturers have bought their manufacturing facilities. And established new facilities. And what is especially interesting to investors from the West, is the wages of Eastern Europe. When Opel can build their Vectras cheaper in Poland than in Germany, with the same or better quality, they will of course do that.

2002 Opel Agila. "Made in Poland".

Norwegian Car Clubs
Norwegian Skoda Owners have gathered in Skoda Klubb Norge, and owners of IFA- and Trabant cars are welcomed within the Norsk DKW Union. In the MIG-Register, we are open to all car makes from the former Soviet Union. And if owners of other Eastern European cars should miss a club to join, we are pretty sure that there is an open door, somewhere.  Statistics on registered vehicles in Norway per 31.12.2004 shows that there still is a number of rare Eastern European car makes on Norwegian streets.  3 AROs, 2 Dacias, 9 EMWs, 15 Polski-Fiats, 60 Wartburgs, 3 Warszawas and 9 Zastavas are among the cars found on the list. (Additionaly, we known that the column "Andre" ("Other makes") hides car manufacturers like Trabant, IFA, Chaika, Zaporozhez and FSO Syrena.)  The complete list, sorted by manufacturer and type of vehicle, is found here. (As a downloadable rtf-file).  (Please note that Lada is listed as VAZ).

We have the Tatra Tatraplan in Norway, as well as the Tatra 603. But a Tatra 613, like this one, has not yet been registered in Norway. This car, with German license plates, was spotted by Jan Paulsen, right in the middle of a Danish forest.

Do you want to know more?
If anyone wants more information on Eastern European cars, they can, apart from visiting one of the clubs of course, visit our  ENCYCLOPEDIA  , which includes a brief history on many Eastern European car manufacturers, or our  PHOTO GALLERY , which have a special section for non-Soviet vehicles. And perhaps you'll find something interesting on our LINKS PAGE as well!

WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST!