File:2005 BMW 325i Democracy Car (US) (5570163040).jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Original file ‎(1,000 × 750 pixels, file size: 209 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Summary[edit]

Description

BMW has run a manufacturing facility at Rosslyn, South Africa, dating back to the apartheid era, and after the end of apartheid, South Africa started building the 3-series for various export markets, including Southeast Asia, the European home market, and the US. For the US market, South Africa supplies many of the 4-door sedan examples of the 3-series with the base engine, while all other variants are supplied from BMW's main Bavarian plants or its new Leipzig plant.

In 2005, as the E46 (fourth generation) 3-series production wound down in South Africa, the final ten vehicles were designated as "Democracy Cars," and signed by former President Nelson Mandela, as seen here. This is the one Democracy Car that ended up being sent to the US, to be given away to a lucky BMW owner via a drawing.

This car is part of a display of several historical 3-series vehicles at Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, themselves part of the celebration to mark the arrival of the next 3-series (E90). It was May 6th, 2005, and indeed this was the day that the next 3-series went on sale in the US. In the "you are what you drive" culture of Southern California, there is nothing like driving a BMW. (Though I eventually said I am having none of the vain SoCal car culture, and sold my existing 3-series at a pittance for a lowly Hyundai.)
Date
Source 2005 BMW 325i Democracy Car (US)
Author InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA
Camera location34° 03′ 43.87″ N, 118° 21′ 40.12″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

Licensing[edit]

w:en:Creative Commons
attribution share alike
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
You are free:
  • to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
  • to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
  • attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.
This image, originally posted to Flickr, was reviewed on 27 January 2013 by the administrator or reviewer File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), who confirmed that it was available on Flickr under the stated license on that date.

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current16:44, 27 January 2013Thumbnail for version as of 16:44, 27 January 20131,000 × 750 (209 KB)File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske) (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr by User:russavia

You cannot overwrite this file.

There are no pages that use this file.

Metadata

This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.

Retrieved from "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:2005_BMW_325i_Democracy_Car_(US)_(5570163040).jpg&oldid=821050445"