autoevolution
 

Meet Romanian Communist Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s Personal Dacia 2000

Nicolae Ceausescu's Dacia 7 photos
Photo: daciaclasic.ro
Nicolae Ceausescu's DaciaNicolae Ceausescu's DaciaNicolae Ceausescu's DaciaNicolae Ceausescu's DaciaNicolae Ceausescu's DaciaNicolae Ceausescu's Dacia
Known to be the leader of one of the most brutal and repressive Communist regimes, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was far from being an actual socialist when it came to his cars.
A Romanian classic Dacia car lover owns the car that once belonged to him. Although the communist leader ended up shot by a firing squad along with  his wife, Elena, about 25 years ago, the car seems to be in perfect condition, still being able to reach 175 km/h (108 mph).

Eastern Europe still feels its Communist remains, but nowadays it’s more about red relics and nightmare stories than politics, to be honest. Communism was structured upon common ownership of the means of production and characterised by the absence of classes, money, the state... and so on. Well, that is, of course, only theory.

What kind of a car would a Communist dictator ruling a country for about 24 years drive? Well, it’s a Dacia, in Nicolae Ceausescu’s case.

Romanian classic Dacia lover Ovidiu Magureanu from Bucharest is the actual owner of Nicolae Ceausescu’s car. He took it for a ride last Saturday for the The National Classic Dacia meeting, in Brasov, Romania. This year, Romanian car brand Dacia celebrates its 45 years of existence so it was a good opportunity to show it off.

The car was made in 1981 and has amazing features for Communist Romania of that era: automatic gearbox, air conditioning, electric windows and cruise control. With an 2,200cc engine with 115 horsepower you’d say the car is worth driving at least one time.

Even though its nickname is Comrade, the actual model is Dacia 2000. Made with Renault parts, the car was not designed to be used by the population, being sold only to high-ranking politicians from the Communist party and, of course, to the Ceausescu couple.

The owner of the car is one of those crazy-about-classic type of car drivers, even though he drives an Wolkswagen Golf to work: “when I was a kid I used to hang out at my neighbor’s garage, that’s how I got the passion for cars. The guy was Nicolae Ceausescu’s personal driver. First I drove my parent’s Dacia 1300, after that I bought my own. I found Ceausescu’s car on the internet, I just couldn’t believe it. So of course I bought it”, explained Ovidiu Magureanu for Romanian daily newspaper Adevarul.

We’ll remind you that one year after the car was made, 1982, with the goal of paying off Romania’s large foreign debt, Ceausescu ordered the export of much of the country’s agricultural and industrial production. The resulting extreme shortages of food, fuel, energy, medicines and other basic necessities drastically lowered living standards and intensified unrest. Ceausescu’s regime collapsed after he tried to stop an antigovernment demonstration in Timisoara, one of the biggest city in the country after the capital, by ordering forces to fire. The demonstrations spread to Bucharest and lead to the only violent removal of a Communist government during the revolutions of 1989.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories